Bicycle Mechanics - QR saddle fell to the lowest during ride :(

My otherwise very pleasant evening ride today was ruined at the end when my quick-release saddle suddenly fell down! I was riding on city streets (thank God not many cars in the evening), when all of a sudden the seat fell to its lowest position!

I don't understand, because it had been tight all the time and the latch/bracket was not only locked, but also tied with zip ties to prevent it from being unlocked accidentally. In other words, when the saddle fell, the QR latch/bracket was still in its locked position.

For the remainder of my ride home, it kept falling again each time after I got off and raised it again, maybe 7-8 times. Eventually it seemed in vain to raise it back, so I just rode like a clown on a very low seat and high handlebar, my knees bent in less than 90 degrees. Sucks :cry:

So how to make sure this will not happen again?

If I change to the non-QR saddle, I am not sure if I could replace it by myself. Is it easy?

Thanks :notamused:

1. Zip ties are not nearly strong enough to hold the saddle in place.

Ok, now that that's out of the way... One or more of the following happened: you didn't tighten the QR skewer enough (probably the culprit), your skewer is junk and needs to be replaced, your seatpost is the wrong size, or there's an excessive amount of grease in the seat tube.

My guess is that the skewer wasn't tightened enough. If you don't have the hand strength to do so, you can remove it and replace it with a bolt. However, I'd recommend that someone who knows what they're doing take a look at your bike. Because if you can't tighten the saddle enough, you also can't tighten your quick release wheels enough (if you have them.) And you don't want your wheels falling off on a ride.

FastJake, thanks for the reply. I think probably the QR skewer was not tight enough. The other reasons are unlikely--it's a 1 year old new bike, so junk and size are out of question. I never put oil there... But if the QR skewer was not tight, I have been riding this bike for 1 year now, and it never, ever fell, but today it fell despite the skewer being still locked, and there is nothing unusual that I've done to it. This is what bothered me.

Btw, does the seatpost come with the seat or not? IOW, when you buy a new saddle, does it come with its own seatpost?

Also, are the bolts for saddles universal for any seat (in case I buy one)?

Saddles are bought separately from seat posts. FastJake pretty much said it all in regards to your QR lever, it's easy to tighten however.

Saddles and seatposts are separate items. Seat bolts are not universal, however there aren't too many options currently in use. Visit your LBS and bring your bike with you.

I hope you do realize that a quick release skewer is NOT a wingnut. You do not tighten it by just rotating the "flag" until it's snug. Have an experienced rider watch your tightening technique to be sure you are doing it correctly. This is even more important if your bike has quick release hubs too. A loose seatpost is a nuisance. A loose wheel can be disastrous.

As noted, seatposts and saddles are sold separately and seatposts come in a wide variety of diameters and the diameter must be correct for your bike. "Close" isn't adequate.

Replace the QR lever thing entirely with a Bolt and nut.

Replace the QR lever thing entirely with a Bolt and nut.

+1

Thank you all so much. My seatpost is 27.2 x 350mm. Should I look for a seat clamp that says exactly 27.2mm (=1.07"), or slightly more, or slightly less? Will this (http://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Bicycle-Seat-Clamp-Silver/dp/B000BMT13O/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1313778026&sr=8-15) one, or this (http://www.amazon.com/Steel-1-Bicycle-Seatpost-Clamp/dp/B002804TRU/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1313778026&sr=8-14) one, work? I see some nicer-looking black ones, but either 28mm or 31mm, which are too big?
(LBS is quite far from from where I live, so I'm not going soon.)

Thank you all so much. My seatpost is 27.2 x 350mm. Should I look for a seat clamp that says exactly 27.2mm (=1.07"), or slightly more, or slightly less? Will this (http://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Bicycle-Seat-Clamp-Silver/dp/B000BMT13O/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1313778026&sr=8-15) one, or this (http://www.amazon.com/Steel-1-Bicycle-Seatpost-Clamp/dp/B002804TRU/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1313778026&sr=8-14) one, work? I see some nicer-looking black ones, but either 28mm or 31mm, which are too big?
(LBS is quite far from from where I live, so I'm not going soon.)


No you probably only need a seat binder bolt, like this (http://www.amazon.com/SEATPOST-ACTION-BINDER-BOLT-22MM/dp/B001CJHAMY). You probably shouldn't need to replace the entire clamp just pull out the quick release and put in the binder bolt. As TugaDude stated bring the bike to the LBS and get the right size bolt.

PS by the way you 27.2 is the seat post diameter not the seat tube diameter. The clamp that you linked to, needs to fit around the seat tube not the seat post. If you were to place one of those clamps on the seat post, it may not go down any more but the seat and seat post will pivot in the seat tube and be very irritating

Your seatpost is 27.2 mm which is also the INSIDE diameter of the seattube. If you have a seatpost clamping collar it must match the OUTSIDE diameter of the seattube and will be larger than the seatpost. Typical collar sizes are 28.6 mm (1-1/8"), 30.0 mm, 31.8 mm (1-1/4") and 34.9 mm (1-3/8") and one of those should work but it too must match your frame.

It sounds like a visit to any decent bike shop is called for for your safety if no other reason.

Thanks. I will go to the LBS. They should also havea stronger hand to tighten the bolt ;)

Sorry to butt into the thread, but now I'm a little confused about a quick release seatpost. I don't understand about "tightening" it. I've raised my saddle several times by just flipping the lever out, moving the post and saddle up, then flipping the lever back down again. (It took some pressure to flip it back down, but I'm not strong and I was easily able to do it.) Am I supposed to be doing something else? The BS didn't show me how to do it and I didn't think to ask them.

It seems tight and I've had no problems with it, but I didn't "tighten" anything as mentioned above. This is my first bike (women's Trek 7100) and I know nothing about them, so that's the reason for what probably seems a silly question to most of you here. Thanks for any clarification you can provide!

Goagain, on the other side of the bolt there is a nut. If you tighten that a bit, flipping the lever will become a little harder and it will hold the seatpost tighter. If you tighten it too much, you won't be able to flip the lever.

Thanks, lost! As long as it seems to be holding tightly enough, should I leave the bolt alone? I don't change the saddle height often, but I raised it several times after I bought the bike. Might need to raise it a tiny bit one more time, not sure. Thanks-

btw, I don't ever take the wheels off!

No you probably only need a seat binder bolt, like this (http://www.amazon.com/SEATPOST-ACTION-BINDER-BOLT-22MM/dp/B001CJHAMY).

I went to the LBS ( a long way) and had them replaced the QR by a bolt and nut like the one in the pic below. That doesn't look as nice and safe as the one in your link (which seems to be a "pin"). They charged me $8 for it. Doesn't seem worth that much, even "installation" is very simple. To think that I bought the bike from them :notamused:

Thanks, lost! As long as it seems to be holding tightly enough, should I leave the bolt alone? I don't change the saddle height often, but I raised it several times after I bought the bike. Might need to raise it a tiny bit one more time, not sure. Thanks-

btw, I don't ever take the wheels off!

Yours seems to be fine, don't adjust the nut on the other side, just do, as you have been doing.

I went to the LBS ( a long way) and had them replaced the QR by a bolt and nut like the one in the pic below. That doesn't look as nice and safe as the one in your link (which seems to be a "pin"). They charged me $8 for it. Doesn't seem worth that much, even "installation" is very simple. To think that I bought the bike from them :notamused:


If it's stainless steel its not too much. Remember to tighten enough to hold the seatpost and careful not to over tighten. You should be fine.

Yours seems to be fine, don't adjust the nut on the other side, just do, as you have been doing.

Thanks. But it looks like easier to unscrew and steal. It can be unscrewed by hand without a wrench.

If you tighten it enough so the seatpost is not loose, you should not be able to loosen it without a wrench. It may look easy to steal but when the QR was on the bike, that is easy to steal unless you take it with you everywhere.

The one in the link just uses an allen wrench, while yours uses a standard external wrench; neither is more easy to steal than the other IMHO. If you're really paranoid about it, and don't need to adjust your seat, use a bit of threadlocker compound on the bolt/nut.

use a bit of threadlocker compound on the bolt/nut.

This is the first time I've heard about this stuff. Sounds useful! Will look into it. (According to what I saw on the web, this can still be removed, but I assume it would take more force than using allen wrench to unscrew the bolt?)


It may look easy to steal but when the QR was on the bike, that is easy to steal unless you take it with you everywhere.

That's true ;)