Seat Post and Saddle

Brake lever on seat but no brakes yet

I was very encouraged by yesterday’s ride. The tire pressure was low so I pulled the tire/tube but could not find any leaks. I applied two layers of cloth tape to the rim inside to protect the tube from the spoke caps, dusted the tire inside with baby powder and reinflated. I will watch it.

I was not happy with the seat height so I need to look for another post. I got an aluminum one but it is snug. I will check the steel/chrome ones. The post is one inch but sold as a 25.4mm. A steel one is easy to find.

Next was the seat. I have several saddles at home and found this old Trak one. The hand brake lever mounted nicely and the seat is higher so I am going to try it. As discussed before I went for a coaster brake wheel. I can see the value of the hand brake so I am looking for a new one. The old one is badly corroded.

I am getting there. In the last few days I installed a 300 mm 25.4mm aluminum seat post to replace the steel 200mm one. The old post was corroded but the key problem was it was too short. Even with it extended beyond the safe limit I was still about two inches short. I believe having the seat at proper height will give better control like it does on a unicycle. The challenge was the new posts were a hair too thick. Between a belt sander and a wire wheel I removed a small amount and the new post fits great.

Next was reinstalling a rear hand brake. The brake handle worked even better on the Trek seat than on the original supplied seat. The front slope of the tubes provided a downward slope making for cleaner cable routing. I purchased a basic real caliper side-pull brake. The cable needed to be long enough to accommodate the seat raised to full height. In the pictures it is more in the position for me so there is extra bend.

While installing the cable I got to use one of my favorite Park Tools – the BT-5 Adjustable Third Hand Brake Tool. No longer made by Park, it holds the brake closed while the cable is threaded and tightened.

Complete Skate Bike

Chain Tug and new Seat Post Clamp

I made two improvements to the skate bike. First was replacing the old seat clamp. The old clamp was working fine but it was rusty and didn’t look very nice.

The second change is the addition of Chain Tugs. Chain tension is controlled by positioning the axle. The challenge is when you tighten the bolts the axle tends to move. A chain tug restricts the movement of the axle during tightening.

Brake side before

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