Originally Posted by
jbayes
I'd really like to have a nice saddle on my urban bike, but I don't want it to get stolen, and I don't want to have to lock it up every time I go inside, and I don't want the ugly lightweight chain locked to the top tube that I'm using now.
Has anybody tried using a 3mm cable "seat leash" around the saddle rails, through the seatpost and seat tube, and looped around the bottom bracket? I've seen these 3mm cables on Amazon, and it seems people usually use them the same way you use a regular cable (with a lock); but is there any reason I couldn't run it inside the frame? (Is this a bad idea?)
You might have to drill a hole somewhere in your seat post to do this. Most rail clamps on "micro-adjusting" seat posts are solid metal at the top. The exception is the old- school straight pipe seat tubes for which you have to use the clamp adapter (some of the more unusual Brooks seats can only use this kind of tube.) You would need several feet of cable to do this lash.
Part of security is deterrence by visible obstacles. A shorter, jacketed cable that passes inside the mainframe or through the rear triangle would secure just as well and give you that visibility. It might weigh less and cost less also.