Foam vs 3D Lattice: Why Your Printed Saddle Doesn't Sink (or Pack Down) Over Time

The age-old problem: foam gets tired before you do

Anyone who has ridden enough knows it: the saddle that felt wonderful the first year isn't the same a few months later. It feels harder in some areas, sunken in others, and your posture changes without you having changed it. The same happens with elbow rests and aerobar pads.

The culprit is almost always the padding material. Foam —and gel too— compresses with use, takes on a "memory" and stops recovering its shape. A 3D-printed lattice structure, on the other hand, works differently. In this article we explain why, and what that changes for your comfort over time.

How foam works (and why it eventually gives way)

EVA or conventional polyurethane foam cushions by squashing: the air bubbles inside compress and absorb the impact. The problem is that this mechanism wears out. With every ride, with heat and with humidity, those cells break down and stop recovering.

You know the result:

• It sinks in the highest-pressure areas, exactly where you rest most, which is where you can least afford to lose support.
• It spreads pressure poorly: as it gives way unevenly, hot spots and numbness appear.
• It holds heat and sweat, because it's a solid block with little ventilation.
• It loses its properties over time: today's saddle doesn't feel like it did on day one.

Gel improves initial pressure distribution somewhat, but it carries the same problems: weight, heat and degradation.

What a 3D lattice is and why it's different

A 3D lattice isn't a solid block: it's a structure of interconnected hollow cells, a lattice designed by computer and 3D printed. Instead of cushioning by squashing trapped air, it cushions by flexing its own geometry: the cells deform under load and spring back when you stop pressing.

It's exactly the same trick nature uses to be light and strong at the same time. The inside of a bone, a honeycomb or a plant stem aren't solid: they're lattices. Material just where it's needed, hollow where it isn't. For decades we didn't know how to make something like that because with a mould it's impossible to create millions of connected hollow cells. 3D printing —specifically Carbon's DLS technology— can: it "draws" the part with light and resin, layer by layer.

If you want to dig into when 3D printing makes sense and when carbon lay-up does, we cover it in our guide to hand-laid carbon vs 3D printing.

Why a 3D lattice doesn't sink like foam

The key lies in the material and the geometry. Our lattices are printed in EPU (Carbon's elastomeric polyurethane, in versions such as EPU 41 and EPU 46), an elastic material: it deforms and recovers its shape again and again without "getting tired" like foam. It doesn't depend on air bubbles that break, but on a structure that bounces back.

The extra advantage: density made to order

Because the lattice is designed cell by cell, we can make it softer where you rest and firmer where you push, within the same part. And we can tune that density to your weight and your contact point. That's something a block of foam, with one density for everyone, can't offer.

It's the same philosophy we use to design pressure distribution in our contact products, as we explain in customisation and biomechanics.

Where you notice it on the bike

This technology is at the points where your body touches the bike and where foam degradation is most annoying:

• NEXUS 3D Carbon Saddle: a one-piece lattice, around 145 g with its pad, that keeps its support ride after ride and breathes better than a foam saddle.
• Race Days Grips: about 16 g a set, with a lattice that filters vibration without packing down.
• Aerobar rests and pads: where the forearm rests for hours and the material's recovery makes the difference over long distances.

Quick summary

Frequently asked questions

Why does saddle foam sink over time?

Because it cushions by compressing the air in its cells. With use, heat and humidity those cells break down and stop recovering their shape.

Does a 3D lattice get squashed too?

Not in the same way. An EPU lattice structure is elastic: it deforms and recovers its geometry again and again, keeping its support for much longer.

What material are the 3D lattices made of?

EPU (Carbon's elastomeric polyurethane, such as EPU 41 and EPU 46), printed with DLS technology and designed by CarboXtrem.

Does it breathe better than foam?

Yes, being open cells it ventilates much better than a solid block.

Try a contact point that doesn't get tired

If you're fed up with your saddle or rests losing their shape after a few months, a 3D-printed lattice is in another league: it keeps its support, spreads pressure and breathes, ride after ride.

Discover the NEXUS 3D Carbon Saddle →

Interested in lattice technology? Also read about customisation and biomechanics and take a look at the Race Days grips.