IAMAMRA

So i learned the hard way not to let others ride my bike. I let my brother who is a clyd like myself, use my bike when he was visiting from out of town. Halfway through the ride the seat angle starts to change, and I adjust it. A little further down the road it happens again. I took it apart today, and the teeth were all stripped! My brother is about my weight but all of his weight is in his bottom. Despite me telling him to stand up over big bumps, I don't think he actually listened to me.

Don't have the money to fix this right now, so she will be sitting the garage for awhile.

RaleighSport

What size seatpost?

jsigone

looks like a 27.2. I have one w/ a bit of setback if you want it. How much vertical extension do you need?

goldfinch

Are you talking about the part of the seat post that adjusts tilt on the seat? On a seatpost that looks like this?

I had one with the grooves stripped out and I took a hacksaw (on advice of the mechanics forum) and cut into the grooves. The tilt then held after that.

Lacumo

That's a shame. Condolences.

Erwin8r

Wow! These guys are great! This is what I love about this forum...

On the subject of lending out one's bike, although it has been covered extensively on here, I will say that I have a "loaner" bike that I have no problem letting others use, but I will not loan out my primary bikes. They're just too "custom" for me, and I don't trust others' adjusting or fiddling with stuff to make it fit them. I know it's a bit selfish, and I would probably relent with close friends or family, but I have a bit of difficulty with it. Not to mention that many don't see the value in "your" bike and what an investment it is with respect to time and money... /rant.

SammyJ 

My Bike is PERSONAL, like my Wife, no one else rides her.

Chitown_Mike

^^This x 100000

I am the only one whose cheeks would caress my roadie, my MTB on the other hand I pimp out like it's going out of style. Just don't adjust anything on it and we are good.

jsigone

good thing about being tall, not many others can fit my bikes

PhotoJoe 

Ain't that the truth!

When PhotoJoanne decided she wanted a new bike, I had her ride her old "granny bike" around the block (her name for it, not mine), her old mountain bike and my....gulp.....Lynskey. If she had liked the drop bars, I think I would have lost my new bike to her (yes, she's tall, too). Thankfully, she wanted flat bars, so we went and got her a Quick. Lesson learned. That was just too close of a call.

IAMAMRA

^^^^^^ +1 from now on!


Thanks guys, I found some old movies that I never watch anymore and sold them off. Bought a new seat post today, as the old clamp was perm. attached to the post. Have it installed and like i said, NO ONE will be riding her but me.

ill.clyde

mprelaw

Same here. 60 cm frame keeps the "can I borrow it?" at bay. So do SPD-SL pedals.

You can ride my old steel in the shed. If you can get on it. That's 61 cm. I'll put platforms on it for you, even, if you don't want clips and straps.

jsigone

LOL and will need to curb it to deal with a classic geo steel 61cm

Mr Sinister

I've seen it, I think I can reach the pedals (might have to lower the seat a little). Let me take it for a spin, at the NBW ride on Sunday.

mprelaw

Sorry, man, the seat post is seized.

See you there. They shortened the long ride from a metric to 55 miles.

TrojanHorse

Then you could have upgraded to a carbon bike and been cool!

Pity.

Rowan

Sorry, but I get a strong impression that the brother is being blamed for what really is poor bike maintenance. Likely that the adjusting bolt wasn't tightened up for a while, and the OP riding it probably wore down the teeth to the point that it manifested with a really loose seat with his brother riding it.

The real lesson here is that it pays to check a bike over from time to time with the requisite allen and other wrenches, and checking for important stuff like brake cables and brake blocks.

Cyril 

+1

IAMAMRA

I actually do keep my bike well maintained and had gone over all the bolts on my bike the week before(I do it everytime I work on my bike). What I can tell you is this, it was fine before he used it, and afterwards it was not.

Rowan

And again apologies, but what makes your brother different from you that he would put more force on the seat post clamp than you would, given that you say you are about the same weight? In addition, have you ever had the seatpost clamp apart to check wear on the teeth?

I think you are accusing your brother of a misdeed that he's not really guilty of.

IAMAMRA

He doesn't ride much, and when I told him to stand up on the bigger bumps he ignored me. Like I said before, it was fine until he used it, and afterwards it was broken.

Not going to go back and forth on this, I just simply am not loaning out my bike to anyone ever again.

Gnosis

Early in life I came to the realization that few individuals exercise the magnitude of care that I do for my possessions. Consequently, I don’t loan anything that I’m unwilling to lose, see degraded, or destroyed, which means I loan few things of any consequence or sentimental value these days. If someone doesn’t like that aspect of my character, in all honesty, I couldn’t care less.

Arvadaman

That is why I changed to a two bolt style of seatpost. It alleviates the possibility of stripping out grooves on a seatpost. It also gives you continuous adjustment range. Not just specific grooved slots.

RubeRad

I recall a long group ride, I traded bikes with other riders just to feel them out. In one instance, the guy I swapped with could only stand a few hundred yards on my bike, the fit of my bike was just not right for him. In the other case, I couldn't stand more than a few hundred yards on a different guy's bike -- but at least I helped him realize he needs a much bigger bike (or at least higher seatpost and longer stem), and his comfort has since improved dramatically.