You’re not alone if you’ve never heard of the cycling company Posedla. You won’t find its brand name emblazoned on any downtube or jersey. But the young, Czech-born company is intent on making a splash in the industry.
To do so, it took one ambitious step forward. It’s making the world’s first 3D-printed, customizable bike saddle.
The bicycle industry has churned out 3D-printed saddles and rider-customizable versions. The Posedla Joyseat belongs under both categories. It’s the brand’s coup, and it’s widely available now.
All it takes for the company to create a made-to-measure saddle is an imprint of a rider’s sit bones (don’t worry, it provides instructions). Posedla also gathers ride preferences. A patent-pending structure lets Posedla tune individual parts of the saddle toward different stiffnesses, to meet individual needs and sit-bone shapes. It can even adjust the areas between the seat’s three “zones” (sit, rail, and nose) to specific gradients for more customization.
A carbon shell and rails round it out. The Posedla Joyseat saddles weigh 170-210 g, depending on the spec.
Posedla spent 2 years developing the algorithm it uses to transfer submitted data into bike seats on an industrial 3D printer, the company said in a press release. Since its limited launch last year, the Joyseat has grown mainly by word of mouth, the company said. It stated riders in 20 countries use one. Posedla aims to reach a wider international audience with a fresh marketing campaign.
“We are driven by positive feedback from our customers who appreciate comfort and welcome the possibility of finally having a fully customized saddle,” said Martin Ripa, co-founder of Posedla. “We managed to break the mold of assembly-line production of saddles by taking full advantage of industrial 3D printing with Multi Jet Fusion technology.”
The price tag of a fully custom, 3D-printed Joyseat is $525 (€490). Posedla prints each one at its Czech Republic facility.
