So I bought a Sargent seat because I was sick of sore butt from longer rides. When I got the seat I was blown away at the quality. It's a beautiful product. I put it on my bike and sat on it and really enjoyed the comfort ... What I didn't like was that I could now only get my toes down! I'm 5'8" and could get my feet flat with the stock seat. I contemplated a bunch of options. I even contacted Sargent about cutting down the seat. They were very nice but said it couldn't be done. ... Honestly I don't think he understood what I needed. Because I'm short, I tend to sit close to the tank. The Sargent ads a huge hump of foam near the front. The front "nose" of the seat actually comes up about 2 inches above the indented line of the tank. The shape is intended to move you back away from the tank. Comfortable for taller riders, but for me it meant a huge reach to the bars. What to do??? This is a $365 seat!!
The remainder of the seat was great, I just needed more of a straight nose without the rise.
Sooooo .... I began to pull staples .... folded back the cover. The cover is actually atached to the foam at the rear rise of the seat, so that is as far as I could go.
There's a Saran-Wrap-like waterproof plastic over the foam that I peeled back . I then used a kitchen bread knife to shave off about 1.5 inches off the front nose of the seat. Basically I wanted the nose to meet the top of the tank at the original indent. This would give me the height I needed. I also shaved a bit off the sides ... The Sargent is wider than stock too.
After the major cuts were made I used 150 grit sandpaper to smooth everything down. This took MUCH longer than I thought. And I actually had to go back and do it again. Any bumps or waves will show through like a chick with cellulite in spandex. After I got the shape and finish looking good, I used spray adhesive to adhere Saran-Wrap over the top of the foam.
Here was the thing I didn't expect. The seat pan is made of a very strong plastic. My power staple gun would not drive staples in! I even bought the most powerful stapler I could find ... nothing, It just bent the staples over! Soooo, I called up a local upholstery shop and they offered to staple the cover back on ... I went down and met a young guy who, happens to own a Monster! He did a great job attaching the cover.
To wrap this up ... The seat is great. Looks like new. Super comfortable, and I can get alomost flat footed on the ground.
