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Super-setback seatpost needed
 

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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI

8/24/13 7:34 AM

Super-setback seatpost needed

My wife has some physical issues (longtime forum members may remember an old story about her, a bike and a gravel hauler... Ouch!) that have made a Townie, with its "crank-forward" design and a low seat ideal for her. But the Townie is desperately heavy.

I'm wondering if I could make a standard hybrid bike a possibility for her to ride. The issue is keeping the seat low enough for her to mount the bike by straddling the rear tire and climbing on to the saddle -- but still getting reasonable leg extension when pedaling

Anyone know of any seatposts with a HUGE amount of setback? It would also help if she could find a recreational saddle (relatively wide and well-padded for an upright position) with seat rails that would allow her to push the saddle farther rearward than most.

Any alternative ideas for making this happen would be welcome, too.

Thanks,

Alan

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dfcas
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: hillbilly heaven

8/24/13 9:37 AM

Easton or FSA used to make a post with 40mm of setback, and also a Look ergopost comes to mind. I don't know how much setback those have, but its a lot.

No help on a saddle.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

8/24/13 10:52 AM

manufacturing

Dunno if this would work, but.

1. Find seatpost of appropriate diameter for the frame.
2. Remove top of post
3. Find post w/a lot of setback (VO sells a nice one)
4. Find a machine shop and have them make 2 or three spacers. Each will be 1" or so high, with concavities on each side--one matching the bike's post, the other, the post that actually supports the saddle. Each spacer should supply enough room to make the adjustment of the secondary post clamp sufficient
5. Drill through both posts and attach them through the spacer with 1/4" bolts & nyloc nuts.

A lot of work, but it should get you the adjustable setback she needs.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/24/13 11:23 AM

What about a drop seatpost? expensive, but if it keeps her riding...

Cheapest I browsed for just now $119.00 on sale.

And some/most? have a remote handlebar lever to drop. 4" seems to be the norm, dunno if anyone makes any w.more drop. But perhaps one of these on a compact frame could make a solution...

http://www.pricepoint.com/Brand/KS/Kind-Shock-E-Ten-Dropper-Seatpost-100mm-Lever.axd?gclid=COr3u4jMlrkCFelAMgoddzwAMQ



Last edited by Sparky on 8/26/13 12:12 AM; edited 1 time in total

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

8/24/13 12:32 PM

Technique?

Please accept that I mean this as helpful and that I hope it only exposes my lack of vision.

Is this the Townie build? (link and image)



Does she want only a bike where she will be able to stand flat footed in the saddle?

It reads to me like her main problem is range of motion. Mounting the bicycle is impossible because she cannot lift her leg high over the saddle and maybe not over the bar of a woman's frame.

Different technique?
If it's only mounting the bike, is it possible she could approach a woman's frame bike that is lying on the ground, straddle it, and lift the bike under her. At that point she could place a foot on a pedal and mount.

Bikes Direct has a good collection of women's bikes. My ex has a Dawes that was a blast to ride, relatively light, built like a 23" up front with a 19" seat tube it was upright for her, at 5'2" with the normal length seatpost and her saddle. With an MTB seatpost it became my size. The double downtube makes a stiff BB.

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sandiway
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 4902
Location: back in Tucson

8/24/13 1:00 PM

Albert Bold

Albert Bold makes seatposts.
Some forum members own his stuff.
I Remember he can do huge setback

Sandiway

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

8/24/13 3:46 PM

I've bought my wife a couple of these setback seatposts over the years. The one with the most setback is the FSA SL 220, which has 35mm setback. FSA don't make that model any longer, but they do have the K-Force seatpost which comes in a version with 32mm setback. However, it's a fairly expensive carbon fibre model.

Actually, I just looked in our bits box, and the SL 220 is not being used. I can send it to you if you want. It's 27.2 diameter, but is no longer the original length - my wife being quite short, I shortened it so the section of the post that can fit in the frame is now a bit over six inches long. The setback looks like this:

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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI

8/25/13 12:37 PM

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

This morning, we took a leisurely three hour ride, which was a good opportunity to talk about some of the ideas offered here, and for me to observe more carefully how she gets on the bike, stops and gets started from a stop.

My sense is that she could probably tolerate a slightly higher saddle (she may not need to be able to get her feet totally flat on the ground, as long as she can get most of her foot in contact with the ground when she's in the saddle.) But I don't think she could raise it enough so that any of the production seatposts mentioned here would get her enough leg extension.

It's possible a custom seatpost would do the job, but even that may not be enough.

Really, the Townie crank-forward design (she rides the men's version -- see the link Daddy-o posted) is more or less made for overcoming her issues. Fit and function-wise, it's perfect. Its 21-speed mountain bike components are great, since she needs plenty of low gears.

But what would really be ideal would be a Townie-style bike that's significantly lighter (her's must weigh at least 35 pounds), and, if possible, has quicker handling.

This Rans bike, with a crank-forward design looks worth a look -- if we can find one: http://rans.com/bicycles/street.html It would at least cut about 10 pounds off the weight. (But then my wife looked at it, and wondered whether the wheelbase would be too long to fit on our roof rack. Good question...

So, thanks again. A solution to this will take some research -- and probably some trial and error.

Alan

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

8/25/13 9:35 PM

How about a recumbent?

It seems that in your wife's situation, it may be the best solution. In addition to solving the mounting issues, it will give her aerodynamic and pedaling leverage advantages that she loses with a Townie-style bike.

Barring that, I agree with Sparky that the dropper post might be the best way for her to ride a standard road bike and it only adds about a pound to the weight. With a remote on the bars, she would be able to operate easily in any situation.

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Anthony Smith
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 848
Location: Ohio

8/29/13 6:30 AM

retro

SR used to make a seatpost with about 4"of adjustable setback and a qr lever for tightening the seat in the early MTB days. You may be able to find one for cheap on e bay or at a swap meet

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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI

8/29/13 8:27 AM



Is this the SR seatpost you're recalling? This indeed might be helpful. It's identified in a web posting as an SR MTE-100.

Answering Brian, a recumbent is out because of difficulty in transporting it on a rack -- and the fact that having been in a severe accident once, she has concerns about her visibility in traffic on a low profile bike.

The adjustable seatpost would help her get on the bike easier, but she needs to be relatively flat-footed whenever she stops -- while she's still on the saddle. I've never seen one of these seatposts, but I'm imagining that she'd be unable to brake and lower the seatpost in a quick stop situation.

I'd still like her to try a super-setback seatpost if I can find one. But we're looking at this bike, too:

http://rans.com/bicycles/street.html

Functionally, it's perfect for her needs. The issue is getting on it. She may be able to tip the bike sideways -- or even rest it on its side -- and step over the bar. She's talking to her physical therapist about how she might best do that.

Rans makes two bikes with step-through frames, but those bikes are less suited to the types of riding she does.

Alan

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

8/29/13 6:32 PM

iBOB to the rescue, maybe?

Alan:

If you like, I can check with the iBOB list to see if anyone has one of the SR seatposts. It's the sort of thing the boberinos are likely to keep an eye on.

What size do you need? ISTRC that these were available in several different diameters, so...

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/29/13 8:10 PM

SR MTE-100 on ebay, pricey

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1984-SR-MTE-100-Setback-Seatpost-SEAT-POST-SADDLE-Sakae-Ringyo-28-6-/400559371909?pt=US_Seatposts&hash=item5d4332f685

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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI

8/30/13 10:09 AM

Reply to Andy sent via email...

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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI

10/5/13 2:02 PM

MTE-100 setback seatpost


quote:
Alan:

If you like, I can check with the iBOB list to see if anyone has one of the SR seatposts. It's the sort of thing the boberinos are likely to keep an eye on.



Just a shout-out to thank Andy. Once I decided that this is what I needed, four "boberinos" quickly stepped-up with parts or, in one case, an offer to check out a local swap meet. An impressive response for a 1980s part.

Thanks to Andy for making this happen -- and to Anthony Smith for suggesting the SR MTE-100 seatpost

Alan

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

10/10/13 11:41 PM

Back from the 2-storey grindstone here, I thought I'd warn about the reach to the bars becoming untenable if the saddle is moved inches rearward.

Usually, a grossly-shortened stem results in incredibly twitchy handling, so not sure how to get around that without going to a much smaller frame size with proportionally-shorter top tube.

I bought one of those SR layback posts for an early-80's Stumpjumper, and since I didn't move the clamp fully back the bike actually handled fine, but that bike had extremely layed-back geometry that got along fine with a riser bar tilted rearward (same effect as a shorter stem).

I currently have a Chromed Ross MTB with the MTE-100 on it, but the bike is a time-capsule and it's not to be tinkered with. It's the same, geometry-wise, as the Stumpjumper, or nearly so.

That inexpensive dropper post will allow the bike's fit geometry to remain optimal and seems to best address the rider's needs here when dismounting and remounting.

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