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Traditional bike saddles are usually made of three structures: a plastic support, a middle layer filled with PU or EVA material, and an outer layer made of leather or fabric. However, traditional saddles have limitations: limited breathability, lower comfort, and limited design freedom.

Our customer, a bike maker, wanted to use a simpler structure and a more effective manufacturing method — 3D printing technology — to address these limitations. They contacted us and provided their original design. They wanted to use FDM technology and TPU material to manufacture the saddle. However, after reviewing the design and considering our industrial engineering experience, we found that FDM was not a suitable solution and would be difficult to achieve successfully.

FDM is a widely used 3D printing technology, and TPU materials are also popular among engineers, especially for making simple designs and small parts such as standard shells and seals. However, for this 3D printed bike saddle, the lattice size, structural details, and overall design complexity were beyond what FDM could achieve smoothly and stably. The main reasons are as follows:

1. The lattice structure is too complicated for FDM to produce stably because of its printing process, which is similar to spinning a thread.
2. When TPU meets FDM, it is difficult to achieve effective support or simply recover the design because of TPU’s soft properties.
3. FDM-printed parts are usually not good enough to meet products that focus on appearance because of the rough surface finish and obvious layer lines.

Why still use TPU?

Shore 60A TPU Material for DLP Printing

Shore 60A TPU provides a balance of flexibility and support for the one-piece lattice bike saddle.

Image Souce: IN3DTEC Material' Page

TPU has better flexibility and fatigue resistance compared with many other materials. It is already widely used in applications such as shoe soles and motorcycle seals, where repeated deformation is required.

In this project, we used Shore 60A TPU for lattice bike saddle. Its material properties can fully meet the requirements of a bike saddle, which needs to provide both support and comfort. Shore 60A TPU can maintain a good balance between flexibility and support.

Why use DLP instead of FDM

TPU Lattice Bike Saddles After DLP Printing

A batch of TPU lattice bike saddles after DLP 3D printing, before post-processing.

Image Source: IN3DTEC Production Team

You can find the reasons one by one in the table below.

The customer's original CAD file was designed based on FDM printing logic, which means there were many enclosed areas inside the structure.

If we used the original design directly for DLP printing, uncured resin would remain trapped inside these areas and could not be removed. The design would also require multiple internal supports that would be difficult to remove after printing.

Therefore, we needed to optimize the design using DfAM (Design for Additive Manufacturing) to preserve the customer original concept while modifying the geometry to meet the specific requirements of DLP printing.

CAD Design of One-Piece TPU Lattice Bike Saddle

The CAD model shows the one-piece lattice structure developed for the TPU bike saddle.

Image Source: IN3DTEC Technical Team

The following are the four main DfAM adjustments we made:

1. Refine the internal structure to improve the resin flow and drainage by redesigning the internal connection way of the lattice.
2. Refine the lattice connection points to improve structural reliability by adjusting the direction to better suit the DLP’s printing process.
3. Refine wall thickness distribution to improve the load distribution by adjusting the wall thickness and local geometry
4. Refine the printing orientation and support strategy to improve printing success and reduce the difficulty of post-processing.

Color Coating for DLP 3D Printed TPU Bike Saddle

Color coating is applied to the DLP 3D printed TPU saddle to achieve a more uniform black appearance.

Image Source: IN3DTEC Production Team

After printing, the TPU 3D printed saddle had a semi-transparent black appearance. To achieve a more uniform black appearance, we applied a color coating to the surface of the part. This process can further improve the overall quality and style of the part. It helps transform the saddle from only a prototype into a real ready-to-use product. It also allows customization with different colors based on different customer preferences.

Finished One-Piece TPU Lattice Bike Saddle

Front and back views of the finished one-piece TPU lattice bike saddle made with DLP 3D printing.

Image Source: IN3DTEC Technical Team

In the end, we successfully manufactured a one-piece TPU lattice bike saddle using DLP 3D printing.

The final solution met the main requirements of the project:

• Not using traditional materials and manufacturing methods, but instead using one-piece 3D printing with a lattice structure and TPU material.
• Improving the appearance and breathability of the saddle.
• Supporting personalized colors and a high-quality appearance.
• Turning the customer's idea into reality with an excellent manufacturing solution.

See the whole process about DLP printing on YouTube:

See the full case study video on IG:

Do you have a great idea or creative design? Just contact us, and we can help you make it a reality.

You can send your files or project details to sales@in3dtec.com. We will support you from the beginning to the end.