Need advice fitting/finding a shorter seat post for a 47cm Betty Foy

[John]

I'm trying to fine tune the saddle on my SO's 47cm Betty, and it looks like I either need a slightly shorter seat post, or I need to shorten the seat post by about 3/4" - 1".

My SO's PBH is 73 and the lowest I can get the saddle is 62cm from saddle to axle with a B68. I would like to use a B7s to give her a little more space, but this is the smallest concern at this point.

Both the Nitto Crystal Fellow and Nitto Lugged seat posts seem to be slightly too long to get a Brooks 68s or B67s down far enough. They are stopped by the junction of the seat & top tubes.

It looks like shortening the lugged seat post would get either the B68s or B67s saddle low enough, and back far enough to be comfortable. 

Are there any problems with sawing a bit off the end, or should I try finding something shorter? 

Any alternatives, ideas, suggestions, hints, advice, and dire warnings would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance,

John   

[Joe Bernard]

It's pretty hard to find a post shorter than 250mm these days, but you'll be fine cutting off an inch as long as its reasonably buried in the seattube. I wouldn't do it if you're at the maximum mark, but you have the opposite problem.

Conversely, if you want to try a pre-cut Kalloy for cheap, I have the one that came on my ANT Roadster a few months ago. My bike shows barely a fistful of post, so I presume Mike Flanigan sawed off an inch just to drop a little weight. One plus with this is that he put a little bevel around the bottom to make it easier to slide into the tube..a straight-cut is a little harder to slip in there. $20 shipped if you want to give it a whirl, email or text 415-786-4623 for pics. Oh, I replaced it with a V-O someone was selling here just 'cause I like the way it looks :)

Joe Bernard

Vallejo, CA.

[Bill Lindsay]

It is absolutely OK to cut a seatpost.  It damages your resale value and you need to be careful since now the "min insertion" line is meaningless if you raise it a bunch, but other than those things, go for it.  

On Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 3:24:01 PM UTC-7, John wrote:

[Michael Hechmer]

It is common and OK to cut off the unneeded part of a seat post.  I have done it, or you could take it to a bike shop with a good mechanic and have them do it. Lots of modern bikes require extremely long seatposts and the excess routinely gets cut off.   A couple of years ago I bought a beautiful used Saluki and was surprised to find that the classic Suntour Superbe seatpost had been cut pretty near the minimum of what I needed.

Michael

[Patrick Moore]

I've cut many seatposts and at least one stem quill and had absolutely no problems with anything so modified.

Speaking of seatposts: weren't the old ones -- Records, those other early road ones on every less expensive bike whose brand I now forget, but they were ubiquitous -- Laprade! -- 180 mm from bottom of post to bottom of clamp?

The seat tube on my Fargo is 43 cm; on a level-tubed road bike my ideal would be a 60 c-c (with a 56-57 tt). It has a 40 cm seatpost, of which 21 cm or so is showing between top of clamp and bottom of cradle. I keep meaning to cut off 10 cm or so, but keep forgetting. Bet I could save a lot of weight and go a lot faster if I did this. Taking hacksaws to bike parts is fun!

[John]

Thank you everyone for piping up and letting me know I'm not riding off a cliff.

And thanks Joe for the offer of the stem, but having measured the whole bike/saddle/seat post set up at least 10 times, I'm going to go head and trim an inch off the end.

Boy, helping someone diagnose why they're not quite happy with their saddle set up isn't too easy.

Thanks again!

John 

[Joe Bernard]

It's hard enough to figure out my OWN saddle issues. Get ta sawing and good luck!:)

[John]

Thanks everyone,

     Will at Riv shortened my wife's seat post 1.5cm and it is perfect. I also put a pair of 26' Compass tires on her Betty and she says it feels just like she wants it to.

John

[Garth]

      Yes, 180mm was at one time the standard for seat posts .  I still use a Campy Super Record and have a Nuovo Record seatpost , the lovely fluted ones :) 

These can others from Campy, Shimano etc. vintage and some NOS on eprey of course .... if price is no issue :)

[hsmitham]

What Bill said.

I'd find a less expensive SP and cut that one. If that works then use the lugged one else where or sell it.

~Hugh

[John]

Hi Hugh,

    I was almost 100% positive the lugged would be perfect before I had it cut. I measured everything at least 20 times.

The extra set back really helped make her B68 fit just right, so her legs aren't bothered by the saddle's flare. Her B18 had too much flare to make it work for her, even with the lugged one.

Besides, I don't need to raise my seat post much to fit, so it could always find a home on my Hunqapillar.

It also helps that I got it for only about $100 from Japan. I like to buy from Riv, but my wife would have scalped me if I hadn't saved the dough.

John

[Hugh Smitham]

I like to buy from Riv too! But I'd like to stave off early baldness a while too :)

Glad it all worked out.

Tail Winds,

~Hugh

~Hugh

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein

http://velocipedemusings.blogspot.com/

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