Neck rest?seat angle issues

Winded Lowrider

Well-Known Member
1) I'm a cold wimp. What's the weather supposed to be like tomorrow?
2) Sunday ( tomorrow) I've got some time to ride ( the kid has B-ball practice 12-2pm). I installed the Thor Seat and the neck rest, but its not ride tested. Seems solid...

Email me brad@bradniemeyer.com
 

Winded Lowrider

Well-Known Member
Test ride went well today. 14 miles flat . Thor seat meets my expectations. I added 1/4 inch of foam to lower seat pan area which boosted me into "perfect fit zone". I now feel as if a giant hand is supporting my spine from tailbone to neck. The stock seat felt like two foam covered planks. The rubber block mounts work very well with the seat and ventisist pad to dampen road vibration. The neck rest bobs a bit during strong pedaling and bumps.... which was not too bad, but might need to change. Miles will tell. Upper back feels much much better now. Helmet and neck rest don't interfere, but the buckle does dig into my double chin;).

Thanks to Ratz and Rojo and others for encouraging me to seek out this seat option. Looking forward to long comfy rides this spring!
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
Keep it simple. I bolted bottom and used a large zip tie thru seat back and around frame. It's plenty solid with with dense foam rubber between frame and seat back. Looking forward to your test results good luck.

Hello @Gary123, any chance you could share a few photos of your zip tie solution for the Thor seat? I’m considering the options for keeping it stable.
 

Gary123

Zen MBB Master
Don't have any pics or know how to post them but very simple. I just bolted the front of the seat (needed a rubber spacer between seat and frame to get everything to line up right). Then drilled two holes in seat at about shoulder level the width of the frame tube about three inches. I used an extra big zip tie and went through the holes and around the frame with a layer of rubber material between seat and frame here also and pulled the zip as tight as I could. I've since screwed seat to the frame for a little more solid connection but zips worked fine.
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
Don't have any pics or know how to post them but very simple. I just bolted the front of the seat (needed a rubber spacer between seat and frame to get everything to line up right). Then drilled two holes in seat at about shoulder level the width of the frame tube about three inches. I used an extra big zip tie and went through the holes and around the frame with a layer of rubber material between seat and frame here also and pulled the zip as tight as I could. I've since screwed seat to the frame for a little more solid connection but zips worked fine.

ok thank you.
 

Winded Lowrider

Well-Known Member
reporting back after lots of "pain-free comfortable" miles. Thor seat makes all the difference on the V20 for me. Zip tie/rubber block mounting has worked well. Neck rest from Thor also works well. The Vendetta performed well during the MT Baker hill climb in September....
 

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ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
Thor seat finally here and in place. [A shout out to Betsy and Robby (@castlerobber and her husband) for meeting me at a spot midway between our homes to let me ride her Silvio with the Thor Sport size small—-it fit well. Also thanks to them for the jeweler’s rubber block!]

First, I’ll say that on good pavement, the stock seat/headrest on the Vendetta is superb. I’ve always had great aero from it, good visibility and (with some tinkering) good comfort. But good pavement around here is rare, and I was noticing a reluctance to ride the V, opting for my road bike more often. I finally realized I was subconsiously dreading the pounding my poor head was going to take: the neckrest, even the ‘suspension’ one, transmits enough to be very unpleasant on bad roads. Sure, I can lift my head when a bad bump or stretch is coming up but I can’t hold my head up from a 20degree seat for an entire ride. I was starting to wonder if CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy, like some NFL players get)was in my future! Not likely in reality, that’s just a bit of hyperbole, but it is annoying enough in an area with horrible roads that I felt a change was needed.
So... my goal with the Thor was to be able to do away with the need for a head/neckrest entirely.., at the cost of losing some aero of course. I never needed a headrest on Sofrider nor Silvio 1.5 and that’s what I wanted to get back to.
Failing that I think I would sell the V and move to the S40.
Prelim results are very good. I haven’t ridden on the road yet but a short (8miles) ride around London on Zwift was fine. No headrest, no neck strain. Can’t straighten my arms as much as i’d like but that’s ok. Time on real (horrible) roads will tell if this my solution.
Better pics later if this works out but here are some for now (disregard the clutter in the garage).
And I think I’m gonna love Zwift!
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ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
Finally....done with this seat mod.

Because the Thor seat changed the seat angle etc I had to lengthen the boom. Easy enough. But that brought the bottom bracket lower which meant my right leg was hitting the caliper brake with every turn of the cranks. So, changed front brake to Tri Rig Omega (many thanks to @ratz for ‘pioneering’ the use of this brake on the V20). This brake is amazing, and so simple to set up. Plus, the easy pad adjustment makes it a snap to get the front wheel on and off the bike and the bike on and off the trainer.

Ultimately stuck with the Ritchey off road bars, upside down and backwards of course. Getting the boom length right gave plenty of arm extension so no need to change bars.

Also changed to Tri Rig bottle holders. A little pricey but after having bottles launch themselves on rough pavement at speed i think they’re worth it. They hold the bottles SNUG. I’d bet money i never have another bottle launch during a ride.

After recabling/rehousing i started with some yellow lizard skins bar tape that has been on hand for quite awhile. After it was on i decided, way too yellow. Went with lizard skins black camo.

Enough jabber. Pics to follow.
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
Yeah if I click the upload a file button it gives me an error message strait away. Hey @ratz could you look into this in between your busy schedule?
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
I wonder if it’s related to the change to “forum.cruzbike.com”. Probably a linking error. Also, previously posted pics can’t be loaded beyond their thumbnails.
@Lucia ?
Yes and some older pics can’t be loaded at all. I do hope this can be fixed. The forum is a treasure trove of helpful tips etc but far far less useful without photos.
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
No reply on the uploading a file issue from CB. I thought it might be related to using a mobile device but the same thing happens with my desktop. Yet I see new photos on other forums up to and including today. Any ideas? Anti-Apple bias??
 

Robert Holler

Administrator
Staff member
Likely an issue with the website/host changes everyone. Lucia is out at the moment but stay tuned we are working on finding out what is going on.

Robert
 

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
I'm so happy to see the uploads are working again.....no doubt it was a lot of work to get this to happen and thank you to those who put in that work! I've sure missed seeing other tribe members new pics.

Finished this Thor seat mod weeks ago and it's very comfortable on the trainer but I still have little on the road experience with it due to yet another injury plus, winter seems to have made a major comeback.
Still haven't decided on that headrest support tubing position. It can go anywhere or nowhere since the position of the Thor eliminates the need for a head/neckrest at the cost of some aero advantage. But what little I've been out on it I'm happy not to have my head jounced around on the headrest on our rough roads. The Thor took away two of my water bottle mounts but a spot opened up for a 24oz bottle under the seat in the middle. Slides right in and a velcro strap holds it perfectly.

Since the new seat moved me a little forward on the bike I had to lengthen the boom, which lowered the bottom bracket, which meant the inside of my right knee kept hitting the front brake, so I replaced it with the Tri Rig. Thanks to @ratz for pioneering this brake on a V20.
Our roads kept launching my water bottles out of the rear cages so i switched to the Tri Rig bottle cages there; a bit pricey but those bottles will never launch again!

The cockpit was a bit cramped so using the curved slider upside-down really opened it up. So far so good. Hope to be back on the trainer soon and then outside.

Rear lights mounted using the Terracycle mounting hardware. (lights: niteflux.com)
IMG_1791.JPG IMG_1792.JPG IMG_1794.JPG IMG_1795.JPG IMG_1796.JPG IMG_1798.JPG
 
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