After 18 years of riding 24" and 28" unicycles, I finally got a 20" model, a
Miyata. So far turning and mounting is easier than with the bigger ones, but I
can’t ride one footed at all. I guess that will come with practice. I am having
one problem, though. It’s nice being able to adjust the seat whenever I want,
but I can’t get it to stay in place. The clamp comes loose about every two
minutes. Is there something I can do to avoid this?
Beirne Konarski | Subscribe to the Unicycling Mailing List bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu
Re: Miyata seat clamp problems
If your seat is not staying put, the first question I have for you is what type
of clamp is it? Some Miyatas have quick-release clamps, and others have varying
degrees of regular seat post pinch bolt.
Chrome on chrome does not make for a great grip. If all else fails, use a file
to roughen the inside of the seat tube. This won’t show from the outside, but
may be sooner to rust. If that doesn’t work, you can also file some vertical
scratches in the seat post where it gets clamped.
The Miyata pinch bolts I’m familiar with were always too wimpy for me. I would
end up tightening the bolt until the clamp smooshed out of shape, and bolts
eventually broke. On my unicycles I cut off the clamp, use hacksaw to make
another slot down the back, and put on the strongest BMX seat clamp I can get.
My favorite comes from GT and has 2 bolts, one which clamps to the actual seat
post, and the other which clamps on the seat tube. You’ll need an allen key.
Newer Miyata Deluxes have a different clamp, with which I’m not familiar. This
clamp is built right into the seat tube (the older kind was visibly a separate
clamp, spot welded on under the chrome).
If you have a quick-release, it can usually be adjusted to be reasonably tight
while still allowing a strong-fingered person to open it by hand. Find someone
familiar with quick releases to help you adjust the bolt for optimum use. There
is probably a limit to the useful tightness you can get with a quick-release.
For better results in this area, your best bet is to smooth out your riding to
produce less seat-twisting torque. Of course as I know, if you’re constantly
trying new things, this isn’t going to happen . . . .
Please let us know how things turn out!
John Foss, president International Unicycling Federation unicycle@aol.com
Re: Miyata seat clamp problems
On Tue, 14 Feb 1995, Beirne Konarski wrote:
> After 18 years of riding 24" and 28" unicycles, I finally got a 20" model, a
> Miyata. So far turning and mounting is easier than with the bigger ones, but I
> can’t ride one footed at all. I guess that will come with practice. I am
> having one problem, though. It’s nice being able to adjust the seat whenever I
> want, but I can’t get it to stay in place. The clamp comes loose about every
> two minutes. Is there something I can do to avoid this?
it is a pain. I’ve found that making it really, really, really unbelieveably
tight seems to help. Of course you have to do so every time you re-adjust the
seat, and I for one am pretty bad at figuring out when the seat is straight.
Haven’t touched my seat adjuster since about november. nothing’s come loose,
either. -sara
Re: Miyata seat clamp problems (fwd)
Forwarded message:
> From bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu Fri Feb 17 03:36:57 1995 From: Unicycle@aol.com
> Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 03:36:44 -0500 Message-Id:
> <950217013658_24037626@aol.com> To: bkonarsk
> Cc: unicycling Subject: Re: Miyata seat clamp problems
>
> If your seat is not staying put, the first question I have for you is what
> type of clamp is it? Some Miyatas have quick-release clamps, and others have
> varying degrees of regular seat post pinch bolt.
Mine has a quick-release clamp.
> If you have a quick-release, it can usually be adjusted to be reasonably tight
> while still allowing a strong-fingered person to open it by hand. Find someone
> familiar with quick releases to help you adjust the bolt for optimum use.
> There is probably a limit to the useful tightness you can get with a
> quick-release. For better results in this area, your best bet is to smooth out
> your riding to produce less seat-twisting torque. Of course as I know, if
> you’re constantly trying new things, this isn’t going to happen . . . .
Yeah, my kickup mount is still a bit rough.
>
> Please let us know how things turn out!
Its warming up here and the parking down the street was mostly thawed, so I had
a chance to put in some real riding time. The post kept coming loose, so I used
the flat wrench that came with the uni and tightened the nut on the opposite
side of the quick release after doing as much as I could on the quick release
side. It then worked fine. I’ve decided that I’ll just have to keep the wrench
with me when I plan to adjust the seat.
>
> John Foss, president International Unicycling Federation unicycle@aol.com
>
Beirne