alrighty !! back at it again. put on 6 miles tonight.
Got out the sawzall and dremel and went at it fixing the seat. I am also BENDING the seat back arm !! I need to reinforce that too.
I added two layers of plywood (later will find some foam to put on top of that and some black canvas to make it look nice and "blend" with the existing seat.
WHAT a difference. no more "butt pain" from trying to oooze in the opening. huge improvement.
I think I am starting to break in my muscles cause MAN did it wipe my legs out tonight. "I" was not overly tired but my legs said "wow" and it felt very good.
Here are some pics of the seat repair AND finally got a self picture with my bike.
Me and my bike
The seat cushion and its cover
I bought some 1/4 x 20 short counter sink bolts and used the unused holes in the seat to secure to the plywood I also stuffed some gorilla glue in the break in the resin/foam of the seat. then added a layer of paper so the glue would not adhere to the seat cover itself.
The top with the wood. note I have extra wood extending out the back to provide more support and ALSO to allow me to "anchor" the seat to the backrest stem to reinforce all of them (will device a bracket system alter)
The base/stem unit attached
that square tube right there is what goes to the "backrest" and it is bent now. I need to reinforce that.
Here is the seat on the bike again
notes in the picture. the CIRCLED component is a concern. it looks like I am bending and or stressing it. its a very small little clamp with ONE screw holding it all together. that is a weak point I need to reinforce. one way is my supports. once I add them THIS component should be under less stress
its also hard to keep the seat from "turning" (see the arrow) and I am afraid to tighten this too much. SO I am going to get a piece of pipe that will snugly slide over the step once I have it JUST where I want it I will cut to the exact length to fit here and add that piece in to take some of the load.
tonight I did most of my 3 mile loop and then road up to the walmart center and road around that and came back through the neighbor hoods road 6 miles (its shorter in strava because I start and stop it away from home)
Here is the strava link
http://app.strava.com/rides/22963027
Youtube video coming later