On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:19:35 -0600, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 23:36:24 +0000, John Doe wrote:

Anybody do the research? I will look around. I guess "elastomer" is
another name for plastic. Generally speaking... Is it durable as steel
for Springs?
I'm thinking about the elastomer springs on a bicycle seat/saddle. They
might require less rigid structure than steel springs, so maybe there's
less chance of them breaking off of the saddle.

"Elastomer" is High Falutin for rubber, urethane, etc.

AFAIK there's a lot of opportunity to make things better as well as a lot
of opportunity to screw things up -- there's a huge range of available
materials, they'll be more likely than steel to not age well, and you'll
need to select one that withstands the elements.

But, having said all that -- who knows, it may work great.


BMC used rubber springs for the Austin 1100 (sold as the MG Sport
Sedan in the US). They seemed to hold up well. Liquid dampers were
built into the rubber assembly, which was then called "hydrolastic."

I imagine it would handle the butt of a bicycle rider.

--
Ed Huntress