Jay - Looking back from 30 years on, shock absorbing has a very different meaning. Look at the spring - it's holding the saddle top in tension. While I will agree that if you hit a bump, the spring might compress a little bit, it can't be doing any meaningful "absorption" because it does not have anywhere near enough travel, and that travel is taken up as you tighten the tension screw.
The alloy rails saddle had a reputation of riding more harshly than the steel rail version, so this might have been pure marketing, or maybe something was lost in translation. Looks to me like the leather's own "give" is the real shock absorber.
Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA 206 618 9642 <mailto:mark@petry.org> mark@petry.org
Mark,
Then could you please explain why Tron-Berthet would introduce it as a
"shock absorber to overcome vertical stiffness" and it be reported on as such?
Jay Dubiel