Oh My Aching Seat

So my new seat is installed, and the cover has been laced on. That went pretty well, although I noticed one flaw. The two grommets at the cutouts for the crosspiece are located on the edge of the upright tubes. Since the grommets are flat and the tubes are round, they are starting to tear out. I don't really need the tension right there, so I think I'll cure it by relacing the seatback and just skipping those holes. The grommets at the top of the back and the front edge of the bottom are ok, maybe because there isn't so much strain on them, but the middle ones won't work.

I took a ride around the block, and decided I like my new seat (I can reach the ground now), but the curve in bottom toward the takes away my "bun space". I kept sliding down, and couldn't stay in one place. So, a recurved design is needed for the bottom part of the seat. Maybe I'll just have the tubes come straight back to meet the seatback at an angle, instead of curving them up. The front part of the seatbottom is perfect.

I swiveled the steering riser tube around to bring the handlebars back about three inches, since the seat leans back slightly more than it did before. I don't think I like that - I lost some of the responsive feel the steering had. I'll be changing that back.

I was having trouble getting the chain to shift gears properly without throwing it off either side, so I installed a disc on the outside of the front gears, and a small stop on the inside. I could not get a point of adjustment that would give a slow reliable shift without throwing the chain in a quick shift. I think it might have to do with the fact that the middle gear was not intended to have a smaller gear, and it actually sort of tilts inwards at the top of the teeth (if that makes sense). Anyway, problem solved, even when shifting while going over big bumps.

More changes, more test rides, more fiddling, more tinkering.

Jack