MEET THE FOUNDER OF ZETA SADDLES: DR. PATRICK O'SHEA, D.C.

 THE FOUNDERS JOURNEY 

 

FROM CLINICIAN TO INVENTOR AND FOUNDER

Dr. Patrick O'Shea has been a practicing Chiropractor for 30 years specializing in the treatment of sports injuries and overuse syndromes.  As both an avid cyclist and treating doctor to the large population of cyclists, triathletes and mountain bikers in San Diego, CA, he was personally aware and for many years hearing complaints daily about how uncomfortable bike saddles are.

 

Many friends and patients have more serious problems from cycling besides varying degrees of discomfort that most enthusiasts complain about. Most riders would report they just put up with the lower level to moderate discomfort by accepting it as normal or unavoidable.  Hearing how people riding fewer days, shorter distances and changing saddles often still didn’t work.

 

DR. O'SHEA TREATS FEMALE CYCLIST'S WITH PAIN FROM BIKE SADDLES

While treating a female professional cyclist, she told Dr. OShea how sore she gets from being on the bike so much and riding with great intensity leading to terrible sit bone (and genitalia) pain and discomfort.  She asked pointedly, “Why can’t they make better saddles that don’t hurt so bad?!”  He didn’t think at the time that his answer would end up pushing him on this long journey of designing and producing the best bicycle saddles possible, but it did.

 

Dr. Oshea’s background, including biomechanics, biophysics and treating professional and elite athletes his whole career, gave him an advantage to look at the saddle design and comfort differently.  This understanding of the body, dynamic forces, and how force is transferred lead him to use Laws of Physics relating to “equal and opposite forces” formulas to solve this:

 

THE PHYSICS OF CYCLING AND BIKE SADDLE DISCOMFORT, PAIN, & NUMBNESS

Rider’s Contact Force (CF) against the saddle, opposed by the Ground Reaction Force (GRF), plus friction, vibration and impact forces from riding surface.  These forces magnify the contact pressure and when you add “time” it all becomes a destination toward discomfort.  That’s even with having the right size saddle for you!

 

The answer he gave this professional cyclist was simple.  “Foams are very vulnerable to “compression set”, which means they flatten easily as air is pushed out, remain compressed and do not protect your sit bones and soft tissues at all.  Contact pressure over time equals pain and discomfort of varying degrees.  Better outcomes obviously with the correct size/width saddle, it’s design (cutout, channel, shape, etc.), and the riders bike setup and with an expert bike fit.

 

The thing is, even with all the above positives in place, the materials inside the saddle are still foam and/or cheap gels.  These materials do not have the structural support, shock absorption or force dispersing properties to handle the hard contact pressures, friction, and other forces of cycling over the time and distances of your rides.

 

ZETA SADDLES: BIKE SADDLE PRESSURE TESTING FOCUSED RESEARCH & DESIGN

It took some time for materials research and 100’s of iterations before he filed and was finally awarded his Utility patents. Deep dive research into material science and bike saddle design was undertaken to learn beyond his personal cycling experiences and to learn what was causing the big issues that many cyclists have that are not being solved.

Many different materials and combinations of materials were used through trial and error until the aerospace derived high quality materials and Dr. O'Shea's formulas were created.  All roads lead to the April 2024 independent testing by an engineer and professional bike fitter using gebioMized contact pressure testing where Zeta Saddles had the lowest contact pressures numbers and best color mapping results at the sit bones and perineum beating out all of the top brands with sixteen saddles tested.

Passion, curiosity and the strong desire to help people, namely cyclists and riders of all types, drove him to develop Zeta Saddles lineup. Primarily focused on saddles for road cycling, gravel riding, and mountain bike riders; but, also created additional options for all the eBike, home trainers, spin bikes and commuters too. 

 

What's next for Dr. O'Shea and Zeta Saddles?

The Athena Project: Women's bike saddle research & design project with Zeta's patented Reactive Padding to be customized on a new platform.

Dr. O'Shea is leading Zeta Saddles into a very ambitious project to create a true women's geometry bike saddle family utilizing women in all phases from the design, prototype pressure testing, test groups, and final approval with targeted pressure reduction and comfort confirmation before going into production.  Women designed, tested, and approved of with Zeta Saddles and partners to be determined :)  

Any interest in taking part in The Athena Project from offering feedback by email, filling out a short survey, or becoming a tester, please email us at: info@zetasaddles.com

All bike fitters that would like to offer input or become involved in the testing groups or to learn more about Zeta Saddles products and future of the Athena saddle, please contact us at zetasaddles@gmail.com.