Gel seats??

John Foss wrote:
> and the best possible seat for your own personal comfort. Air and/or gel seats
> seem to be the most popular.
>
The air seat I’ve seen, made, and ridden–but gel? I know that gel seats are
made for bikes, but this is the first I’ve seen about them for unis. I think I
can figure out easily enough how to make one, if I had the gel to put inside
the seat. Any suggestions on where it can be found?

Peter

Peter Kittle Department of English CSU, Chico Chico CA 95929-0830 ph:
530/898-5305 fax: 530/898-4450 email: pkittle@csuchico.edu www:
http://www.csuchico.edu/~pdkittle

Re: Gel seats??

“Kittle, Peter” wrote:

> John Foss wrote:
> > and the best possible seat for your own personal comfort. Air and/or gel
> > seats seem to be the most popular.
> >
> The air seat I’ve seen, made, and ridden–but gel? I know that gel seats are
> made for bikes, but this is the first I’ve seen about them for unis. I think I
> can figure out easily enough how to make one, if I had the gel to put inside
> the seat. Any suggestions on where it can be found?
>

Unicycle saddles seem to not unlike backpacks. There are no comfortable
backpacks, just varying degrees of discomfort. I have been experimenting with
various combinations of air and gel foam padding in the Miyata seat.

I have replaced all of the foam with a 12"x2" inner tube taped into place in the
seat with some gel foam packed around the sides of the tube. It is fairly
comfortable.

I have also replaced the 1" carpet foam the Miyata seat comes with 2 layers of
3/4" gel foam (very dense, bright green stuff with a sticky feel to it. I think
it is the same material the Icky-pooh toys are made from.) I cut the foam from
a sheet I got from an upholstery shop. This was more comfortable than the
original Miyata seat, but not as comfortable as the air seat. Of course, I
have had the inner tube in the air seat go flat in the middle of a ride. The
only padding was a flat inner tube that could not be reinflated, and whatever
foam I had wrapped around the sides of the tube. This was a whole new level of
discomfort. The inner tube cracked at one of the places where the tube is
folded over to take the shape of the seat.

The best combination I have tried so far is one thickness of the gel foam with a
smaller 8"x1 1/4" tube ( In a local bike shop I asked for the smallest tube they
carried and they brought out the 8" tube which is for the front tire of a wheel
chair). I laid out the tube in the center of the tube with a slight gap between
the two sides, as per George Peck’s suggestion, so that the pressure is reduced
in the center of the seat. This is by far the least uncomfortable seat I have
tried so far.

The other day I noticed the 8" tube was a little low and pumped it up a bit
before my ride. Unfortunately I over inflated the tube. Part way through the
ride the seat cover split at the rear seam and the tube formed an aneurysm that
bulged through the seat cover. I had to deflate the tube, but the seat was at
least bearable with the single sheet of foam. In fact, I would say the single
sheet of gel and a deflated tube is still more comfortable than the original
foam the seat comes with. By the way, this is the reason I thought I would
experiment with 2 layers of gel foam. It didn’t bulge out the rip in the seat.

I am going to wrap the tube with duct tape while it is inflated before taping it
back into place in the seat in hopes that the tape will help reduce the chance
of future bubbles forming in the tube.

Does anyone know where I can get a seat cover for a Miyata seat? I suppose I
could make one, but I am not that familiar with sewing materials that could
stand up to the stress it would have to endure.

All the best,

John Hooten

Re: Gel seats

Frank Bonsch wrote:

> Hi John!
>
> I also experimented with gel covers (made for normal bicycles) on/in unicycle
> seats. But I prefer a viscount seat with an inner tube and no foam at all. I
> did the Ride across Minnesota with such a seat without any problems (yes, I
> was the one…) :wink:

> Frank,

I would agree with you about the Viscount (how do you pronounce that anyway)
seat. I think the shape is much more comfortable than the Miyata. The think I
like least about the Miyata is the squared off seam around the top. I can get
used to it, but I still notice it. After long rides the thing that bothers me
most is a ache right where the seam is. I also like to tip the seat a little
further forward., an option not available on an uncustomized Miyata seat post.

One of my projects to hollow out the foam and put a tube in a Viscount. I hadn’t
thought of removing all the foam. What does that do to the shape.

One thing that I have done is to remove the plastic bumper on the viscount,
grind down the place where the screws attach, drill holes in the metal base and
attach a Miyata handle. If I can reproduce the relative comfort of an air/gel
seat in a Viscount with a Miyata handle I might be satisfied.

All the best,

John Hooten

Re: Gel seats??

Maybe you could make the seat cover out of the kevlar material they use for work
gloves so that nails don’t cut you? That would be pretty darned strong.

I’m getting ready to tear apart my seat and do something - be it foam, inner
tube, or gel. I am at the point where I just don’t ride because it hurts to go
one block.

Steve@Selick.com

               In article <382913C2.15FFD4C@softcom.net>,
                John Hooten <jhooten@softcom.net> wrote:

>
>
> “Kittle, Peter” wrote:
>
> > John Foss wrote:
> > > and the best possible seat for your own personal comfort. Air and/or gel
> > > seats seem to be the most
popular.
> > >
> > The air seat I’ve seen, made, and ridden–but gel? I know that gel
seats are
> > made for bikes, but this is the first I’ve seen about them for
unis. I think
> > I can figure out easily enough how to make one, if I had the gel
to put
> > inside the seat. Any suggestions on where it can be found?
> >
>
> Unicycle saddles seem to not unlike backpacks. There are no
comfortable
> backpacks, just varying degrees of discomfort. I have been
experimenting with
> various combinations of air and gel foam padding in the Miyata seat.
>
> I have replaced all of the foam with a 12"x2" inner tube taped into
place in
> the seat with some gel foam packed around the sides of the tube. It
is fairly
> comfortable.
>
> I have also replaced the 1" carpet foam the Miyata seat comes with 2
layers of
> 3/4" gel foam (very dense, bright green stuff with a sticky feel to
it. I think
> it is the same material the Icky-pooh toys are made from.) I cut the
foam from
> a sheet I got from an upholstery shop. This was more comfortable than
the
> original Miyata seat, but not as comfortable as the air seat. Of
course, I have
> had the inner tube in the air seat go flat in the middle of a ride.
The only
> padding was a flat inner tube that could not be reinflated, and
whatever foam I
> had wrapped around the sides of the tube. This was a whole new level
of
> discomfort. The inner tube cracked at one of the places where the
tube is
> folded over to take the shape of the seat.
>
> The best combination I have tried so far is one thickness of the gel
foam with
> a smaller 8"x1 1/4" tube ( In a local bike shop I asked for the
smallest tube
> they carried and they brought out the 8" tube which is for the front
tire of a
> wheel chair). I laid out the tube in the center of the tube with a
slight gap
> between the two sides, as per George Peck’s suggestion, so that the
pressure is
> reduced in the center of the seat. This is by far the least
uncomfortable seat
> I have tried so far.
>
> The other day I noticed the 8" tube was a little low and pumped it up
a bit
> before my ride. Unfortunately I over inflated the tube. Part way
through the
> ride the seat cover split at the rear seam and the tube formed an
aneurysm that
> bulged through the seat cover. I had to deflate the tube, but the
seat was at
> least bearable with the single sheet of foam. In fact, I would say
the single
> sheet of gel and a deflated tube is still more comfortable than the
original
> foam the seat comes with. By the way, this is the reason I thought I
would
> experiment with 2 layers of gel foam. It didn’t bulge out the rip in
the seat.
>
> I am going to wrap the tube with duct tape while it is inflated
before taping
> it back into place in the seat in hopes that the tape will help
reduce the
> chance of future bubbles forming in the tube.
>
> Does anyone know where I can get a seat cover for a Miyata seat? I
suppose I
> could make one, but I am not that familiar with sewing materials that
could
> stand up to the stress it would have to endure.
>
> All the best,
>
> John Hooten
>
>

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Re: Gel seats??

In a message dated 11/9/99 1:22:39 PM Pacific Standard Time,
pkittle@csuchico.edu writes:

<< The air seat I’ve seen, made, and ridden–but gel? I know that gel seats are
made for bikes, but this is the first I’ve seen about them for unis. I think I
can figure out easily enough how to make one, if I had the gel to put inside
the seat. Any suggestions on where it can be found? >>

The “gel” in gel seats is actually not gel at all, but a very soft kind of
rubber. I took one of those gel pads that they make for wrist rests for
computers and cut it in half and used that inside my Sem for a while. That was
before I discovered the inner tube. I use a small lawn tractor inner tube which
gives me less problems with the bubbles sticking out from under the seat.

-Mike UniChef@aol.com http://members.aol.com/unichef/unichef.html

Re: Gel seats

John Hooten wrote

>One thing that I have done is to remove the plastic bumper on the viscount,
>grind down the place where the screws attach, drill holes in the metal base
and
>attach a Miyata handle. If I can reproduce the relative comfort of an
air/gel
>seat in a Viscount with a Miyata handle I might be satisfied.

Is the Miyata handle something you can order seperately, or do you have to buy a
Miyata seat to get one?

Greg

Re: Gel seats

Greg House wrote:

>
> Is the Miyata handle something you can order seperately, or do you have to buy
> a Miyata seat to get one?

I wish I could buy just a handle. I asked the Miyata USA rep via e-mail, but
haven’t heard anything. I also asked at Unicycle.com. They said they don’t have
separate handles; maybe if enough people ask they may be able to convince Miyata
to sell them some separately. I just unbolted one from one of my Miyata seats.

All the best,

John Hooten

Re: Gel seats

On 11 Nov 1999 23:29:28 -0800, jhooten@softcom.net (John Hooten) wrote:

>Greg House wrote:
>
>>
>> Is the Miyata handle something you can order seperately, or do you have to
>> buy a Miyata seat to get one?
>
>I wish I could buy just a handle. I asked the Miyata USA rep via e-mail, but
>haven’t heard anything. I also asked at Unicycle.com. They said they don’t
>have separate handles; maybe if enough people ask they may be able to
>convince Miyata to sell them some separately. I just unbolted one from one of
>my Miyata seats.
>

SiegmonoCycle in Germany (http://www.siegmono.de/) offers Miyata handles for 10
DM (5 USD).

Frank

RE: Gel seats

> >I wish I could buy just a handle. I asked the Miyata USA rep
> via e-mail, but
> >haven’t heard anything. I also asked at Unicycle.com. They
> said they don’t have separate handles;

> SiegmonoCycle in Germany (http://www.siegmono.de/) offers Miyata handles for
> 10 DM (5 USD).

Wow, looks like a pretty cool web site for ordering unicycles in German. Lots of
information!

And don’t forget, on this side of the Atlantic, the place to get parts is still
The Unicycle Factory (765) 452-2692. Tom has it all, as long as he’s able to get
it. Miyata seat bumpers are an unknown. The problem with Miyata USA is they
never ship enough product. It seems real important to them that they sell out
every single one, months before the next shipment arrives. This has been true
for more than ten years…

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to jfoss@unicycling.com)
http://www.unicycling.com

“I’m okay, I crash like that a lot.”

  • Dan Heaton

Re: Gel seats

Both of my uni’s are the “Taiwanese”<?> types with the symmetrical seats
with the metal guards on the front and rear. Is it worth it to try and put
an innertube in one of these? Or should I just buy a whole new seat? Thanks
in advance.

-UniC

RE: Gel seats

> Both of my uni’s are the “Taiwanese”<?> types with the symmetrical seats with
> the metal guards on the front and rear. Is it worth it to try and put an
> innertube in one of these? Or should I just buy a whole new seat? Thanks in
> advance.

Those seats are most useful if you place them carefully at the bottom of
a dumpster.

I highly recommend a Miyata seat, if you can get one. They might be out of
stock still…

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to jfoss@unicycling.com)
http://www.unicycling.com

“Hi. I’m Jeff Lenosky.”

  • David Poznanter

Re: Gel seats

John Foss wrote in message <631B3F1D150FD3118E4D00A0C9EC1BDA14DEA6@SERVER>…

>> Both of my uni’s are the “Taiwanese”<?> types with the symmetrical seats with
>> the metal guards on the front and rear. Is it worth it to try and put an
>> innertube in one of these? Or should I just buy a whole new seat? Thanks in
>> advance.

>Those seats are most useful if you place them carefully at the bottom of a
>dumpster.

The 24" uni was the one with the seat problem (I also have a 20"). I took
the seat apart, but I could see it wasn't worth the effort fixing it. So I
cannibalized the seat off the 20" for the 24".

>I highly recommend a Miyata seat, if you can get one. They might be out of
>stock still…

I took a brief glance at their web site the other night, and it looks like
they are in stock.

-UniC

PS Thanks again for the advice John.