I actually did a GEL seat conversion of a viscount, figuring I’d not have to worry about the innertube going flat. I will NOT do a GEL seat conversion again, with the gel in place it is way to hard to get the cover nicely glued back in place. Next time I will do an AIR seat conversion, because putting the cover back on with the innertube deflated should be quite easy.
Also, search the net for
viscount and airseat and conversion
or
viscount and air and seat and conversion
One of the sites I found this way showed covering the seat with a sock. This turned out to be very easy to do. It’s a nice simple mod if you find the somewhat tacky surface of the viscount annoying – in long pants it probably doesn’t matter, but in shorts the tacky surface can rub painfully on the skin.
my major limiting factor in how long i stay mounted is how much i have to move my feet. i constantly need to adjust where my feet are pointing, and eventually they fall off. ona side note, i get more foot discomfort than groin discomfort. i guess it’s because of the sandles i wear
I unexpectedly rode 12 miles across town on a 24 with a narrow, high pressure tyre and rubbishy indoor pedals yesterday and I can officially say that that isn’t a good thing to do. I didn’t have any breaks as such but I did have a falling off at about an hour, 6 miles.
This made me realise several things, firstly that the viscount is still quite a good distance saddle. Secondly that riding outside without metal pedals is silly. Thirdly that 24" wheels are reallly really slow, it took me 1hr 50, there are a lot of traffic lights and stuff but even so it’s hardly a useful mode of transport.
I find that if you practice a lot the viscount or unpadded miyata or KH saddles are all good for long distances. I’m not yet convinced by the airseat thing, I’ve ridden on them a bit, but it always seems like you’re sacrificing precise control for comfort. I’d suspect it’s quite similar to biking, where people who don’t ride so much buy more and more padded seats, whereas people who ride a lot can get away with less and less padding as they get themselves used to the shape of the saddle and sitting on it comfortably. I know when I was training hard I could ride 20-30 miles cokering on a standard viscount.