Yesterday evening I was fiddling around with some bits of scrap metal I have in my basement (I know, I know...) and found something interesting. The lower part of a Razor scooter handlebar stem is an aluminum tube that is wider at the bottom to thread onto the fork, and narrower at the top where the upper part of the handlebar stem fits into it.
The upper part of that lower tube seems to be exactly the same diameter as the seatpost of a Downtube Mini. This got me thinking. So then I tried inserting the upper part of the Razor handlebar stem into the inside of the Mini seatpost; and that fit, too, though not as snugly as one might wish. Still, these facts got me thinking as follows.
You could cut a section 6" or even 8" long, from the lower part of the Razor handlebar stem, together with a longer section, perhaps 12" long, from the upper part of the Razor handlebar stem, and bond these together with the Mini seatpost with an epoxy. This would make your seatpost longer, heavier, and presumably stronger.
I can't predict exactly how strong it would be, of course. In my own case (I am 6' tall) I normally ride with the post hyperextended by an inch or so, even with the Butt Buddy. If I extended my seat post as described, I could get rid of the Butt Buddy (and good riddance to it, BTW) and hyperextend the seatpost by 3" or so. The Razor extension would still be completely inside the Mini's frame, so though it would be supporting both the frame the seatpost, it would not be directly supporting me. I'm thinking it would work.
But, of course, I haven't tried it yet.
What do y'all think? I know, I know, someone's going to say "
", but I think the additional aluminum would give more additional strength than, say, a piece of wood.