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?)

Running a cable inside the frame is not an issue. Unless there is a chance the cable might interfere with your crank/pedals or front derailleur or the wheel I don't see a problem. As an additional precaution, don't use quick release, use a bolt. Even a security bolt.

Adam

Moved to Mechanics from Utility.

cover the saddle with a plastic shopping bag - lightweight protection from rain, sun, pigeon poop and covetous eyes.

or put some duct-tape on it - a small bit of tape would make it look battered and tattered.

drip some candle wax into the hex-heads - it would have to be a very special saddle for anyone to fight with that when there's lower hanging fruit.

i've got a "seat saver" cable but rarely use it. usually i just put a bag over the saddle. if saddle theft was a real concern for me i'd use the "seat saver", or get some security bits and a driver, or use an old chain and inner tube to "permanently" lock the seat rails to the seat stays.

if i had a saddle that was not just comfy but also expensive or difficult to replace, i'd take it with me.

access through the BB can possibly be used to secure the seat POST, but the seat...?

i can picture in my head... some crack-head who removed every bolt above the seat-post collar, unaware of a cable holding the seat post to the BB... and standing on the chain stays to gain leverage. he won't win, but you'll still lose.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...nent-seat-lock

www.pinheadlocks.com, they sell a seat post as well as a saddle bolt protector. much cleaner looking option.

https://www.pinheadlocks.com/index.ph...mid=60&lang=en
https://www.pinheadlocks.com/index.ph...mid=60&lang=en

I'm trying to envision exactly what you are talking about. I think it might be possible but only on a vintage bike with low end parts. I don't think it would work with a cartridge bottom bracket and most seat posts will require drilling a hole big enough for the cable with an eye fitting. That sounds to me like a mega bad idea.

If it was my bike I'd just use a piece of 3mm cable around the seat rail and a seat stay or, for the kind of retro look that I like, use a section of old bicycle chain linked back together in a loop.

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.

A piece of chain looped through the rails and seat stay will slow thieves down:

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions.

Part of the reason I thought this would be a really good idea, is that a thief would have to either make a cut in a really tight place (and his cutters might not fit), or he'd have to saw through the seatpost, or take out the BB. So it seems really secure.

Also, it would be almost invisible, and I was looking forward to having a pretty bike.

But you're right that this would provide zero deterrence, and that somebody who loosened the bolt but found that the seatpost was invisibly prevented from coming out of the seat tube, might resort to more forceful means rather than giving up. And that would be bad.

Also, I didn't know that modern seatposts were solid at the top. That definitely makes this solution a lot less elegant.

I guess I'll end up doing what everybody else does, with the locking/gunk-filled bolts. Or maybe I'll try a Torx bolt...that way only Macintosh repairmen will be able to get it off.

Thanks again!

LOL But Torx bolts are pretty common, not just Mac.

you can run a cable loop over the saddle rails, through a tube seatpost,
and fix it to a plug you drop down the seat tube,
that is held below a longer water-bottle Mounting Bolt, so won't pull out.

FWIW , Torx bolts are used now on Bikes, to fix the disc to the hub