Selle Anatomica announced this week that it has reached its ‘Comfy Carbon Crowdfund Campaign’ goal of US$30,000 more than two full weeks early. As at the time of writing, the crowdfunding project had accumulated 174 backers pledging $39,000 – with two weeks still to run on the project.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Ryan Hosmer, Director of Product Evolution at Selle Anatomica. “The outcome of this crowdfund exceeded our wildest expectations. It’s very gratifying to see people show their support with their dollars and put their faith in us.”
In the coming days, Selle Anatomica will commence testing of its leather saddles at the University of California San Diego’s Department of Structural Engineering to begin the ‘first step in defining an industry first comfort algorithm’. From there, the data will be interpreted and translated into a carbon layup that mimics the feel of Selle Anatomica’s leather saddles as closely as is technically possible.
Yet-to-be-named, the new saddle is projected to weigh less than 200g, saving more than 300g from Selle Anatomica’s current leather saddle offerings.
Going space-age with saddle comfort
The company is teaming up with local aerospace and carbon composite experts from private industry and the University of California San Diego. By working with aerospace product developers and carbon specialists, Selle Anatomica is aiming to create ‘the lightest, most comfortable bicycle saddle on the planet’.
Ti-railed and carbon sprung
“The new saddle will feature a carbon-top designed from an industry-first comfort algorithm and our patented flex-fly slot,” said Ryan Hosmer, Global Director of Retail Distribution at Selle Anatomica. “It rests on a titanium rail system embedded into a carbon leaf-spring that provides unseen levels of road-bump absorption.”
“Each side of the saddle flexes independently with every pedal stroke the rider makes, providing significantly less resistance than traditional saddles.”
