chinese legs

[ubersquish]

i have a 24" torker with an 11" seatpost and am 5'6". i'm barely able to
ride it, even with the seatpost all the way down. i've read that that
size post is for people between five and six feet. i can't think of any
reasons for this except that maybe my legs are shorter than normal.
anybody ever hear of chinese people having short legs?


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[slugbath]

To create more clearance, cut the seatpost down a bit with a hacksaw, or
have it done in a bike shop. I have a sub-28" inseam; I have to cut
down all my seatposts, and, on my larger unis, the frame top tube as
well.

As to whether this is the result of my being part-Asian, I couldn't
really say. I think I just got the short end of the stick.

Good luck.


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[Mikefule]

Thinks: is that last sentence a trick question? :0)

A serious answer: I have no data, evidence or references to support
this, but I do think that there is a tendency for Chinese people to have
long torsos (trunks, bodies?) in relation to their height. I suppose
that means shorter legs, compared to a westerner of similar height. I
have one work colleague and one fencing friend who are racially
oriental, and both appear to be long in the body and short in the leg.
I guess if anything this is a tendency rather than a universal rule,
though.

Be that as it may, you, as an individual, are the person experiencing
the problem, whatever the cause. So, what can we do to help?

Firstly, what do you mean by 'with the seat all the way down'? You
could mean two things:
1) The seat is so low that the bottom of the seat is almost touching
the top of the frame, near the clamp.
2) Or the seat is so low that the bottom of the seat post is sticking
out of the fork crown and catching on the tyre.

If it's the second case, it's easily addressed by hacksawing a couple of
inches off the seat post. As long as you have at least 3 inches
sticking in to the top of the frame, the seat post will be long enough
to be secure and safe.

If it's the first case (the base of the seat is literally all the way
down to the clamp) then what else can you do?

You could put slightly shorter cranks on. If you have 150mm cranks on
now, you will find the pedal (at the bottom of its travel) is an inch
nearer if you put 125mm cranks on. That's similar to lowering the seat
by an inch. 110mm cranks will achieve a further inch. 110s are a bit
of an acquired taste, though.

You could try a narrower seat (a wide seat will tend to spread your legs
out sideways a bit, so you lose a bit of effective length). You could
even conider stripping the seat and removing some padding, although the
height reduction would be marginal.

A different model of seat also might be a bit lower. I need more seat
tube showing when I use a Viscount saddle than when I use a Velo saddle.
Conclusion: the Viscount is a lower saddle than the Velo.

You might also make a small gain by wearing shoes with thicker soles.
This really depends how big the problem is. If you're not quite
comfortable, then a pair of thick-soled boots or trainers might be
enough to make the difference. You could also experiment with deeper
section pedals. In an exteme case, you could consider 'thickening' the
pedals with blocks. You wouldn't be the first.

Failing all that, you might need to change your frame. A frame with a
shorter seat tube (not seat post) would almost certainly do the job.
Unicycle frames are fairly cheap. Just for comparison, it is 49
centimetres from the centre of the wheel axle to the top of the seat
clamp on the frame of my Nimbus 24. A frame often costs less than a
seat, and usually less than a wheel and tyre. Don't rush to buy a
complete new unicycle!

How high do you want the seat though? Try this test: sit on the seat,
resting comfortably against a wall, so that the unicycle is vertical.
Sit properly on the seat, with the cranks in the vertical position. Put
your heel on the lower pedal. Your leg should be straight but not
stretching. Now lower the seat by about a centimetre. That's roughly
the right height for general riding. Put it back up a centimetre for
fast riding, and down a little bit for off roading.

Hope some of that helps. If in fact you are an 8 foot 3 inch Bantu with
legs up to your armpits, and I have fallen for a wind up, well done.
:0) Enjoy your riding and good luck.


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[ubersquish]

the seat tube has a bottom, so the post can't go lower than that. in
other words, the bottom of the seat post is even with the bottom of the
crown. and my seat is that skinny kiddie-sized torker one. it doesn't
really hurt that much anymore

with the cranks vertical, i can't touch it with my heel, and have to
point my foot downwrds to get it with the part behind my toes. means i
can't even try to idle and have trouble freemounting. and i ride with
somewhat thick-soled sandals. i'm looking into getting some 102mm
cranks, used. i don't know what i have now since i don't have a ruler,
but i saw somewhere that torkers have 5.5 inch cranks. now i'll try to
find somewhere to chop my post. thanks


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[jagur]

if you plan on putting those 102's on your uni,dont cut off to much.with
shorter cranks you'll need to raise the seat.in your case,the current
seat hieght may be perfect once the 102's go on there.


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[ubersquish]

on my uni? why would i do that? they're for my ears %}
yeah, that's what i was thinking about the cranks


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[john_childs]

The suggested rider height for the different seatpost sizes is not that
accurate. They're just ballpark figures.

The actual seatpost size that would fit you would depend on the unicycle
wheel size (20" or 24"), the length of the neck on the frame, the length
of the cranks, the thickness of the saddle (KH saddle vs. Miyata
saddle), whether you like to ride with the seat high or low, and your
inseam length with your riding shoes on. Unicycle.com could write up a
web page that asked for the necessary data, plugged the data in to a
formula and then spit out your suggested seatpost length. However that
would be very confusing to everyone involved.

My only complaint with the suggested rider heights for the different
seatpost lengths that unicycle.com has is that they don't take in to
account the wheel size on the unicycle. You'll need a longer post on a
20" unicycle than on a 24" or a 26".

My strategy when getting seatposts is to get them longer than I think I
will need then cut them down to my size. You can always cut a post
shorter, but you can't cut it longer.


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[andrew_carter]

> I think I just got the short end of the stick.
:p That's great!

As for cutting seatposts, there's a tool you can use that's really quick
to use and makes a really clean cut. It got a couple of little rolling
bits and then a rolling 'blade' or something that cuts the post. You
set it up and then spin it around and tighten it every now and then.
They make a really clean straight cut.

Andrew


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[Gumbo]

It's called a pipe-cutter, I'm just full of semi-useful information
today :)


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[andrew_carter]

Yes, but if you're as uncoordinated with a hacksaw as I am you'll
definately want to go with a pipe cutter. :)

Andrew


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[Gumbo]

There is a bike shop tool for cutting seatposts down, that you slide
over the seatpost, and has a slot cut out of the middle of it, which you
then clamp up at the desired point. You can then clamp the tool firmly
in a vice, and proceed to go at it with a hacksaw. The clever bit is
the guide for the hacksaw blade that is cut down the middle of the tool.
This way you always get the cut at 90 degrees to the post.


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