How To: Shave Seat Without Lumps, Maintain Stock Look

[shawrf1]

I took the basic steps fom shortyR6 on this forum and adapted them to fit. Someone on the thread suggested that, instead of shaving from the top of the seat, we could try shaving from the bottom of the foam in order to preserve the stock seat look. I'm 5'6" and ended up lowering my seating position about 1" or so.

Tools required:
Staple gun with 1/4" staples, 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, needle-nosed pliers, small flathead screwdriver, hex wrench (in tool kit), box cutter, and sharpie:


Pull back at the rear of the seat and uncover the two hex bolts keeping the seat in place. Remove with hex wrench.


Looking at the bottom of the seat, you'll see that the fabric covering the foam and plastic is kept in place with staples. I used a sharpie to mark the fabric and plastic for re-alignment purposes.


Take your small screwdrievr and gently ply under each staple to loosen it, taking care not to rip the fabric.


Use the needle-nosed pliers to grab each staple and pull them free.


Once you get all the staples, your seat will be cold and naked:


Gently pry the foam apart from the plastic tray... it is held in place by dried spray adhesive all around the edge of the plastic.


At this point, I put the seat back on the bike and used the sharpie to outline the area I wanted lowered.


I used the box cutter, with the blade at full extension, and cut around the outline I made, scoring peelable chunks as I went along. The first pass yielded chunks about 1" thick.


Test fitting the foam and plastic back on the bike, I felt that it was still too tall and the area around my thighs could stand some thinning, so I scored and peeled a little more until it felt right.



Take the 3M Super 77 and spray the plastic tray with a thin coat of adhesive.


Carefully fit the plastic tray on top of the backside of your foam seat... the stuff is super-tacky, so work accurately... it'll peel off if you make a mistake, but do it right the first time and you'll be better off.


Fit the cover back on (it should fit exactly as you took it off... no stretching necessary). Use your sharpie marks to keep things aligned correctly and staple the fabric back into place.




Finished seat:


Shaved seat reinstalled:



The seat looks stock and the only way you can tell that anything was done is when you sit on it. There is still at least 1" of foam left where it counts and still pretty cushy for me.

Rob

[The Raven]

i cant shave my R6 seat

instead of foam i have the souls of many children between the plastic and the fabric .. no foam


good right up tho ... its a great alternative to shortys messy approach

[Tameggo]

Very nice write up with pictures, Seems like this is the way it should be done. Good Job on the seat.

[naked6]

sweet write up bro! helluva 1st post!!!!

[IR6I]

nice writeup.. so how much did you think ending taking off the stock height?

[KyleK29]

I did this last Sunday, based off of Shorty's. I used a saw to trim the backside. Another thing I did was add some low-density foam (cushion foam from WalMart) in place of the removed pieces. It feels nice and will keep the shape. Although, I may redo some of it, as I may have tightened the cover on too much - the backside doesn't fully cover the screws anymore. But it looks nice and feels great. I think it probably lowered me about 1-1 1/2'' as I used (being 5'6/5'7, 30'' inseam) to touch with a little bit more than toes. Now I'm about 1'' up from my heels, this is wearing Nike running shoes too. Bike feels a lot better now. Even though it doesn't affect riding, it does affect confidence when stopping, knowing you can plant both feet.

I was in the process of moving, so I didn't get too good of photos (phone over actual digicam). The pictures are on my phone, as soon as I finish moving I'll put them up here.

[ashe]

thanks for the write-up. this came just in time. i'm ready to shave my seat in the next couple of weeks. i'm 5'7 w/ 30 inseam. even though i have gotten used to balancing the bike on my toes, i still hate the feeling of not being planted... especially after a long day of hard riding when my legs start feeling like jello.

[circe]

I did this last sunday too, took about 3 inches of foam out. I'ma shorty. I did it off the top, though, now I wish I hadn't, your's looks awesome...good job

[ashe]

Originally Posted by circe

I did this last sunday too, took about 3 inches of foam out. I'ma shorty. I did it off the top, though, now I wish I hadn't, your's looks awesome...good job

3 inches of foam??!! i haven't looked at mine yet, but how thick is the original foam to begin with? i was planning to remove 1~1.5" depending on how much foam i have to work with.

[Rob Sherman]

Originally Posted by circe

I did this last sunday too, took about 3 inches of foam out. I'ma shorty. I did it off the top, though, now I wish I hadn't, your's looks awesome...good job

You can always get another seat on ebay for about $30