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A-bike Seat design

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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Artefex on Sun Oct 25, 2009 5:11 pm

Hello stevbike!

Personally I found there was one problem with the A-bike seat; the lack of firm contact with the bike. Having quite a bony butt, I found that the bottom of the pelvis bones, that would normally rest either side of the seat, both rest directly on top of either side of the U shape. This means that with any kind of sideways motion you slide about on the seat. Personally I swapped it for a BMX seat (See my 'Amsterdam Abiker' topic) and found controlling the bike much easier and more stable.
Artefex
 
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby jaynh on Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:57 pm

I put a Gel seat cover on my seat. It increases the comfort level greatly. Although it fully covers the seat, it is flexible enough that it does not interfere with the central cutout of the seat when folded. A great inexpensive solution.
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Jocky on Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:08 pm

I use an A-bike mk1 every day for a 5 minute ride to and from the station. I found the original saddle excruciating so I changed it for a normal bike saddle. I also had to buy a 25mm seatpost (you may find one on Ebay) because the seatpost on the A-bike won't take any other saddle. The original saddle was also too low (I am 6 ft 0in) so now when the bike is folded the saddle touches the rear tyre, but actually it doesn't matter and it goes on the train luggage rack or between the seats ok. I haven't seen the mk2 saddle so it might be ok, but there are no pics on the site are there?
Jocky
 

Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby rongood on Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:02 pm

i have tried different seats and recommend that you replace both the seat post and saddle.
seat post: Cane Creek Thudbuster ST (25.4mm diameter)
saddle: Hobson Pro Hub X2

The Hobson Pro Hub X2 is an unusual design, but it keeps with the original concept of the A-bike seat while providing greater comfort. It is very important to tilt the seat down slightly forward to shift your weight to the handlebars. Since the A-bike seat location is over the back wheel, it is unfortunately easy to tip over backwards (which i did on my first day riding).

The Thudbuster seat post is a great design, but you may need to cut it shorter by a few cm.

I think you can find both these items listed at Amazon, or at their manufacturers sites:
www.thudbuster.com and www.hobsonseats.com
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby JazJon on Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:10 am

rongood wrote:i have tried different seats and recommend that you replace both the seat post and saddle.
seat post: Cane Creek Thudbuster ST (25.4mm diameter)
saddle: Hobson Pro Hub X2

The Hobson Pro Hub X2 is an unusual design, but it keeps with the original concept of the A-bike seat while providing greater comfort. It is very important to tilt the seat down slightly forward to shift your weight to the handlebars. Since the A-bike seat location is over the back wheel, it is unfortunately easy to tip over backwards (which i did on my first day riding).

The Thudbuster seat post is a great design, but you may need to cut it shorter by a few cm.

I think you can find both these items listed at Amazon, or at their manufacturers sites:
http://www.thudbuster.com and http://www.hobsonseats.com


Thanks for the tips Ron, as you know I ordered both items and hope to have everything in by tomorrow. (this post just came up in a google search) I'll post my X2/Thudbuster via A-Bike review in the near future and maybe even record a youtube video to share for everyone.
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Stevbike on Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:31 pm

I well look forward seeing to new seat in place. I looked at the redesigned factory A-bike seat but feel that the way to really get the most out of the A-bike is to totally replace the seat like I did along with other like the people posting this info. A-bike should really look into the way the seat is designed. From what I have seen, the best way to get the best out of the bike is to change the factory seat with better regular bike sear design.

stevbike
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby RobFriedman on Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:28 am

if you are looking JUSt for a seat cover.. which one is the best and FITs the best???
RobFriedman
 

Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Rob Friedman on Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:47 pm

Along with asking about a Gel seat cover for the original A-bike seat..
how hard is it to change the seat?? I stopped at a bike shop and it seems all the clamps wont fit our posts.. the post being a touch too large, what size post do you need to get and any reccommendations on a seat that would allow folding also?
Rob Friedman
 
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby rongood on Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:24 am

you need approximately 25mm diameter post. It should be a little longer than the A-bike stock, and should have some shock absorbing factor. It also should allow for adjusting the pitch of the seat so you can pitch the seat slightly forward to the front to throw some of your weight onto the handlebars. See my post a few above this one for my recommendations.
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Rob Friedman on Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:10 pm

I found a 25.4 post which does fit although it is kinda tight. I had it cut down.. but it is still tight.
What would be the best way to trim it down? (II know a lathe but i dont have one) As far as the seat I am using a schwinn gel comfort. and modified the clamp bolt to a quick release so it folds.

it folds very well. but i cant get it further down.. hence it needs to me trimmed
Rob Friedman
 
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Rob Friedman on Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:42 pm

Just had a minor mishap with the bike,, I had put in a seat post (though it was still too high) and a much more comfortable seat which I can fold to keep it compact)
I went from what I thought was pavement to sand covered pavement.. turned out to be just hardpack sand! and went flying over the handlebars and seems I only broke the bell, though i badly injured my chest, leg, nose, and lip. I just need to figure out how to trim/smooth down the seatpost
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Stevbike on Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:43 am

Too bad to hear about the crash! I hope you are feeling OK. As far as the bike goes, I hope it is not damaged too much. The seat post I bought was cut down at the shop when I also brought the bike too. It helped determine the length I needed for fitting the post to the bike. You can take the post to bike shop and have them do the work for cutting it to size. Then it should really make the bike work better for you. Anyone doing this type of change over likes the bike much better after this woprk is done.

stevbike
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Stevbike on Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:51 am

One other detail tell you about. Seeing that the bike is using small wheels and a short wheel base, use caution on road surfaces. I really need to watch getting the bike on to different surfaces or the bike will lose control far faster then on a regular full sized bike, something like riding off a paved surface on to a gravel shoulder. Just take care when riding this bike!

With the new seat post and seat in place, the bike is a nice to ride farther then you might think you could, abit at a slower, relaxed pace.

stevbike
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Rob Friedman on Tue Aug 31, 2010 3:18 pm

so how can I trim the diameter down a touch? just filing ala peeling a carrot?
Rob Friedman
 
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Re: A-bike Seat design

Postby Stevbike on Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:34 pm

If you have cut the seat post down already, the end of the post my have some small burrs causing problems in getting the part into the frame. Try grinding the end of the tube into a 45 degree angle, this should help out into getting the seat post into the bike frame. As to the tube itself, try filing it down a bit to see takes a bit of the tight fit down a bit. The 25.4 mm tube should be fitting into the bike. Mine is the same size and fits on the tight but works well. You may need to shorten post a bit more to allow the post get into the right height for you.

stevbike
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