We examine, with the aid of a much simplified model, the competition between xelectron delocalization energy and chain conformation entropy that occurs when a conjugated polymer is placed in solution. For a lightly doped z-band we predict the existence of .conformons>>, i.e. locally rigid regions, each containing one or more x-electrons, on an otherwise flexible chain. We also consider the case of a half-filled band, and in this case find that the freezing out of chain degrees of freedom can contribute significantly to the sharpness of a rod-tocoil transition.