help me find a super-deluxe banana seat for a chopper bicycle

November 10, 2005 5:51 PM

I'd like to find a deluxe banana seat to put on this bike - so deluxe it'll practically be a motorcyle seat. I'd like a lot of comfortable padding for a nice, easy ride, and a split-level / two-seat configuration, kind of like the seat on this thing. It will be mounted on the bicycle seat post + sissy bars down to the rear dropouts. I am finding squat on eBay / Froogle. Any help?
posted by scarabic to shopping (7 comments total)

I have minor machining and welding capability but would much rather not have to go there.
posted by scarabic at 5:52 PM on November 10, 2005

Schwinn recently came out with the retro-styled Stingray line which you can see here. The banana seats in the classic line to which I linked most look to be approximately what you're asking for, but you'd have to be the judge. I would say to contact a Schwinn dealer and see if you could just by a seat off them.
posted by ooga_booga at 6:18 PM on November 10, 2005

By the way, I don't know if they're only available in kids' or teens' sizes, which might be a possibility. It was the first thing I thought of, though.
posted by ooga_booga at 6:20 PM on November 10, 2005

Here's what I'd do: Banana seats have been done, & cruiser saddles are more comfy IMO. So I'd take a style cue from a vintage lambretta and build 2 saddles in series. Make the rear saddle smaller for leg-swingover. Start with a seatpost, and weld a bar to extend out horizontally backwards. Attach the free end of the bar to the sissy bars. Cheap saddles have a rotating U-shaped clamp, you could clamp directly to the horizontal bar, or maybe come up with a short & adjustable seatpost assembly. Put footpegs in back for the pillion passenger, and voila!
posted by Triode at 7:00 PM on November 10, 2005

I think you might be looking for the MX-style banana seat sometimes also found on the Schwinn Krates--I think these were aftermarket items but you can probably hunt one down. I'd first try Faber's Cyclery--Faber's is the place for all things vintage Schwinn and parts related--they specialize in vintage bike repair, but they'll also fix your modern ride. They've a mammoth bicycle graveyard with frames, forks, wheels, seats--you name it, they've got it.

Faber's Cyclery
702 S. 1st St.
San Jose
408.294.1314

I'd also try:

Box Dog Bikes
494 14th Street (at Guerrero)
San Francisco
415.431.9627

Pedal Revolution
3085 21st Street (at South Van Ness)
San Francisco
415.641.1264

Bike Kitchen
This is a non-profit bicycle-self-repair organization, but they have an assortment of donated parts for sale.
Mission Village Market
18th Street & Alabama
posted by fandango_matt at 7:27 PM on November 10, 2005

sacramento is home of the stretch bikes due to the fact that we have no hills here and everything is flat. I'd check out some shops here. i'm not sure who carries what, but I'm sure if you google "bike shop, sacramento" and make some phone calls asking about stretch bike parts you'll find what you need.

the seats I've seen on the stretch bikes around here are pretty close to the photo you've got of the honda.

you might also check through this stretch bike gallery for leads .. not a lot of seats that aren't cruiser seats, but i've seen em..
posted by fishfucker at 7:31 PM on November 10, 2005

Yeah, I've actually thought of the 2-seat Lambretta option as well, but that's a separate project to consider, which involves more engineering (as you point out).

The MX is more along the right lines. Better padding than the usual banana seat. Can we go any further with that concept?

I want to be able to carry passengers behind me in relative comfort, I should have mentioned. And since the bottom bracket is so far forward on this bike, it's almost like pedaling a recumbent, where you are pushing forward as much as down. Having some "step" built into the seat seems like it would give you something to push back against.

An extreme example of that would be a seat like this one:


posted by scarabic at 7:35 PM on November 10, 2005