Minimum achievable seat height on a Q45?

rfneep

rfneep

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

Since selling my old Q559 I’ve been trying to find a good bike for riding poorly maintained limestone trails (often rutted and smallish potholes). My S40 doesn’t make it, even with soft 42 mm tires. Looks like I need suspension. My CB options seem to be: a) get a Q45; b) repair and build up an older Quest I have at the in-laws on the other side of the country; or c) find a used QX100 I could mod.

A Q45 looks attractive but my problem is that the specced seat height of the Q45 looks very unfriendly to short-legged people like myself (5’7” and ~40 in xseam). I have no desire to go to 24 in wheels, nor interested in just being able to touch my toes to the ground when stopped.

So my questions are:

1- Does anyone know if the Q45 seat pan can be lowered by modifying the brackets and if so by how much?

2- can anyone give the minimum seat height with a Thorseat mounted on the Q45?

Any info would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Ray
 
woodguy

woodguy

Well-Known Member
I think it might be possible to lower the stock seat a little, but it would require being somewhat creative. If you look at the assembly instructions for the Q45 on this website, you will see that the brackets are U shaped, with the back bracket having longer legs. You will still need to have something to attach to the frame and run the skewer through. My guess is you might lower the seat at most 1". I do have the Thor Easy Large seat on my Q45. The bottom of the seat sits 25" off the ground.
 
rfneep

rfneep

Well-Known Member
woodguy said:
I think it might be possible to lower the stock seat a little, but it would require being somewhat creative. If you look at the assembly instructions for the Q45 on this website, you will see that the brackets are U shaped, with the back bracket having longer legs. You will still need to have something to attach to the frame and run the skewer through. My guess is you might lower the seat at most 1". I do have the Thor Easy Large seat on my Q45. The bottom of the seat sits 25" off the ground.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I have no problem having to rework the seat brackets to lower the seat an inch or so, as long as there is clearance to do so. Can I assume your Thor Easy seat is mounted with the standard bracket, which sets the height at 25 inches? What I’m looking for is an estimate of how low the seat could sit if it were right on top of the frame, assuming a support could hold it there.

Thanks again.

Ray
 
woodguy

woodguy

Well-Known Member
Yes, I used the standard seat bracket with no modification to mount the Thor. I’m 6’ tall and it works great for me.

The rear tube that holds the skewer is 22.5” off the ground with standard 26” tires. If you get the Thor seat, the ribs on the seat are too close together to fit over the tubes. If you cut those tubes shorter to let the seat fit over, you could probably get the seat to 23” from the ground, but you wouldn’t be able to use the brackets or skewer fastening system. You could maybe make some U shaped brackets to wrap around the tubes and mount the seat that way. If you want to use the factory designed fastening system, but are willing to modify the brackets, I estimate that you will end up 24” off the ground.

Another thing I learned from the forum here is that with the single piece Thor seat, you don’t really need both lower mounting locations. The standard Cruzbike seat is 2 pieces & for that both skewers are needed.

I look forward to hearing how it turns out for you.

Jim
 
Rampa

Rampa

Guru
On my T50 I rotated the seat mounting plate 180. So the bolt slots are then longer towards the rear, for sliding the seat back. So my seat is now lower and further back on the bike. Might be able to do a similar thing on the Q. Might be overly nose-up though. The little mounting arm things would be on the front in this case, and maybe could be re-drilled or replaced to change the seat-pan to an angle that matches that of the frame.

Remember the original Q seat was the same angle as the frame tube, so was a little nose-up. The aluminum seat is also flat for lower mounting possibilities with a different system, because the folds for rigidity are out at the edges.
 
rfneep

rfneep

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the useful comments and observations. Looks like there may be options to consider. As I said, I’d rather avoid smaller wheels mainly for the hassle factor and I really like the 26” Rene Herse (Compass) tires for this kind of riding.

Overall, 24” seat height might be OK. 23” would be even better. One thing I’ve noted before is that the Volae carbon seats have wider ribs than those on the Thorseats so sometimes may be a useful choice. For example, I’ve been able to easily fit a Volae on the upper tabs of an S40 frame without mod whereas the Thor requires cutting the Frame tabs or hacking into the seat. Food for thought...

Another question: can anyone provide the actual width of the skewer mount tubes on the Q45 frame? Depending on that width, a Volae seat with Bacchetta seat brackets might be worth considering.

Thanks again! I’ll have to mull over getting a Q45 as I collect more info.

Ray
 
woodguy

woodguy

Well-Known Member
On my 2018 model Q45 the skewer mount tubes are 4" long. Not sure if they have changed that on newer models. I know they switched from a single seat bracket that connects to both skewers to 2 separate brackets. I don't know how the Volae seat with Bacchetta brackets mounts, but if you plan to slide the seat with wider ribs over the tubes, you probably won't be able to run a skewer through without having the ribs get in the way.
 
rfneep

rfneep

Well-Known Member
woodguy said:
On my 2018 model Q45 the skewer mount tubes are 4" long. Not sure if they have changed that on newer models. I know they switched from a single seat bracket that connects to both skewers to 2 separate brackets. I don't know how the Volae seat with Bacchetta brackets mounts, but if you plan to slide the seat with wider ribs over the tubes, you probably won't be able to run a skewer through without having the ribs get in the way.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is very helpful. I believe you are right that it is very unlikely to fit a skewer in between the seat ribs. Nonetheless, all of this info pretty much gives me a feel for what can be done. May take a little imagination if I decide to tackle this.

Thanks again!

Ray
 
Giloun

Giloun

Active Member
There is a paragraph on "Fit" on the website:
Fit
The Q45 fits riders with an X-seam between 34" and 46" (approximately 5'1" to 6'3"). The cockpit of the Q45 is a little tighter than the T50 or the S40, so if you are taller than 6'3" or weigh more than 200 lbs, it may not work for you. If you are close to the outside of the fit range, please contact us at support@cruzbike.com.
 
B

barung

New Member
Helpful info. I'm 5'6" and 40" x seam and have been trying to decide, thinking the seat height is too high. The 'fit' info from the website is all about the stretch to the pedals not about whether you can comfortably get your feet on the ground, especially with a full load of panniers and rough terrain when you most need solid footing. Thanks Giloun for the photo. Much appreciated. Could you put one up with both feet down?
 
B

barung

New Member
Thanks for that Giloun. Good to see you can get both heels on the ground. That makes for good stability when you need it.
 
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