A Novel Low-Cost Design of Bicycle Seat Mounting to Improve Ride Comfort

This paper focuses on the design of bicycle seat mounting to dampen the vertical acceleration experienced by a rider during a ride on a rough road. The novel arrangement comprises of four springs and one damper horizontally placed in the frame and two springs vertically placed. The nonlinear equation of motion describing the dynamic behavior of the system is derived. The spring constant is evaluated from consideration of the rider's weight and the allowable extension of the spring. An optimal value of the damping coefficient is evaluated. The Simulink model is used to obtain the step response.