nickieplease

Hi guys, Ive been riding for about 2 months now and theres so much I don't know about bikes. I ride a Haro Fightline and today I just learned that I have been riding with my seat too low the whole time. It was at its lowest. After raising my seat, I was amazed on how much easier it was to pedal. But after a couple of minutes of riding I noticed that my seat was low again. It really won't stay up while I ride. I'm pretty sure its because Im 320 pounds and probably too heavy. Is there anything I should do? Do I have to replace the whole seat seat post or something? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but I really hope that you guys could help me and I could probably ask anybody about this but I hope to hear from those who are also around my weight and what worked for them.

- Nick

Judi

You need to tighten the clamp on the seat post. If it's a quick release, there should be a knob that you can turn slightly to make the clamp close tighter.

If you were too heavy for your seat post, you'd bend it. I've never heard of that happening with a basic seat post, and I was riding when I was nearly 100 lbs heavier than you and didn't bend my seat post (broke my axle though). I was also able to get the clamp on the seat post tight enough that the post didn't slide down, so I'm sure you'll be able to also.

TrojanHorse

Quick Release clamps don't typically provide as much clamping force as a bolt-on seat clamp, so if that's what you have, you may need to swap it out with a regular style clamp. Try making it tighter first though. You could probably put some carbon assembly paste in there to provide additional friction. I'm not sure if it would be "bad" for aluminum posts in an AL frame (I'm not sure what you have) but might be worth trying.

Stand by for an oversize image example of what I'm talking about:

bfs2

I have this same exact problem on a Diamondback Insight 2 Hybrid, it will literally drop 2 inches in 10 minutes of riding. I've started carrying an allen wrench to tighten the clamp as hand turning the clamp doesn't get the job done. It is incredibly frustrating to have to stop and re-tighten so I try to make sure it's almost to the point of breaking before I leave. I ride on MUPS and public roads, nothing too bumpy or anything.

I've had the seat post start turning in its hole as well due to this issue, rather disconcerting when your're hammering away and you can feel the saddle turning underneath haha. Oh well, first bike issues.

DWhitworth

Replace the quick release clamp with a screw one and it will fix it right up. LBS should be able to help for $15-$30 or you can order online.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...20post%20clamp

DaveW

cyclist2000

Just wondering, how do you know that it is almost to the point of breaking if it hasn't broken?

john4789

Hey All - A neat trick I've learned to deal with this: put your rear reflector clamp down as far as possible and in contact with the seat tube. Tighten the clamp down as much as possible. It adds another 'stopper' in addition to a properly tightened quick release. Works every time.

Mark Stone

Hi Nick - first of all, welcome to the community! All the other posts are excellent, but I would like to add that 320 will not break a seatpost unless it's too high (which is apparently not your issue lol)

bfs2

Very easily, I tighten the bolt on the quick release so tight that it takes a set of pliers to push the quick release clamp shut. At this point I'm sure it's stressing the metal on the seat post but that thing doesn't move while I'm riding anymore. The entire bike is stock and will stay that way until I get a road bike so I'm not that worried.

Shimagnolo

I have a bike that had an annoying slipping seatpost, that continued to slip even with carbon assembly paste.
Since it was a CF frame, I didn't want to overtighten it, so I finally cured it with this:

New Gorilla Park Double Seatpost Clamp 27 2mm Bike Black 41g | eBay

This accomplishes the same thing as the idea in post #7 .

Wilfred Laurier

seat post quick releases can be problematic
especially the newer external cam style

it can help to ensure the cam mechanism is clean and lightly greased
but a good quality bolt style clamp is probably more reliable

and
i have also seen many bolt style clamps
where the threads in the clamp
or the bottom of the counterbore under the bold head
are damaged
resulting in more torque necessary to achieve clamping force

the solution is either refinishing the counterbore
and using a washer
or getting a new clamp

indyfabz

Every time I see thi damn thread Right Said Fred starts playing in my head. "And I'm too sexy for your party. Too sexy for your party. No way I'm disco dancing...."

Cyril 

LBS...srsly.
They will fix it and fix it correctly.
And it will be relatively inexpensive.

nickieplease

Thank you everyone for the great replies. I'll probably take a visit t my local LBS and just replace the quick release with a new clamp.

cyclist2000

I did have a seat post that slid down a bit, I clamped my bike light on the seat post right at the top of the seat tube, that keeps it from sliding down, I also tightened my binder bolt.

Mark Stone

That'll did it!!

nickieplease

Just got back from my LBS. Had to replace the quick release clamp with a regular alloy seat clamp. It was a quick and cheap fix. Spent less than 10$ Thanks guys! Im new here and you guys really helped alot!