Hey guys:

I'm trying to figure out what size seat posts fit two of my projects. The first is a late 70's Webco, probably a team replica. The second is a '80 Mongoose Motomag. I'm just going to buy cheapo chrome seat posts but want to get the right posts the first time!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Keith

I also need a seatpost for an 80 motomag and suggestions for a seat...........

Unless one of the experts around here wants to correct me (which has happened a few times), I'm pretty certain the seatpost size for both would be 7/8" or 22.2mm, which would fit most BMX frames of that era.

Check out Ginny's old school bmx : http://home.comcast.net/~ginnyrini/

Classic Messenger old school quilted seat would work on the Goose, my 1980 Goose has a Messenger seat which was original to the goose with a Mongoose/BMX Products metal tag on the back of it.

Hope this helps.

I have no idea what came stock on the Webco brand wise, but I know the Messinger would work on it also. Good luck finding them though.

Haven't heard back about anything on here from the first questions but thought in case anyone wants to know about this tip...

I found an awesome -almost free- replacement for any missing or damaged old school seat posts yesterday...

Go to any decent music store and check out old/used cymbal stands... The middle pipes are almost always 7/8", they're chrome plated, strong, look great and fit perfectly into old school BMX frames. I grabbed 2 for 5 bucks, sawed them in half and voila! 4 posts for almost nada!

Pretty cool finding. I am a drummer too and hope your bikes are showpieces only. You will snap that drumstand tube like a twig and impale your bum,crotch, or gut. Thats not chromoly or any kind of decent steel. If you used a tube from a Yamaha heavy duty stand that might be good enough though. They're the ones I use and they are monsters. Some of them real old 70's bmx bikes take silly small setposts like a Schwinn size(?) or like the 13/16" PK Ripper size. Idk for sure which brands/models but I've noticed some of those real old bikes from the 70's are like that.

Hmm... Now you got me worried a bit... FYI, my particular rebuilds are all vintage Mongeese from 76 to 81 with 7/8" seat posts going into 1" frame tubes. I'm not building anything specifically for show, I like to ride them also but... Impaling any body parts would really suck big time! You've definitley raised some doubt with me about what i thought might have been a clever way to save a couple bones... Reminds me of a warning my Dad might have givin' me back in the day... LOL! Anyhow, I only need 3 more posts anyway, the rest I already have (4) are actuall seat posts.

Just for the halibut, I'm going to do a strength test anyway and check out what the cymbal stand tubes feel like under stress... BTW, the Japanese/Yamaha hardware may not be the right size for any older American bike stuff as it's all metric as far as I know... Funny, I never really liked the metal used in Yamaha hardware (even when I was sponsored by them briefly in the late 80's) as I found it was somewhat of a brittle white soft metal. I seam to recall weird breakage and thread stripping on many stands and parts from my Recording Custom kits. Drums sure did sound awesome though! Obviously the old American drum hardware (ie; old Gretsch stuff etc.) was always made with better steel but often out of date style-wise compared to the newer Japanese stuff. Just my opinion, but don't get me started on drum stuff... My insane passion for 70's Mongeese stuff is only eclipsed by my absolute complete obsession for drums and drumming...

I thought it might be a good idea to merge the two in a novel way... But possibly impaling myself? Hmmm... Maybe not!

I will get you started on drum stuff, haha
The Yamaha stands in the past 10 years or so have been made in the Yamaha motorcycle plant in Japan. Way better than 80's metal(not including music,lol). The chrome finnish is way ahead of everything else too. Only drumstand I have ever used that won't easily strip-out on the threads are DW stands. You are right about the japanese pot-metal thing on the knuckles where the wingnut bolts thread in, even though I haven't stripped any of these heavy-duty yamaha stands yet and I have wrenched down on them silly hard for over 7 years now.
Have a look at my low-end Stage custom set I created. All matching Raven Black '99 Stage Custom including 10",12" snare drums;extra 3rd 22" kick made into gong; and 13"tom made into snare drum+kept full shell. High ten lugs and sounds very close to a recording custom in this year. I am just a hobbiest now, I hate playing in bands with idiots anymore.

That's a great kit my VBMX brother! Nice picture! My kits have been getting smaller and smaller these past few years as I am studying alot of Jazz. I always have a double pedal though. I've worked real hard to get Swiss triplets up to speed with my feet ala, Simon Phillips! Plus, I still love all the other regular double bass stuff, unfortunatley I could only dream of playing stuff on them like Virgil Donati and some of those guys do... Man, there are some sick dudes playing these days!

I've had Yamahas (first kit that I owned was a 1976 "Ringo Copy"), Gretsch (amazingly warm drums), a hybrid full Roto-Tom Kit (ala - early Bozzio/Bruford), GMS (great custom American drums), a stunning maple Noble and Cooley "Star" one ply set (the whole kit, not just the snare), my prized Zildjian/Noble and Cooley snare, all kinds of vinatge snares, 3 different Yamaha Recording Custom Kits and then I finally switched to Pearl in 1994 when they offered me a full deal while on tour in Europe. I've been with them ever since. Not neccesarily my first choice (that would be Sonor probably) but I've been fortunate enough to get free gear from them so, I have more than I need. At the music school where I now teach drum set studies, all the gear is supplied by Taye which are pretty decent "newer" drums made originally under the direction of my friend Ray Ayotte. He now has left the company after some Patent disputes with his partners regarding a new pedal he invented... You might know his original drums under the name :Ayotte:... I was also with Sabian for a couple years in the 80's then switched to Zildjian and have been with them ever since. I've hand picked all my cymbals from the Boston Factory during a few trips there... They are my true babies and I will never sell them. Each cymbal is a unique fingerprint as you know, with no two being alike... I have loads of really nice A Customs, some K's and some specialty stuff un-available to the public, probably around 50 or so, all hand picked with Zildjian's John King in the "room"...

Ever notice some of the similarities between bikes and drums? Do a search on ebay under pedals and it's mostly bike and drum pedals... Not to mention, cast cymbals, cast Motomags, chain drive pedals, bike chains, lot's of Chrome and hardware... Maybe it's just me but I always felt really comfortable taking apart my drum kits after cutting my teeth taking apart all my old bikes from when I was a kid... Very similar vibe to me...

Anyhow back to the BMX, I've struggled with quite a few seat posts stuck in frames lately but the last place I want a stuck seat post (especially with the end all chewed up) would be you know where... LOL! You'de think an actual post from a drum seat might be strongh enough though... Probably better to use a post made for BMX after all. Ginny's old school BMX has anything I or the poor guy who originally started this thread might need... LOL! Cheers!

Sorry everyone else: But just for fun (I feel guilty about morphing this thread into the drum stuff) but here's a great way to play a paradiddle instead of RLRRLRLL, play it RLLRLRRL... You've probably checked this out already (one type of inverted parradiddle), but if not, you must! Steve Smith and many other top guys really play the heack out of this one. It's always surprising to me that many younger guys never tried it or heard of it... Sounds really wicked around the kit with the hands on different drums or as a groove with the foot copying the right hand - just make sure to strictly play the accents on the first and 5th notes like you would in a regular paradiddle! Sorry to everyone else! I warned you about getting me started! LOL!

That's ok cuz we showed how a passion of bmx and drumming relate to each other in this thread and it still pertains to bmx. It's not a drum only thread which would belong elsewhere here. There is an actual topic of bmx going alongside here and I believe it is good.
So it seems you are pretty pro about drumming. I am not that smart about playing to really follow what you are saying about your inverted paradiddle dealie, but if ya had a vid showing it, it would make sense to me. There is a thread here that has awsome techniques to removing stuck seatposts(in the frame,lol). It's in Tech&Resto here just fish back a couple pages and I know you will find it. It has details about using a sawzall, the blade to use, and the technique about doing it. Guess it got some seatpost out of some really old frames where the post was like welded in there,hehe.
Even though I consider myself a metal drummer and I listen to a lot of progressive and death metal, I am mesmerized by a lot of Jazz drummer vids on drummerworld.com and it has been severely influencing my playing the past few years. I will catch myself going from doing doublebass thrash beats that just drive to trying to do light jazz stuff lately. It doesn't make much sense either. The jazzing around is making me want a different ride cymbal. Right now I run a 20" Zildjian A Ping and it feels like I need something dryer and more complex for when I go to the ride nowadays. Any suggestions?

Cool Spin...

I remember posting all my "stuck seat post" replies to whoever started that one a while back... I've been going through quite a few trials and tribulations regarding all that with this insane "Through the 70's and early 80's - Multiple Vintage Mongoose Restoration Project" or whatever it's called kind of project, I've embarked upon... The "project that finally kills my marriage" BMX Restoration Project! LOL!

You're right about the connections with BMX and drums though... Drummers and BMX'rs (maybe less for BMX'rs) sit on a seat connected to a post... Pure and simple. It better be secure, period. We balance on the darn thing and it needs to support all that weight, especially as we get older! LOL! Could you imagine what kind os sick BMX parts could be designed by the large drum companies out there? Tama gold frames, DW Mag wheels... LOL! I'm sure they could draw some parralells in terms of product R&D...

Anyhow... About the pattern thing, it's a piece of cake... Count to 8 - Right= R Left = L

RLLRLRRL That's all. You'll love it I promise, just make sure the accent is there... RIGHT left left right LEFT right right left... When it get's fast you can "bounce" the doubles! It's not that hard, just very cool sounding...

About the bronze... All cymbals being unique it's really difficult to recommend anything without knowing the person's tastes and without hearing the instrument itself. In my personal opinion, for a Jazzier, dry (yet complex) sounding ride, the K's work best... But it's all so subjective... It's funny how brand names have little to do with style and taste... As long as it's a cast instead of stamped, you'll be in the "quality sounding" ballpark... I like odd sized cymbals like 13" hats, 15", 17", 19" crashes, 21" rides, also smaller and thinner China's like 14 - 16's...

All that being said and to get back to where I am - here - (LOL), I also collect 70's BMX bikes and fight 30 year old seat post tubes out of Vintage Mongeese frames... LOL! I really do enjoy this website too! I've only been here since last summer but meeting like minded people like you and many others, and learning so much about my restoration stuff and history, has been truly awesome!! ttyl.