I am new to unicycling, I use my brother’s schwinn. It’s just a standard 20", regular seat. It’s the older one with the whitewall tires. I’m finding it VERY uncomfortable. So…with a female in mind…how can I remedy the problem???
Or…is it that in time my muscles will develope enough to put more pressure on my legs?
Bonnie
The best seat, I think, is a Kris Holm seat. Theyre 48 dollars, but will last relatively long and theyre very comfortable. Go to www.unicyclist.com
Hi Bonnie
As a fellow female I can recommend that you invest in a good comfortable seat. I have a (homemade) airseat on my unicycle and it is still uncomfortable at times. In the first few hours of learning my biggest problem was bruises on the inside of my thighs from squeezing onto the seat for dear life. As you spend more time in the saddle and your posture (and confidence) improves you will feel less overt discomfort. I believe that, no matter how experienced you are, no matter how comfortable your seat is, you still need to take comfort breaks every now and again.
Jayne
thanks! I’ll check out the Holm seat.
Do you care to divulge any details about how you made you airseat? I’d be very interested, as my dad is handy with making things. Feel free to PM me.
Bonnie
airseats are cool but you need a good seat to make a good one eg the miyata but that costs more then a kh the link was wrong it’s www.unicycle.com. i recormend a good pair of ride shorts(bike shorts) i can ride with out them!
Ben
I agree that you don’t want to be messing around trying to work with many of the cheaper seats with glued on covers that are common today.
But i’ve found the old style seats of the butterfingers/boggle type, which have a cover held on just by the seat bolts are good for making a good simple airseat.
Simply remove the cover, rip out all the foam, get a 20" inner tube, shape it with cellotape, drill a valve hole in the back part of the seat plate, then replace the cover.
Inflate very lightly (it’s surprising how little air is needed- a hard airseat is as uncomfortable as a foam one).
I use these on both my muni and 29-er and have done many, many miles on both.
A unicycle seat takes a large proportion of your weight and supports it on a small area. It’s bound to hurt a bit.
The more you ride, the less it’ll hurt, because you will get used to it.
Look at the seats that racing bicyclists use. Yes, I know they rest some of their weight on their hands, , but look how tiny those seats are.
It’s all in the mind, not the behind.
This was my first attempt at a simple homemade air saddle. This method does not destroy any of the original saddle’s components. I have since made much more improvements over this model, but building one of these is simple and inexpensive. Do a search for posts by me to see some of my later creations. I hope this will help:)
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=29728
Re: Uncomfortable seats
Not sure when they stopped using whitewall tires on the Schwinns, but if it’s got cottered cranks, it’s real old. Time wears out the foam on the older Schwinn seats, and they crumble away to dust. Your cheapest route would be to replace the foam insert, which you can do for Schwinn or Semcycle Deluxe seats (same basic seat) at Unicycle.com
The Kris Holm seat fits the same post and will be much more comfortable.
When riding the idea is to keep your weight on the seat, not on your legs, so that isn’t the answer. As you get more advanced, you can put more weight on your hands, on the seat handle or accessory handlebar, but that’s another story.
I guess my best bet is to buy an old schwinn with a really beat up seat and replace it.
Thanks for all the advice. I think it’s going to take time too. I haven’t done much at all in the past month. Just the past few days Ive been going on 1 mile or longer rides with my well seasoned brothers. I am forever jumping off and having to run to catch up to them!
Bonnie
i used to ride a savage, and those seats are worse than a bed of nails. I’d get rashes and bruises on the insides of my legs when awhile ago, becuz as a beginner i clenched my thighs together to grab the seat.
unicycle.com posted a little section about saddles in their FAQ:
Which seats specifically would you say are the best? Are certain seats better for different styles of riding (MUni, touring, etc.)?
We rate saddles according to how far we can ride them before noticing discomfort.
hope this helps,
-grant
If you have the older Schwinn/Semcycle Deluxe seat, with the metal base and the removable vinyl cover, it is really easy to convert it to an air seat.
See the last several pics in the gallery: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/bigwheelhubtransplant.
Another wonder brought to you by Duct Tape.
I am particuarly fond of an old schwinn saddle that I converted to airseat, I have miyata airseats as well, but I prefer the schwinn (which also has a KH handle and bumper bolted on) I also enjoy the viscount standard for racing (after fixing the bumpers)
Hi Bonnie
Thought I’d add this here rather than PMing in case it can help somebody else.
I got my airseat on the coker (yes I’m the loon learning to ride on one) as it was second hand and the previous owner did LONG races on it. I’m not sure what brand the seat is, but the seat cover is removable. When you take the seat post off the cover can be removed (It basically hooks on to the bolts). Then (I think) he just took the foam out and replaced it with a 12 inch inner tube. Anybody here have a guess as to the seat brand?
As an alternative, and if you don’t want to spend too much cash, you can use the duct tape and inner tube method. Basically partially inflate a 12 inch tube, fold it up so it covers the top of the seat nicely, and tie it in place with duct tape.
Advantages - cheap and easy and you can change the position of the tube if you don’t like your first attempt.
Disadvantages - you need to change the duct tape every now and again or else your seat becomes self adhesive. It doesn’t help you stay on the unicycle but it leaves duct tape glue marks on your trousers and makes your thighs stick together.
Jayne