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I got injured a couple of times in the past few years enough to need crutches to walk on broken limbs and a neighbor gave me her old 100+ year old wood ones. Fo

I got injured a couple of times in the past few years enough to need crutches to walk on broken limbs and a neighbor gave me her old 100+ year old wood ones. Found them to be way better than the new aluminium ones that they make now. They may not have any padding at all, and are somewhat heavier, but I just found they were more comfortable to use somehow. The foam padding on the new ones causes chafing and absorbs stuff like your hand sweat which gets really gross in tropical countries. I definitely don't need them anymore but keep them around as a cool antique which I might need again someday and as a reminder that contemporary designs aren't necessarily better... Crazy that they've been in service for longer than anyone alive in my family.

_yb2s 2y ago
I think in general “padding” doesn’t work as well for human bodies as its popularity implies. It feels more comfortable for the first few seconds but less so afterwards. Usually it puts pressure on soft tissues in a way that cuts off blood flow and nerve function, whereas our body is already shaped and evolved to interact properly with firm surfaces with our own padding and bones in just the right places. For example, serious long distance cyclists mostly still use old fashioned hard leather saddles, which case a lot less pain and numbness on a long ride than the modern padded ones.
- quitit 2y ago
  I see this quite often with gym equipment. If it's designed poorly no amount of padding helps, while better designed equipment may not even have much more than a rubberised pad for grip.
- pandaman 2y ago
  Padding works very well to dampen vibrations, without it a body part in prolonged contact with a vibrating hard surface will accumulate trauma pretty quickly and will be out of use. The leather bicycle saddles have a similar effect as the leather is not nearly as hard as the seat post or steel rails it stretched between and it's flexible enough to not pass high frequency vibrations from the seat post to the soft tissue. This is also why leather had been used forever as padding on tool handles.
  - wizzwizz4 2y ago
    Padding can have a hard surface on top of it. For most tools, this is unnecessary (you can adjust your grip), but for other things it might matter.
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    Yeah, leather saddles also often have an actual suspension with springs. Suspension systems of almost any kind are great for bodies, especially if you can make them not involve overly soft surfaces directly against your body.
- fy20 2y ago
  Mattresses as well. When we moved into our house it came with some furniture, including a bed with a memory foam mattress in the master. After a few days I noticed I was getting back pain and figured it was just from unpacking. One time I feel asleep in the other bedroom, with our old mattress which was a lot firmer, and I woke up without any pain. Tried a few times on both, and yes, the firmer mattress is better for me.
- Gigachad 2y ago
  No racing bike seats are padded. The leather ones are really just an aesthetic choice. Those fat padded seats only come on those $200 bikes sold to people who don’t ride bikes because it looks more comfortable.
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    This information is not accurate. Tensioned leather saddles are in no way an aesthetic choice, but a radically different design that is more comfortable. I’m a long distance cyclist and only use Brooks saddles. The entire seat is tensioned heavy leather that shapes to your body over time rather than having a hard molded section with padding over it. See here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html https://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html Modern race seats are molded material- plastic or carbon fiber, with a small layer of padding and then a covering. There may be race seats without padding, but most have a little. They have a small amount of padding that is then often used with padded shorts.

_yb2s 2y ago

I think in general “padding” doesn’t work as well for human bodies as its popularity implies. It feels more comfortable for the first few seconds but less so afterwards. Usually it puts pressure on soft tissues in a way that cuts off blood flow and nerve function, whereas our body is already shaped and evolved to interact properly with firm surfaces with our own padding and bones in just the right places. For example, serious long distance cyclists mostly still use old fashioned hard leather saddles, which case a lot less pain and numbness on a long ride than the modern padded ones.

quitit 2y ago
I see this quite often with gym equipment. If it's designed poorly no amount of padding helps, while better designed equipment may not even have much more than a rubberised pad for grip.
pandaman 2y ago
Padding works very well to dampen vibrations, without it a body part in prolonged contact with a vibrating hard surface will accumulate trauma pretty quickly and will be out of use. The leather bicycle saddles have a similar effect as the leather is not nearly as hard as the seat post or steel rails it stretched between and it's flexible enough to not pass high frequency vibrations from the seat post to the soft tissue. This is also why leather had been used forever as padding on tool handles.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  Padding can have a hard surface on top of it. For most tools, this is unnecessary (you can adjust your grip), but for other things it might matter.
- _yb2s 2y ago
  Yeah, leather saddles also often have an actual suspension with springs. Suspension systems of almost any kind are great for bodies, especially if you can make them not involve overly soft surfaces directly against your body.
fy20 2y ago
Mattresses as well. When we moved into our house it came with some furniture, including a bed with a memory foam mattress in the master. After a few days I noticed I was getting back pain and figured it was just from unpacking. One time I feel asleep in the other bedroom, with our old mattress which was a lot firmer, and I woke up without any pain. Tried a few times on both, and yes, the firmer mattress is better for me.
Gigachad 2y ago
No racing bike seats are padded. The leather ones are really just an aesthetic choice. Those fat padded seats only come on those $200 bikes sold to people who don’t ride bikes because it looks more comfortable.
- _yb2s 2y ago
  This information is not accurate. Tensioned leather saddles are in no way an aesthetic choice, but a radically different design that is more comfortable. I’m a long distance cyclist and only use Brooks saddles. The entire seat is tensioned heavy leather that shapes to your body over time rather than having a hard molded section with padding over it. See here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html https://www.sheldonbrown.com/leather.html Modern race seats are molded material- plastic or carbon fiber, with a small layer of padding and then a covering. There may be race seats without padding, but most have a little. They have a small amount of padding that is then often used with padded shorts.