@samoset, are those bike seats mounted on a loose, or spring pivot?
Are bicycle seats nowadays, like on
@fuyume bike, automatically correct (groove down the middle ) for both male and female genders?
I would prefer to have a head mounted lamp aimed into where I'm looking verses where the bike bars are heading, or possibly both is a good idea. Bright tail and running lights can't hurt either.
The bike in the background has a narrow seat with a groove. The groove was developed for men. I read decades ago that ardent cyclists like racers were developing fertility problems from the pressure at the middle of a narrow saddle. I don't remember whether the damage was thought to be permanent.
The seat clamp can set the tilt as the rider desires. In the old days, before everybody started bending way over to race, tilting seats forward was common, though not as extreme as the bike in the background. One advantage is that it keeps the pressure on my ischiums, or "sit bones." Another is that the high back gives me efficient leg extension, but when I stop, sliding forward brings me down for stable ground contact. I use the motor to get underway, and the tilted seat scoops me up. If it weren't tilted, it would poke my excretory aperture.
By starting with a pedal at top dead center, I get long power strokes, but at top dead center, I'm pushing forward, not down. The tilted saddle helps absorb the equal and opposite reaction so I don't have to jerk the handlebars.
I moved both saddles aft, I think 12 inches, from stock. That's how John Starley produced the first successful rear-wheel-drive bicycle, the Rover, in 1885. It made bumps more comfortable by putting most of a rider's weight on the pedals, not the seat. A rider's upper body is braced by a sort of tripod between the seat and the hand grips. Moving the seat back made the tripod, and therefore the bicycle, more stable. At top dead center, the rider's knees weren't doubled over, which meant more power with less strain on knees and leg muscles.
Both OEM lights are frame mounted. The handlebar light is more intense, so I take care to keep it out of the eyes of oncoming drivers. The potential for blinding a driver is greater with a headlamp. I've ordered a clamp to attach my Surefire Aviator to my hat brim. On foot, I have more than once goofed and shined a headlamp in somebody's face. I have years of experience being careful, so maybe I won't goof on the street. Maybe I'll ride with it off most of the time.
