I'm still using just the
I'm still using just the velcro for the seat and it works fine for me but I'm still fighting with getting just the right fit for myself with the top of my shoulders to the base of my head with the headrest and junction of the seat back and headrest.
I'm getting closer but I'm still not satisfied with it. I'm tempted to go the Matt Weaver route and plunk myself down into some wet sand and take a plaster mold of the impression and make a custom carbon seat molded exactly to me. Or maybe considering my current local conditions a freaking cold snowbank...
I think I've got the extra lumbar support just about right. I had adjusted it too high, then too low, and now I think I've got it just right but it is hard to tell on the trainer because riding it on the road tends to give a little bit different feel.
I have replicated John's very light framed double bottle rack in the wind shadow of the headrest and tested it with my 1.5L Hydrapak and it works very well. Turns out the space under the backwards bend of the top of the headrest inside the new rack is the perfect size to hold a spare tube, patch kit, 2 plastic tire irons, pressure gauge, and my mini tool kit - AND inside the lower rack frame rail is the perfect place to stow my mini-pump.
I'm not quite finished with it. Still trying to decide what to do with the vertical aft frame rail. The blue stuff is some lightweight closed cell foam strip roll that I bought at Lowes to experiment with. I'm using it to experiment with headrest padding and I taped together a quick liner - more to protect my Hydrapak although it probably acts a bit like an insulator too.
I will either cover the entire thing like John did with some sort of lycra or other stretchy form fitting cover or just cut some ballistic nylon cloth in the same pattern as the blue liner I threw together. I'll probably sew the blue stuff or something similar inside a nylon shell making a sort of removable pack custom fit to the rack. That way I can lift the entire pack out, including all the contents.
I'm going to rivet two small strips across the bottom frame rail so my mini-pump can just sit inside the rails. I'm also visualizing a custom cloth tool/parts pouch to hold the spare tube and other bits exactly in place to make it easy to pull out, and quickly access whatever I need and then back in the front of the rack such that no loose pieces are just moving around all over the inside of the rack.
Here is the Matt Weaver reference:
" It was formed by going to the beach during low tide, digging a hole in wet sand, sitting in the estimated riding position and packing wet sand around my back. After being lifted out of the "pocket" in the sand, plaster was prepared using water from a nearby rivermouth and poured on the surface of the pocket. From the plaster piece finish molds were prepared The seat is remarkably comfortable and requires no padding whatsoever. "
ref:
http://www.speed101.com/words.htm
PS - sharp eyes may have noticed I've trimmed the top of my seat back and notched it to allow the headrest frame to run further in. What you can't see is I also lopped a little off the free ends of the headrest tube frame to allow it to be inserted further.
Tall people should NOT do this.
John T. - There is NOT good bonding of the CF lipstick on the fiberglass seat as shown by the delamination at the trimmed end...
-Eric