Dane Buson's Seatbolt

[email hidden] wrote:
:: using my valve adaptor... so too the fates were not with me Monday
:: afternoon when I broke my own seatbolt!

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

Roger Zoul said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

using my valve adaptor... so too the fates were not with me Monday
afternoon when I broke my own seatbolt!

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

Yeah, I'd remove the entire seatpost (ASSuming I had the proper tool, of
course). Have also seen guys /duct tape/ their saddles to the post and
finish rides rather gingerly, although I don't carry any DT (or ginger).

Note to self: start bringing the cleat covers just in case ya gotta
walk...oh, 20 miles. (Grumbling whole way at all the people called who
"conveniently" weren't available to come get you.)

BS (dammit)

"Roger Zoul" Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rather than ride with the saddle and stuff in my pockets, I think I would
have ridden with the saddle all the way down. At least, then, it would be
possible to rest occasionally. Beyond that, I have used a hose clamp on the
seat post to keep it up. You could even wrap the seatpost with corrougated
box material or newspaper, tied with wire or wrapped with duct tape to give
you some sort of support. IOW, there is help nearer than the bike shops.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Leo Lichtman said:

"Roger Zoul" Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rather than ride with the saddle and stuff in my pockets, I think I would
have ridden with the saddle all the way down. At least, then, it would be
possible to rest occasionally. Beyond that, I have used a hose clamp on the
seat post to keep it up. You could even wrap the seatpost with corrougated
box material or newspaper, tied with wire or wrapped with duct tape to give
you some sort of support. IOW, there is help nearer than the bike shops.

Errm ... I don't think it was the binder bolt that broke,
but rather a bolt that secures the saddle to the seatpost.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Leo Lichtman said:

"Roger Zoul" Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rather than ride with the saddle and stuff in my pockets, I think I would
have ridden with the saddle all the way down. At least, then, it would be
possible to rest occasionally. Beyond that, I have used a hose clamp on the
seat post to keep it up. You could even wrap the seatpost with corrougated
box material or newspaper, tied with wire or wrapped with duct tape to give
you some sort of support. IOW, there is help nearer than the bike shops.

Errm ... I don't think it was the binder bolt that broke,
but rather a bolt that secures the saddle to the seatpost.

Exactly. The seatpost stayed up just fine.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the show?"

Quoted message said:

When I first read A Tale of Two Pieces of Seatbolt the immediate
thought that came to my mind was not something regarding high quality
local bike shops or annoying people who would rather talk about the
latest and greatest weight weenie component instead of servicing a
customer. The immediate thought that came to my mind was "what the
hell could he possibly have done or been doing to possibly break a
seatbolt?" I mean puh-lease, of all of the things you could break on a
bicycle, the _seatbolt_...sheesh.

Heh, evidently it fine to point and laugh when it's *my* saddle that
comes off.

;-)

Quoted message said:

problem there. Put my hand on the saddle to steady the bike as I get
back on and... and... it comes off in my hand.

Well, that's a better way to find out than mine.

Quoted message said:

I'd done a fair bit of practice with standing up on the pedals
before. Never actually gone more than a few hundred meters standing up
but I can stand up and pedal at the same time. Seatbag in the one rear
pocket, saddle and broken bolt in another, and I'm ready to go. Seven
kilometers of nasty headwind worth of ready to go. And I can't go down
on the drops. Yeurgh.

Ah, I was fortunate in not having any significant headwind either way.
Which is actually unusual for my route.

Quoted message said:

I really hate taking the bus with my bike.
Really really hate taking the bus with my bike.

:-(

Good luck with getting it fixed. Though, from your previous
descriptions of your LBS, they'll take good care of you. That is one
problem with doing everything for yourself (as I tend to), is that it's
harder to become a known customer.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"If at first you don't succeed...forget skydiving."

Roger Zoul said:

[email hidden] wrote:
:: using my valve adaptor... so too the fates were not with me Monday
:: afternoon when I broke my own seatbolt!

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

It's not too bad, but shifting with barcons is trickier while standing.
I really don't recommend it for long distances. Still, it's better
than breaking your chain - Flintstoning it is worse IMO.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
Obviously the subject of death was in the air, but more as something
to be avoided than harped upon.
Possibly the horror that Zaphod experienced at the prospect of being
reunited with his deceased relatives led on to the thought that they might
just feel the same way about him and, what's more, be able to do something
about helping to postpone this reunion.
-- Douglas Adams

Sorni said:

Roger Zoul said:

Quoted message said:

> using my valve adaptor... so too the fates were not with me Monday
> afternoon when I broke my own seatbolt!

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

Yeah, I'd remove the entire seatpost (ASSuming I had the proper tool, of
course). Have also seen guys /duct tape/ their saddles to the post and
finish rides rather gingerly, although I don't carry any DT (or ginger).

I should stick some zip ties in my bag. I might have been able to jury
rig it on there with a pair of them.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
The meek shall inherit what they're bloody well given. And be thankful for it.

Dane Buson said:

Good luck with getting it fixed. Though, from your previous
descriptions of your LBS, they'll take good care of you. That is one
problem with doing everything for yourself (as I tend to), is that it's
harder to become a known customer.

That, or you become known as the customer that only brings in really
hard problems, like fused-on rear derailers or calcified bottom
brackets.

I gotta get myself one of those 80cm breaker bars. Maybe with a 12"
Vice Grip welded to one end, too.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Roger Zoul said:

[email hidden] wrote:
:: using my valve adaptor... so too the fates were not with me Monday
:: afternoon when I broke my own seatbolt!

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

It's not too bad, but shifting with barcons is trickier while standing.
I really don't recommend it for long distances. Still, it's better
than breaking your chain - Flintstoning it is worse IMO.

I keep a few spare links in my wedge pack for just such an emergency,
but now you're starting to scare me into doing a full bolt inventory of
my bike, and carrying a small Ace Hardware store along. I've got to do
something about this general paranoia...

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ [email hidden]
(_)/ (_)

Kristian M Zoerhoff said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It's not too bad, but shifting with barcons is trickier while
standing. I really don't recommend it for long distances. Still,
it's better than breaking your chain - Flintstoning it is worse IMO.

I keep a few spare links in my wedge pack for just such an emergency,
but now you're starting to scare me into doing a full bolt inventory
of my bike, and carrying a small Ace Hardware store along. I've got
to do something about this general paranoia...

Carry psychotropic medications, too. <eg>

Kristian M Zoerhoff said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

It's not too bad, but shifting with barcons is trickier while standing.
I really don't recommend it for long distances. Still, it's better
than breaking your chain - Flintstoning it is worse IMO.

I keep a few spare links in my wedge pack for just such an emergency,
but now you're starting to scare me into doing a full bolt inventory of
my bike, and carrying a small Ace Hardware store along.

I used to carry the SRAM power-links, I really should throw a few in
there. The episode I'm talking about was here:

http://tinyurl.com/o64kr (Google groups)

Quoted message said:

I've got to do > something about this general paranoia...

Paranoia is it's own reward.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who
can't talk for people who can't read.
-- Frank Zappa

"Tom Keats" wrote: Errm ... I don't think it was the binder bolt that
broke,
but rather a bolt that secures the saddle to the seatpost.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Okay, I get it now. In that case, I would shove the seat inside my pants,
and then carefully plant it on the seatpost. (I'm only half joking--it
could work.)

Dane Buson said:

[email hidden] <[email hidden]> wrote:

....

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

customer. The immediate thought that came to my mind was "what the
hell could he possibly have done or been doing to possibly break a
seatbolt?" I mean puh-lease, of all of the things you could break on a
bicycle, the _seatbolt_...sheesh.

Heh, evidently it fine to point and laugh when it's *my* saddle that
comes off.

Point of information for both of you. With many single-bolt seatposts,
breaking of the bolt is rather common. It happened to a buddy of mine
mid-ride, while I was with him. He didn't do anything -- a real "just
riding along" failure. He did not like riding home out of the saddle,
either.

The adjustment of the seat angle will tilt the face of the plate that the
bolt tightens against, so that the bolt head is forced into a slight
angle. Tightening the bolt against this tilted face puts a great deal of
force on the bolt, which then develops cracks. Murphy then takes over
determining when the worst time would be for the bolt to break.

The real solution is not to replace the bolt, although a decent shop
should have one. The real solution is to replace the seatpost with one
that either has two bolts, or a better one-bolt design that does not apply
these torsional forces to the bolt head. I have two two-bolt posts, the
original Campagnolo seatposts, which are 35+ years old and still going
strong.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Some people used to claim that, if enough monkeys sat in front
_`\(,_ | of enough typewriters and typed long enough, eventually one of
(_)/ (_) | them would reproduce the collected works of Shakespeare. The
internet has proven this not to be the case.

Quoted message said:

Wow....I hate the thought of riding with a missing saddle.

We had the seat clamp bolt break on Tracey's seatpost on the tandem,
resulting in her saddle falling off and getting a good scream from our
friend who was riding immediately behind us.

Fortunately we were less than 10 minutes from the house, so it was not a
huge deal for Tracey to keep standing on the way home.

I had a replacement bolt in stock, so in 5 minutes were back on the road.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

Chris & Tracey
1999 Co-Motion Speedster

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

I should stick some zip ties in my bag.

That's what I do. They've come to my rescue a number of times.

(Mostly when I should have applied some Lok-Tite in the first place.)

Tell ya what, though -- the mickey-mouse clampy thing on my
rear Freddy Fender ain't shunning that li'l bridge between
the chainstays anymore.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

I should stick some zip ties in my bag.

That's what I do. They've come to my rescue a number of times.

(Mostly when I should have applied some Lok-Tite in the first place.)

Tell ya what, though -- the mickey-mouse clampy thing on my
rear Freddy Fender ain't shunning that li'l bridge between
the chainstays anymore.

Maybe I'm tired, but that last sentence doesn't scan well for me. I
wouldn't normally worry much, but I also have Freddy Fenders, so I'd
like to get a clear picture of what you're trying to say. I have that
little clip bolted into the hole in that little bridge for security, if
that's what you mean (I used zip ties as well, up around the brake
mounts, as the Trek 1000 doesn't have a good brake bolt that the Freddy
Fenders can attach to).

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ [email hidden]
(_)/ (_)

In article <[email hidden]>,

Kristian M Zoerhoff said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

I should stick some zip ties in my bag.

That's what I do. They've come to my rescue a number of times.

(Mostly when I should have applied some Lok-Tite in the first place.)

Tell ya what, though -- the mickey-mouse clampy thing on my
rear Freddy Fender ain't shunning that li'l bridge between
the chainstays anymore.

Maybe I'm tired, but that last sentence doesn't scan well for me. I
wouldn't normally worry much, but I also have Freddy Fenders, so I'd
like to get a clear picture of what you're trying to say. I have that
little clip bolted into the hole in that little bridge for security, if
that's what you mean

Yes.

I never bolted that clip thing on, and got by for awhile with it like that.

With the installation of a different rack and bottle generator, the
fender developed a tendency to "ride up" until I secured the front/lower
end of it to that little bridge with a zip tie.

It's too embarrassing to describe the times my rear rack broke free of
its top securements, and pivoted backwards onto the street, on the
eyelet screws. Rest assured, I have that fixed now, too.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Dane Buson said:

Quoted message said:

When I first read A Tale of Two Pieces of Seatbolt the immediate
thought that came to my mind was not something regarding high quality
local bike shops or annoying people who would rather talk about the
latest and greatest weight weenie component instead of servicing a
customer. The immediate thought that came to my mind was "what the
hell could he possibly have done or been doing to possibly break a
seatbolt?" I mean puh-lease, of all of the things you could break on a
bicycle, the _seatbolt_...sheesh.

Heh, evidently it fine to point and laugh when it's *my* saddle that
comes off.

;-)

I merely snickered to myself. I didn't go so far as pointing and
laughing. That would have been maliciously tempting fate.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

problem there. Put my hand on the saddle to steady the bike as I get
back on and... and... it comes off in my hand.

Well, that's a better way to find out than mine.

Yes. I don't want to think about the ouchies.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'd done a fair bit of practice with standing up on the pedals
before. Never actually gone more than a few hundred meters standing up
but I can stand up and pedal at the same time. Seatbag in the one rear
pocket, saddle and broken bolt in another, and I'm ready to go. Seven
kilometers of nasty headwind worth of ready to go. And I can't go down
on the drops. Yeurgh.

Ah, I was fortunate in not having any significant headwind either way.
Which is actually unusual for my route.

Worst bit was having the paceline announce they were behind me from a
nice distance and then whiz past me with a dozen people asking me why I
hadn't sped up to join them.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I really hate taking the bus with my bike.
Really really hate taking the bus with my bike.

:-(

Good luck with getting it fixed. Though, from your previous
descriptions of your LBS, they'll take good care of you. That is one
problem with doing everything for yourself (as I tend to), is that it's
harder to become a known customer.

They took good care of me. They also mocked me. At great length.
With no mercy. I am becoming known as the person who if it can be
broken will find a way to break it. I begin to suspect one of the
reasons they began teaching me repair stuff was not so much because I
kept asking pretty please for lessons but so they wouldn't have to keep
fixing the same things on my bike again.

-M