Thor Easy GS Medium mount to S40

[Black Hawk Down]

I sympathize with you. I can ease my recumbutt by intermittently lifting my butt using the pedals for support. Kind of like standing for a while when I used to ride a DF. I think that may be adequate for you. I know others like to tour with the more upright S40 and Q45. Personally I’m thinking the V20 with a wider fork (like the S40 has) combined with wide tires would make a comfortable tourer. That is if I can maintain stability while loaded and reclined that much.
I’ll be following your progress and hope things work out well.

Sorry about the late reply. I road about 8700 miles on the tour, then went home. My butt hurt the whole way. I did use the trick you mentioned by lifting my butt using the pedals. I used that every day, all day. It does help. Also, my butt did get in a little better shape, but never got comfortable. It was a daily pain for 7 months.

Robert suggested to me in January to purchase a medium Volae seat cushion from the Hostel Shoppe, since CruzBike uses a small for the S40. He said that the medium size helped him. I don't know why I didn't try it then, but now they only sell the extra small and small sizes. Can't find them anywhere else.

I want to go back to touring, but I need a seat solution first. I can't stand the way it is. Any other new ideas would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[Robert K Hall]

I did buy the Medium Volae for my S-40 in hopes of curing recumbutt. Helped in that I don't feel like I'm sliding off the front of the seat. Also helped in going further up my back for more support but still had some issues with recumbutt. Eventually added more length to the front & cushion & that seemed to help a lot. Have minor pain after an hour or so but nothing like when I began riding the S40...should have purchased the large Volae cushion. I also purchased a medium Volae cushion for my S-2 not because of recumbutt but always felt like I was going to slide off the seat. Now that fit is perfect.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I did buy the Medium Volae for my S-40 in hopes of curing recumbutt. Helped in that I don't feel like I'm sliding off the front of the seat. Also helped in going further up my back for more support but still had some issues with recumbutt. Eventually added more length to the front & cushion & that seemed to help a lot. Have minor pain after an hour or so but nothing like when I began riding the S40...should have purchased the large Volae cushion. I also purchased a medium Volae cushion for my S-2 not because of recumbutt but always felt like I was going to slide off the seat. Now that fit is perfect.

Thanks Robert. I'd like to buy a large Volae cushion but the only ones available at the Hostel Shoppe are extra small and small. I assume it has something to do with the bicycle supply chain due to Covid. I couldn't find them anywhere else.

I originally tried to solve this problem by buying a medium Thor G-easy seat. That didn't help. I'm also having trouble with my shoulder blades being irritated by the edges of the seat so I purchased a Thor Large g-easy seat. That didn't fit me at all. Last night I purchased the Thor Carrier seat, which has very wide shoulders. I doubt that will help with the recumbutt, but at least my shoulders won't hurt. I'll try layering foam pads under the seat cushion to see if that helps. I'm building quite an inventory of Thor seats.

 

[Merczak73]

This has been a fascinating thread, and posting late (too late?) in the game. Query about mounting the Thor seat. I notice that in the current iteration of the S40, there are no longer mounting wings for the seat near the head rest. Instead, it’s a bracket of sorts. Would that bracket work with older models? Say, 2019 S40? I’d feel a lot better about cutting the mounting wings off if that were an option - cut the wing completely off and use the bracket instead.

Sorry if this is a repost of a question, had not seen it anywhere else. if it is possible, anyone know how I can get one? Don’t see it listed as an accessory.

Thanks, all. Happy New Year!

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Mine has the mounting wings. I know nothing about the bracket. I would ask @Robert Holler.

 

[Mathew Fy]

This has been a fascinating thread, and posting late (too late?) in the game. Query about mounting the Thor seat. I notice that in the current iteration of the S40, there are no longer mounting wings for the seat near the head rest. Instead, it’s a bracket of sorts. Would that bracket work with older models? Say, 2019 S40? I’d feel a lot better about cutting the mounting wings off if that were an option - cut the wing completely off and use the bracket instead.

Sorry if this is a repost of a question, had not seen it anywhere else. if it is possible, anyone know how I can get one? Don’t see it listed as an accessory.

Thanks, all. Happy New Year!

The bracket is too wide to fit a Thor seat without cutting into the seat, but I wouldn’t want to cause a weak point there. Velcro holds the seat back adequately, others have added more support - read previous posts in this thread for examples.
I suspect the bracket fits older models, I don’t think they changed the shape of the hydroformed frame.

 

[Merczak73]

The bracket is too wide to fit a Thor seat without cutting into the seat, but I wouldn’t want to cause a weak point there. Velcro holds the seat back adequately, others have added more support - read previous posts in this thread for examples.
I suspect the bracket fits older models, I don’t think they changed the shape of the hydroformed frame.

Thanks for the info! Good to know about the bracket being too wide. I seem to recall seeing somewhere about the velcro thing and the seat. My problem is that my velcro seat cushion tends to "walk" across my seat when I sit down. It slowly shifts, depending on what side I slide into he seat. I would be worried that the seat itself would do the same thing. Guess there is no fix except to cut and redial. Thanks!

 

[rfneep]

This is all probably too late, but a few observations:

I had an old Thor Easy seat that I easily fit to a first edition S40 by: 1) cutting small holes in the sides of the reinforcing ribs to allow the upper seat attachment wings to slip into the void of the ribs, while attaching the upper seat to the frame with velcro straps; and 2) using a simple flat Al plate bolted to the lower attachment wings to provide bolts holes that fit between the ribs, while using a hard rubber spacer to raise the lower seat a bit to allow the seat ribs to clear the lower wings. This arrangement worked well for the year I had the S40. As best I could tell, putting the holes in the side of the ribs did not compromise the seat integrity. I always felt I could reinforce that area with some epoxy and filler fiber if I suspected it was weakening, but that was not needed. Overall, I was keen to not cut anything on the S40 frame itself, just to keep it pristine if I could.

On the Volae seats: my understanding is that the shortage of supply has nothing to do with supply chain issues. The Hostel Shoppe has discontinued the Volae line and been simply selling off all remaining inventory of parts. I expect that there will no longer be any of their excellent Comfort Carbon seats and cushions available. That's unfortunate. I'll be curious what alternatives people choose in the future.

Ray