I was at my local NAPA auto parts store and saw some tire valve extenders on the display rack. Ah, that’s just what I needed.
The tire valve on my new Coker with an Airfoil rim gets all sucked up inside the rim when the tire is deflated. It makes it hard to reach the valve when inflating the tire. I have the same problem on my trials uni with a Monty rim. Quite inconvenient. The tire valve extenders solve that problem by extending the length of the valve. They screw on the valve and add an additional 3/4" to 1" of length. Perfect.
I have also found the valve extenders to be very useful for filling up my air seats. The valve on my air seats is next to the rear bumper and there isn’t a lot of room there to fit a tire pump on there. The small emergency pump that I carry with me on the trail is especially difficult to fit on the air seat valve. Put the valve extender on the air seat valve and the problem is solved. I now carry a valve extender in my little bag of tools that I take with me when I ride. Next time I get an air seat flat on the trail it will be easier to inflate.
The valve extenders are about $5 for four at my local auto parts store. They fit Schrader valves (the normal valves on cars and unicycles). Bike shops carry valve extenders for Presta valves. They’re the perfect thing for unicycles with deep section rims like the Coker Airfoil rim or the Monty trials rim. Also handy for making it easier to pump up an air seat.
Handy little things. I give them a 5 out of 5 for being so useful.
I’ll attach a picture to show what they look like.
If you have an Airfoil rim, Monty rim, or an air seat, pick up some valve extenders. You’ll love them.
That’s an excellent idea for air saddles
I just changed the design on my air saddle and built another one yesterday. This one has the valve stem stickiing out through the bottom of the seat base and it a difficult to get a pump on it. Instead of using a “free-floating” air pillow, I fabricated a foam base/cushion that the inner tube is nestled inside. This gets rid of that “wiggly” feeling than some air saddles exhibit,
If you’re interested in seeing my new design, I’ll post a few pictures of it after I get off work this afternoon.
monociclos,
I made an inexpensive air saddle conversion just a few days ago. The only problem with this one was that it was a viscount-type saddle without a handle. I’ll post some pictures (after I get home from work) of the updated Miyata air saddle that I converted.
Here’s the link to my first “quick fix”:
I have a gallery that shows how I make my air seats: Air Seat Gallery
I don’t have any patterns for the seat cover or air pillow. The seat cover came from unicycle.com. The air pillow was something I made myself by tracing around the foam from a Miyata saddle.
Yes, post more pictures of your new setup. The more ideas we get for different air saddle designs the better air saddles can be. My air seat design isn’t perfect and can use some improvement, I just don’t know what or how to improve it now. I need ideas.
I don’t leave the valve extender on the air seat valve. That would make the valve more vulnerable to damage or catastrophic failure due to the valve breaking off. I just carry the valve extender with me in my tool bag so I’ll have it if I need it.
Next, I removed 2" of the foam to make a “cavern” for the inner tube to set in. This prevents the “wiggly” feeling that is very evident in some air saddles
To finish the assembly, I drilled a hole in the base of the saddle and installed my “homemade” (by a friend) cover using the original Miyata cover retaining clips. The best part of this design is that the tube doesn’t move on the saddle base. Here’s the finished product:
It’s referred to as EVA foam. I found it at a foam fabricating company here in San Antonio. Basically, it just has to be a very dense but flexible product. Before I hollowed this piece out, I could only compress it about 3/4 of an inch with my fingers. You may start looking in the phone book under “foam products”
