Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Wimpy bike rant

I got home at a reasonable hour today and thought I would put my bike together for a ride - but no such luck.

This last weekend I managed to bend my steel seat post. No big deal, I needed a longer one anyway. So I hit 3 bike shops until I found a Kalloy post that would fit - figured I would install it and go for a ride. As I was taking my seat off the old post, I see the seat is broke too! On the back where the bracket attaches it is broke on both sides. So no ride tonight and I gotta go saddle shopping tomorrow. No way I'm missing my weekend rides so I'll have to get something that is in stock local. I was planning to upgrade to a brooks soon but I'm not prepared now. Darn it, I wanted to ride tonight. I need a spare bike.;)

I had both items fail on me as well. Ended up with a Thomson Elite seatpost and a Brooks B67 saddle. Set me back about $200.00 for the set.

Yeah I figured about that - it's just a bad time financially to be spending that on my bike. I'll probably settle on something cheaper until the money tree grows some more leaves.

I've had good luck *knock on wood* with my combos - both aluminium seat posts. One is a specialized, the other is a Bontrager.. but of course, YMMV :)

I have been riding Nitto seatposts and Brooks B-17's for years. Never had a problem.

I need a spare bike.;)

that was why I didn't sale the touring/commuting bike that I had when I got the road bike. And actually I had to ride the commuter two weeks ago when the road bike was getting a crank fixed under warranty. A second bike is always a good thing :).

Steel seatposts are a hazzard at best. They tend to rust quickly too. As suggested, a Thomson is a good one to get. The problem can lie that the steel seatposts tend to be an odd size and to find a proper seatpost of the right diameter can be a pain.

My Nashbar frame came with a generic Nashbar Alloy post. It's been working just fine with the Brooks, but I do have my eye on a new Thomson...

Yeah, that's how I wound up with the Kalloy - had a hard time finding the correct size. Hopefully I find the rest of my parts today and get my ride in tomorrow.

What size do you need? I'm looking for one for myself (27.2), and I'll keep my eyes open for that size, too.
Edit: talking about seatpost, not seat :)

My seatpost was a 36.0 I think. Beefy ;) edit - make that a 26.0 - slight exaggeration ;)

I think I have a line on a seat - cheap but it should get me by for a few months.
I thought I had a second bike found on CL this morning for $40 - a Giant - but some poacher beat me to it by about 5 minutes. :(
You gotta be quick on CL - That's the 3rd bike I've missed.

The seatpost is great! I can finally get my knees straitened out and they are hurting a whole lot less. I rode 25.5 miles yesterday and 36.7 miles today - probably could have done more. The seat is not so great though. It's one of those with a hole in the middle and I don't know if the hole is in the wrong spot or what. I'm going to try tipping the front down a little just to see if that helps. Overall though, the bike did good this weekend. :)

Well the seat adjustment seems perfect now - no unpleasant pressure in the wrong places.

I'm planning a 50 miler Saturday so I was doing some more maintenance tonight. I installed a 2" rise handlebar which is really 2" up and 2" out. I transferred all the grips and such over - then found the cables were too short... so replaced all the cables and did a tune-up on everything. On the test ride it felt really good. We'll see if this cures my hand problems.

One thing I noticed - the rear wheel spins really true - no wobble at all and no brake drag. But while I'm spinning it in the stand - not turning the pedals so in coast mode - the cassette is moving in a very slight orbit around the axle. It's not a wobble - the cassette is moving in a flat plane. The axle is not bent - I checked it. Any ideas what this might be? It's not a lot - about a 32nd of an inch movement maybe, maybe slightly more. Anything to be concerned about?

Sounds like a machining issue in either the cassette or hub. If it works, don't sweat it. ;)

One thing I noticed - the rear wheel spins really true - no wobble at all and no brake drag. But while I'm spinning it in the stand - not turning the pedals so in coast mode - the cassette is moving in a very slight orbit around the axle. It's not a wobble - the cassette is moving in a flat plane. The axle is not bent - I checked it. Any ideas what this might be? It's not a lot - about a 32nd of an inch movement maybe, maybe slightly more. Anything to be concerned about?


This happens on my commuter bike, we never have been able to figure out why. Doesn't affect the ride but when I'm working on the bike it just annoys me :).

This happens on my commuter bike, we never have been able to figure out why. Doesn't affect the ride but when I'm working on the bike it just annoys me :).

Yeah same here - it rides fine, I just need to stop spinning the wheel and watching it I guess.:rolleyes: