“…Existing “comfort saddles” are compromised. They lack the neccesary form and function. Movement is restricted by width, adding to chaffing, and the supported area was little better than with most seats.

The priority wasn’t for a perception of comfort, but an absence of what creates discomfort – not quite the same thing. The problem needed turning round to provide maximum support with no loss of performance. That’s what we had found.

I contacted BBC Tomorrows World, who had an innovations competition programme coming up, but I was advised not to go public, with a design with commercial potential, until a patent was applied for.

Several years were spent organising patents and talking to NESTA about prototype market trials, at great cost for what you got. We decided to head into product development for manufacture, to get real-world feedback. This was done primarily in-house, with vast assistance from friends, riders and the likes of DuPont, then Velo saddle makers in Taiwan, and back to work with Protomould in Fife to make the final tooling for a 1^st production run. This took about 8 years (plus two houses).

What kept me motivated, along with a ride like a sofa, was increasing evidence about damage conventional nosed saddles cause to blood vessels and soft tissues, and the sheer discomfort – they’re unsuitable for supporting the human anatomy – we changed all that.” – Jonathan Catling, designer.