Seat too tight?


I’m getting these marks on the side of the rib protector from the seat bolts. I know these things need to be tight? But is this a little too much? I feel very cramped in this thing and have already gotten an injury (this was without the rib protector). Wanted to get some thoughts on this.

I would say too tight. That being said you can have flusher mounting hardware as well. How’s the general fit? If its cramped overall, you are likely in too small a seat. Ideally its snug but not pinching sorta at the waist, flaring upwards without being so loose that you bounce around but not so tight that a big inhale would make it tight. You should feel “athletic” but “supported” if that makes sense. Not squeezed and pinched.

there are probably less expensive options but heres an example of flush mount hardware.

I feel like those bolts are a pretty big pinch point. Sat in it earlier and it was sightly difficult to take a full breath. Maybe I’ll try the Ribtect bolts to see if there is some comfort to be had before going for a whole new seat

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They’d help but seems to me it’s too narrow.

A cheap way to gain space is to first temove the big washer. That’s supposed to go on the outside. Next, I’d remove the conical black spacer, in favor of a large M14 washer. That will make the M8 bolt sit flatter. Otherwise, like others said, you can use one of those flat head bolt kits. Let me see if I can snap a pic, I still have some out

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To go along with all the advice above. Get yourself some Velcro and place the soft side on your rib protector. Allows it to slide around a bit, keeps it from chaffing your suit, and getting damaged. Also I recommend you look into the titanium hardware kit over the Ribtech. If I recall it’s nearly the same price and doesn’t require a special wrench that will eventually get lost or left at home.

Ideally a thin layer of padding/yoga mat over the bolts… I believe that’s also a rib protector manufacturer recommendation… Otherwise your suit will get holes through it eventually.

The struggling to take a full breath indicates to me the seat is too tight by some margin. I dont think washers are going to do it for you. You could try bending the seat supports so when you tighten the bolts it’ll pull the seat wider.

The wear on the rib protector is pretty in line with what i’ve experienced. It’ll wear away the coating pretty quickly and take a lot longer to wear into the fibreglass below.