Rad mini step thru seat post adjustment

[TerryV6]

We just bought two rad minis. I’ve assembled both and love them. I am 5’8 and I have the post adjusted right up to the line. Then it says (Warning-dont raise higher or something to that effect). I could use about another inch higher adjustment. There is a lot of tubing still in the frame. Would this really be a problem? Or is a longer tube needed? If so, is there a post recommendation? Thanks...

 

[mrgold35]

I have an older Radrover and the standard 350mm seatpost was about inch too short for me (6'3"). Upgraded to a suspension seatpost (400mm Suntour SP12 and later Bodyfloat 420mm). Just that little bit extra length was perfect me. The suspension seatpost+Cloud 9 Cruiser seat was a noticable improvement in ride quality over the regular seatpost+Rad seat.

 

[TerryV6]

Thanks Mrgold35... did you find the suspension seat post made a lot of difference?

 

[Banzai]

Hi TerryV6
I use the same setup as mrgold35 on my RadMini ST and all the others.
The safety line is a fail-safe for the heavyweights to observe.
If you buy the Suntour SP12 you will notice the post is thicker and so the safety line sits fairly close to the bottom end.
I'm 5'11" and only have the seat post raised about an inch from bottoming out. That's about thirty inches from the pedal bottomed out to the top of the seat. With that I can put both feet on the ground for best stability and it doesn't interfere even when cranking uphill at full speed.
If riding old bumpy roads like what I have around here, then I would highly suggest the Suntour shock to help absorb the bumps instead of abusing your back. Otherwise, just switching to a Cloud 9 seat might offer better comfort on those longer rides.
I wouldn't be without either.

 

[mrgold35]

The fat tires do help with a smoother and softer ride depending on PSI. I would keep the PSI in the mid to upper teens for mostly off road/trail (smoother ride, larger contact patch, float over sand, tire flex over rock for more traction). I keep my rover at 20-23 PSI for smoother paved roads for work commuting at +20 mph (I can get up to 25-26 mph on some down hill runs).

The suspension seatpost will depend on your riding surface. My wife is pretty much 99.99% paved smooth road rider at mph in the mid teens at most. The Cloud-9 seat alone would be A-OK for her riding style. I work commute and trail ride sometimes before heading home if the weather is nice. I'm able to keep my PSI in the +20 range for max speed work commuting AND have a smoother ride on single track trails because of the suspension seat. Best of both worlds without having to adjust my PSI.

Both the Suntour and Bodyfloat work equally well for me for larger bumps or undulating dirt trails. The Bodyfloat was several steps above the Suntour in reducing smaller road/trail imperfections like sidewalk/asphalt cracks, washboard trails, rocky trails, etc... You can even feel the improvement on smooth paved roads with the bodyfloat -vs- Suntour. The bodyfloat is well worth the investment.

 

[TerryV6]

Thanks guys. Sending all this to the printer and will be looking for posts and/or seats tonight. Appreciate it.

 

[TerryV6]

Well, for the short term I’m holding off on a new post and seat. I removed the seat from our trek tandem and put it on the rad post. The seat gave me the extra small height I needed for now. The seat is cushier and with the larger height rails, I gained over an inch.

 

[Banzai]

It's always convenient having one or two extra bikes available. All mine are RADs so I have a few extra batteries available for when needed too.
Happy Trails and have lots of fun riding your new Mini's.

 

[trainman]

We just bought two rad minis. I’ve assembled both and love them. I am 5’8 and I have the post adjusted right up to the line. Then it says (Warning-dont raise higher or something to that effect). I could use about another inch higher adjustment. There is a lot of tubing still in the frame. Would this really be a problem? Or is a longer tube needed? If so, is there a post recommendation? Thanks...

We have two Rad Mini Step Thru's, I'm 6'1" and the wife is 5'7" and I find the top seat setting ok for my riding style, I have the C9 Seat and the wife has the BIKEROO. We ride in level 2 and use the throttle on hills, were happy with this setup.

 

[tc cruiser]

We have two Rad Mini Step Thru's, I'm 6'1" and the wife is 5'7" and I find the top seat setting ok for my riding style, I have the C9 Seat and the wife has the BIKEROO. We ride in level 2 and use the throttle on hills, were happy with this setup.

Trainman,
Since you have access to both the C9 and the Bikeroo seats, which one do you prefer better? I'm thinking about getting one for the wife who has been uncomfortable while riding lately.
Thanks
Tom

 

[KenS]

Luckily the seat post diameter is very common (27.2 mm).

I would look for a "mountain bike" seat post in that diameter because they are typically much longer.

Decent seat posts are not that expensive ($40) and worth the safety issue. You never know when you may be going downhill at 20 MPH and hit a pothole.

 

[trainman]

Luckily the seat post diameter is very common (27.2 mm).

I would look for a "mountain bike" seat post in that diameter because they are typically much longer.

Decent seat posts are not that expensive ($40) and worth the safety issue. You never know when you may be going downhill at 20 MPH and hit a pothole.

I agree with your seat post thoughts, but remember most who purchase the Rad Mini's don't ride them off road under the extreme conditions that you would ride the Rad Rover or other mountain bikes of better quality, etc. When I say we ride our Rad Mini's off road were mainly talking hard packed dirt with very few objects to ride around and speed is slow.

 

[trainman]

Trainman,
Since you have access to both the C9 and the Bikeroo seats, which one do you prefer better? I'm thinking about getting one for the wife who has been uncomfortable while riding lately.
Thanks
Tom

I've had the C9 for several months on my Rad Mini, my wife's BIKEROO seat was just installed last week and I have not ridden her bike yet. I will ride hers in the next couple of days and let you know about the difference between the two. Due note that installation of the two seats will require that you adjust the two rails on the bottom side of the new seats so the stock seat post bracket will fit the new seat. This will require a large set of adjustable pliers, or a vice to squeeze the two rails in about 1/8" so the stock seat brackets will fit the new seats. This will take a good hard squeeze as the brackets are strong on the new seats, but easily doable with the proper tools. I did read about doing this adjustment on this forum somewhere, so I knew about it before I purchase the seats, I think you will find this needs to be done on most replacement seats as there is no set standards for seats, but like I said, this is a very minor adjustment and I considered it pretty much common for replacement accessories.

 

[tc cruiser]

okay, look forward to your review

 

[trainman]

Wife rode her bike with the Bikeroo seat yesterday and she way very happy with it, she has also ridden mine with the C9, but said she liked hers better a little better. I have not ridden her bike as of yet, I guess I'm too lazy to adjust the seat. I'm 240 6'1" and she is 122 5'7", so any way you look at it, my seat gets double the weight on it.

 

[tc cruiser]

Thanks, I'll order one.

 

[mrgold35]

Sunlite Cloud-9 makes several sizes to pick from. I went for the 11.5-by-12.5 (sofa size) cruiser seat, Amazon, $32:

Amazon.com : Sunlite Cloud-9, Bicycle Suspension Cruiser Saddle, Cruiser Gel Sofa, Black : Bike Saddles And Seats : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Sunlite Cloud-9, Bicycle Suspension Cruiser Saddle, Cruiser Gel Sofa, Black : Bike Saddles And Seats : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

I like the wider back part so I'm sitting on my "butt cheeks" to spread out my weight (6'3", 300lbs). Even the wife at 4'11" finds the seat extremely comfortable on her Radcity step-thru. It looks too large at first; but, it is hard to see once you are seated. I didn't like the Rad seat because it was too small/narrow and put too much pressure on the center taint area causing discomfort on longer rides. I haven't had any issues with single track riding or long distance commuting with this seat.

 

[TerryV6]

I’ve decided to upgrade to the Suntour 27.2/400. I see that it is available on eBay for about $93, from some place in Missouri. Any opinions on buying it here?

 

[tc cruiser]

Your gonna love the Suntour seat post.

 

[KenS]

On the less than 1% of cases where I have had an ebay purchase not work out as expected then I have received my money back.

My only advice would be to look at the number of previous sales. If the number is very small then often it is a measure of inexperience in doing online sales rather than grift. Or is that graft?