Seat cushion questions

paco1961

paco1961

Zen MBB Master
have been experiencing pain along the spine between my shoulder blades on the S40. The flat profile horizontally means that there is no recess for the vertebrae. Every time Ihit a bump at speed it feels like I’m getting thumped between the blades. Wondering about 2 options.

Option 1 - Ventisit 3cm thick pad
Option 2 - fit a couple of spare foam bits down either side of the upper spine to form a trough for the spine.

Anybody care to comment on either option or anything related to the VS pad compared to the CB cushion?
 
benphyr

benphyr

Guru-me-not
Nothing useful to say but I think that we now know that you err to the side of under-fed than over-fed.

Actually, on the accessories page there is a new shoulder wedge. I wonder if that would help. It would change the weight distribution.
 
paco1961

paco1961

Zen MBB Master
For those who have made the Thor/Ventisit switch on an S40, Easy or Sport model? The Thor site lists the Sport differently re acceptable seat angle; 17-34 and 17-40 with the Easy listed for seat angle of 40-60. The S40 sits right in the middle.
 
J

jphipps

Active Member
I have the Thor carrier seat with thick Ventisit pad for my S40, more support than stock seat, especially in shoulder area. I tried the stock seat with and without a wedge of foam, I would slide down a lot. If you fit a carrier seat I would recommend for the comfort.
 
Opik

Opik

Well-Known Member
I use rubber mats and a ventisit
3 layers of cut rubber mats for the bottom part and 5 layers of cut rubber mats for the upper mat. The middle has a bit of gap. Over that I put my Ventisit seat.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
I use 1cm of sticky-backed foam padding under my butt on my V20, 3cm for my lumbar support, and 1cm for my back/shoulders. I run the foam about 1" from the edge on the bottom though so it doesn't affect my reach to the pedals.
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
Frito Bandito said:
I use 1cm of sticky-backed foam padding under my butt on my V20, 3cm for my lumbar support, and 1cm for my back/shoulders. I run the foam about 1" from the edge on the bottom though so it doesn't affect my reach to the pedals.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion. You must weigh much less than I do as I already have two "Comfort" Ventist cushions stacked on top of each other and it's way to stiff for my butt. 1 cm foam would be way too thin for me. I'm guessing I need 3 inches (7.6 cm) or so of relatively stiff foam. I imagine it would get unwieldy to have 7 - 8 layers of the sticky back foam.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
I was up to 83kg earlier in the year, but now down to about 76kg. There are different thicknesses and densities on the sticky backed foam here, and the one I use is pretty dense. I've seen it up to about 1" thick here, but I didn't go that thick. On the lumbar area that is 3cm thick I just put 3 layers of the 1cm thick stuff. I have ridden up to 8 hours on it a few times and didn't have a single issue with it.
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
Frito Bandito said:
I was up to 83kg earlier in the year, but now down to about 76kg. There are different thicknesses and densities on the sticky backed foam here, and the one I use is pretty dense. I've seen it up to about 1" thick here, but I didn't go that thick. On the lumbar area that is 3cm thick I just put 3 layers of the 1cm thick stuff. I have ridden up to 8 hours on it a few times and didn't have a single issue with it.
Click to expand...
I'm 107 kg right now. I ordered some 1.9 cm thick foam on Amazon. Hard to tell how stiff it is. It's Neoprene, so probably pretty soft. I can layer it on the seat bottom as needed. I guess all I can do is try different thickness and stiffnesses until I get one that works. I don't have trouble in the lumbar area. It's near my tail bone that suffers.

Edit: Also, I'm riding an S40 where you're on a V20, I believe. I have no issues at all on my V20. It's the steep angle of the S40 that puts all the pressure on the butt.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
Yeah, I hear about recumbutt on seat angles that are higher but I hope you can get it sorted. My tailbone was pressing through the Ventisit pad as well, so that is why I added it. 1 shop where I buy my padding was going out of business so I bought a few extra 30cmX30cm sheets on sale. The thing is, this stuff is really durable. I have had it on for a year, and it still looks and works like new. Another place to consider though is carpet shops. They might have some padding that is used under carpets that will work. Maybe even a cut up yoga mat with some roll-on glue.

If/when I get back to Texas I'll let you Texans know and maybe we can get out for a ride.
 
jond

jond

Zen MBB Master
Definitely seat back layback angle is a major factor with recumbutt. However equally important is seat pan shape and to a lesser extent seat back shape.

For example a bowled seat pan distributes your weight more evenly as opposed to a mostly flat seat pan that concentrates body weight at a point leading to recumbutt numbness .

Of course the problem for recumbent seat manufacturers is there in no standard posterior. We can’t all have the same perfect derrière. See fat big spotty arse to no arse.

Thus on my very reclined bikes seat shape is not so important for me lucky me . Eg vendetta standard oem seat fantastic pelso brevet bachetta railgun seat or new comfort seat fantastic both even spread of weight using ventisit pads.

but on my more upright bikes seat shape especially the pan is a major issue for recumbutt. Eg Sofrider v3 with standard aluminium seat v hpv streetmachine with body link seat . I don’t get recumbutt on streetmachine at all but do on the sofrider after 50 klm. Of course the streetmachine is much much more expensive so not a fair comparison. And with use the sofrider recumbutt declines. Plus stop and walk around.

Your quest for comfort then is an individual pursuit with the majority finding their level as per rojos post.

interestingly the sofrider is faster than the streetmachine. Vendetta faster than brevet. Go the mbb.

edit for the record I have a perfect arse xxx mirror mirror
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
jond said:
Definitely seat back layback angle is a major factor with recumbutt. However equally important is seat pan shape and to a lesser extent seat back shape.

For example a bowled seat pan distributes your weight more evenly as opposed to a mostly flat seat pan that concentrates body weight at a point leading to recumbutt numbness .

Of course the problem for recumbent seat manufacturers is there in no standard posterior. We can’t all have the same perfect derrière. See fat big spotty arse to no arse.

Thus on my very reclined bikes seat shape is not so important for me lucky me . Eg vendetta standard oem seat fantastic pelso brevet bachetta railgun seat or new comfort seat fantastic both even spread of weight using ventisit pads.

but on my more upright bikes seat shape especially the pan is a major issue for recumbutt. Eg Sofrider v3 with standard aluminium seat v hpv streetmachine with body link seat . I don’t get recumbutt on streetmachine at all but do on the sofrider after 50 klm. Of course the streetmachine is much much more expensive so not a fair comparison. And with use the sofrider recumbutt declines. Plus stop and walk around.

Your quest for comfort then is an individual pursuit with the majority finding their level as per rojos post.

interestingly the sofrider is faster than the streetmachine. Vendetta faster than brevet. Go the mbb.

edit for the record I have a perfect arse xxx mirror mirror
Click to expand...
I already tried three Thor seats with a half dozen cushions, mostly Ventist. I'm well informed on the cause of recumbutt on the S40. I'm just hoping someone came up with a novel solution, aside from losing a massive amount of body weight. That won't happen. I'll keep playing with cushions. Thanks for your input.
 
Opik

Opik

Well-Known Member
Black Hawk Down said:
How thick is the rubber mats?
Click to expand...

I didn't measure it, but I think probably 0,5 cm each.

If you have access, you could probably go to some seat maker 9probably some car or motorcycle guys know this) to carve and shape the cushion to better fit your body. I do see here in Indonesia the motorcycle seat can cut off foam to make the shape better fit to what the customer needs.

maybe they would put you on some clay or have their own technique to measure, then make a cushion that fits you body.
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
Update on my S40 recumbutt problem. I stuffed my Ventist seat cushion with 3/4 inch foam I bought on Amazon. It made the back softer but the seat was still hard as the foam wasn't stiff enough and it flattened out after 10-15 minutes.

I purchased a seat cushion for a rowing machine on amazon. I just strapped it onto the top of the Ventist. It's awkward but does improve things. I need to use it for a while before deciding it will work. I still get pain, but it takes longer to get there and with a brief stop, I'm good for a while longer. It's a significant improvement, but not perfect.
 
2whluge

2whluge

Member
I have more experience with a Volae than CB, but I think a lot of this applies.

For ten years I rode a carbon seat reclined to about 30 deg. I’d monkey with the recline throughout the year. The stock Volae pad was a combination of closed and open cell. If I sat more upright, I’d get recumbutt.

Last year I had back problems and used a mesh seat on RAGBRAI. I needed the 3 inches of foam on the bottom.

This year I’ve switched to CB and I’m doing a trial with stack, Ventisit, and mesh on my Q45. I’ll report back…
 
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