protecting saddle + post from theft?

(Sanjay Punjab) said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
ideas to secure both.

There are cables that you can use to "secure" the seat. Basically they loop around the mechanism
bolting the seat to the post, and around the frame.

This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle. Or,
alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more effective
than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without being stolen.
That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.

Sam

Mark Hickey <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

(Steven) said:

And hearing all the noise in the Giro etc. about bike manafactures being able to make a bike
signifigantly less than the 16.5 pounds that the UCI set's as the lower limit of weight. My
thought is essentially this, why not make that bike but throw extra weight back in by making the
drive train more efficient.

Lets say that for arguments sake the average pro cylist puts out 400 watts during a climb up alp
d'huez and his drive train is 90% effecient.

Thing is, the data I've seen suggest a clean, well-adjusted drivetrain is closer to 98% efficient.
That doesn't leave a lot of room for improvement (at least not without spending a fortune on a
chain with itty bitty little bearings in every link).

That number hasn't changed in recent history, either - probably won't in the near future.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

www.ihpva.org/pubs/HP52.pdf

This study puts the effecieny of Shimano 7 speed derailer hubs at
94.5%-90.3% effecient. I am not sure what has changed since 2001....I would imagine effeciency has
improved but probably not to 98%, although I have been wrong a few times in my life so....Where
did you get this number? I would love to read read the research you got this number from.

SPA

This is not backed up by the research I could find. The best effecieny rating I could find was 98.6%
but it was for a large rear cogged single speed drive train, taking the

Sam Huffman said:

(Sanjay Punjab) said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
ideas to secure both.

There are cables that you can use to "secure" the seat. Basically they loop around the mechanism
bolting the seat to the post, and around the frame.

This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle. Or,
alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more effective
than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without being stolen.
That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.

Sam

What does locking a bike to a tree have to do with stealing a seat?

Is seat stealing a common occurance? Does that happen more often than bike stealing (ie seat
stealing only vs. complete bike stealing)?

I think one could go a bit overboard trying to secure things on a bike. Perhaps the best deterrent
would be to make the seat *look* like it isn't worth stealing.

Regards, Thunder9

(Thunder9) said:

Quoted message said:

This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle.
Or, alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more
effective than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without
being stolen. That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.

What does locking a bike to a tree have to do with stealing a seat?

The seat didn't get stolen by itself. On college campuses, locking a bicycle to a tree is (as I
found out) a sure way to get the bike stolen. The thief simply cuts down the tree. A bike locked to
a street sign is a similarly easy target.

Quoted message said:

Is seat stealing a common occurance? Does that happen more often than bike stealing (ie seat
stealing only vs. complete bike stealing)?

It's extremely common. Stealing a bike usually requires cutting a lock or chain. Stealing a seatpost
often simply requires opening a quick release and putting the seat in a bag.

Quoted message said:

I think one could go a bit overboard trying to secure things on a bike. Perhaps the best deterrent
would be to make the seat *look* like it isn't worth stealing.

On a college campus, anything that can be stolen will be stolen. I've seen studies indicating that
10% of all bikes on a college campus are stolen each year.

sam

[email hidden] (Sanjay Punjab) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
both. Thanks

Both Kryptonite and Pitlock (www.pitlock.com) make locking seattube skewers. That won't prevent your
saddle from being stolen off of the post. When that happened to me, I switched to a two-bolt
seatpost (the more you can slow thieves down the better) and use wax or silicon to close the hex
holes. Here in NYC, no one trusts the thin cables you're referring to. The popular thing to do is
take a length of chain (drivetrain chain), cover it with a length of inner tube, run it through the
seatstays and the saddle rails and then close the loop with a chain tool.

(Gary Young) said:

Here in NYC, no one trusts the thin cables you're referring to. The popular thing to do is take
a length of chain (drivetrain chain), cover it with a length of inner tube, run it through the
seatstays and the saddle rails and then close the loop with a chain tool.

Yes. My understanding is bolt cutters tend to crush the chain and not cut
it. Also electrical tape is often used to close the gap between the inner tube ends. Not that
thieves carry chain tools, but they'd also have to carry a knife to get to the chain. Anyway, I
am not aware of anyone that has lost a seat chained down this way.

The one seat I lost was when I removed the quick release and used an allen head bolt. I didn't leave
the bike more than 10 minutes. I gather the thief had vise grips with him to get it off.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

"Sanjay Punjab" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
both. Thanks

If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or drill
a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone without
a hacksaw.

Ahhh, only in America...

Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<6uIXa.2166

Quoted message said:

If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or
drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone
without a hacksaw.

if your bike wasnt stupid light, a rivet or two would look a lot cleaner than a bolt, and would be
more secure. you could always drill them out later. or for a beater-glue. you could just fill
fastener heads with epoxy. use a punch (to break otu the epoxy) or a screw-extractor to remove
later. or- perhaps even filling the fastener with something temporary like wax might work. stop a
thief inserting an allen key without a whole lot of fussing about.

thoughts,

anthony

On 5 Aug 2003 07:33:16 -0700, [email hidden] (beaver charlie) from

url='http://groups.google.com/'http://groups.google.com//url said:

Ahhh, only in America...

Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

I don't think anyone here would be using a 4K bike as a townie.

--
home.sport.rr.comcuthuluOpen ↗ human rights = peace I represent a sardine!!
12:47:19 PM 5 August 2003

x-no-archive:yes

, [email hidden] (beaver charlie) from

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ahhh, only in America...

Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

Quoted message said:

I don't think anyone here would be using a 4K bike as a townie.

Yeah, but then reality wouldn't sound so great, would it? When you badmouth somebody--or in this
case, an entire country, exaggeration helps a lot.

Pat in TX

"ant" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<6uIXa.2166

Quoted message said:

If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you

could

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

weld it in place, or drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place,

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone without a hacksaw.

if your bike wasnt stupid light, a rivet or two would look a lot cleaner than a bolt, and would be
more secure. you could always drill them out later. or for a beater-glue. you could just fill
fastener heads with epoxy. use a punch (to break otu the epoxy) or a screw-extractor to remove
later. or- perhaps even filling the fastener with something temporary like wax might work. stop a
thief inserting an allen key without a whole lot of fussing about.

In an Allen screw, a ball bearing to fit + clear bathroom silicone sealant is a good deterrent.

Tim.

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The industrial types produce bolts/wrenches with a pin in the center of the socket, hole in wrench
as "tamper proof". Discourages opportunistic theft. Tom

--
Bruni Bicycles "Where art meets science" brunibicycles.com
410.426.3420 <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Sanjay Punjab" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
ideas to secure both. Thanks

If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or
drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone
without a hacksaw.

take it with you

"Sanjay Punjab" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
both. Thanks