BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Ken Link of the Taiwanese company Ken Link Co. Ltd is a lovely bloke. He has a nephew who’s a doctor in London and he’s got an infectious laugh (Ken, that is, no idea about the nephew). But Link’s product has been getting the wrong sort of attention at the Taipei Cycle trade show, which finishes tomorrow.
A big red sign on Link’s stand says "Testicles relaxing. We invite you to try."
This is not a novel version of reflexology, Link’s product is a comfort saddle. A noseless comfort saddle, and one that’s raised many a titter in Taipei.
Link has no doubt been wondering why his stand has been getting so much attention, but his order book remained so low.
Billed as "a futuristic seat for your bicycle", the Ken Link noseless saddle is similar to many others out there, all created to relieve pressure in areas which don’t like pressure.
Link told BikeBiz this was his first appearance at the Taipei show, with his product having been created (and, amazingly, for such a generic design, patented) last year. The saddle is his company’s only product.
The box for the saddle says "Buttock no more sore" on one side, and "Testicles Relaxing" on the other.
The features of the saddle include "Less frictions between buttocks and the seat" and "More free space for man’s testicles."
A pamphlet has further text that may have also lost a fair bit in translation.
Such as: "The left and right sides of the seat will sway a little to agree with the movements of buttocks."
And: "A crescent shape design would press inner side of legs to keep buttocks from slipping out of the seat when using a sharp turn."
I’d not use a sharp anything when riding with this saddle. I had a go of the test bike: the saddle is very bouncy and the twin rails look like just the place to wedge testes, notwithstanding the claim about "relaxing".
So, while I wouldn’t recommend this particular saddle for either short or long-distance riding, the company owner deserves some ‘Link love’ so here’s his website: www.99bike.com
