Can you enlighten us to what that formula is? I am putting a hardtail on mine if it ever arrives, waiting for Elswick since Feb.....beside the point. What tips do you have to get the ergonomics right? Obviously a lot of people don't cos they getting saddle sore.
Planing on a sprung or shock seat, forward controls at this stage.
it's gonna be different for different people. I know this first hand now, because I just did my first ride on my sprung solo seat, hard-tailed XS. If anything, the back felt "squishy" due to the 5 inch springs - not so much up and down squishy, as the springs are quite stiff, but rather a sort of side to side squishy wallowing. Gonna try 3 inch springs first, before I sh_t-can it for a solid seat like punkskalar has on that sweet bike in his pic.
I didn't go over any huge bumps on my little ride...but just on my regular none-too-great urban street, I didn't notice any jarring roughness due to hardtail.
One thing, I (unfortunately) am pretty short-legged, so all of my bikes (bikes with shocks) have had to have SHORT shocks - and while they do compress, they can be brutal too.
My thought is unless you want medium to long shock absorbers, you'll never have a plush or even decent ride (compared to good shocks).
Without long or medium shocks, it's gonna be a compromise, one way or the other.
Rigid frame with
solid mounted seat is, I suppose the most extreme end of the compromise - but in a sense it is no longer a compromise, cuz you say by that time "hey I'm just not dealing with this at all". And what you see is what you get. Gotta keep your eye on the road more.
I haven't had the chance to take the bike on anything like twisties yet, but my thought is it's going to be FUN on curves where there are no bumps, once I fix the wallowy seat situation.
The other thing is there are several types of springs and set-ups for sprung seats...so if someone had the energy and the funds, you could knock yourself out figuring out/engineering alternatives. I'm intrigued by a couple of bikes I've seen that use a flat bendy piece of steel kind of like a "leaf spring" suspension for the seat.
Anyway, as someone with only 1 short ride on a sprung seat under my belt, I will tell ya that I'm
thinking of doing away with it and going pure rigid.
Also, what you THINK may be comfortable as far as ergo's (bar position relative to seat and pegs) may or may not work out like you thought. I thought for sure the layout I did my bike in was going to be way comfortable, but in fact, it puts me more or less in sportbike position. Might be good for some, but not my old ass - so I have to see about a way to move pegs forward a bit.
Just saying, there are lots of considerations and I don't think anyone can hope to nail the ergo's in the first go-around, unless you've done a chopper or bobber before.
But to an extent, it's that way with
any bike. Every single bike I've owned, I've felt the need to change seat, bars, shocks, etc.
Good luck!