... and boy are my legs tired.

I came out this evening, and my seat was gone. Some lowlife had come along with a wrench and unbolted it. So I had to ride home standing up. It turns out this is surprisingly uncomfortable!

I'm actually feeling pretty philosophical. My bike used to get ripped off or vandalized all the time, but this is the first time in about eight years I've lost something. What hurts is that it was almost certainly a cyclist who was the perpetrator -- the saddle was a Brooks, and it's hard to imagine a casual thief seeing any value in it. It also occurred to me that someone with a wrench could take almost any part of a bike, and the seat is pretty much the only part you can take and leave the bike rideable, so it could have been a lot worse. Considering I had picked up the saddle on Ebay the inconvenience was way worse than the financial loss.

Man, that's almost one of those come ons- the "your legs must be tired... cause you've been running through my mind alllllllll night long!".

Crappers, though! What an ahole to steal your seat. Sorry to hear about that. How far did you ride standing up?

Koffee

Sorry to hear that DCC. Sucks even more since it was broken in already.

I was thinking of buying a B17 and locking it down w/ some old bike chain, but I'm a little worried that someone'll come along and swipe it. Now I'm thinking I should just bring it w/ me wherever I go which would be inconvenient.

I had a seat post break ten miles into an out and back once... so I feel for you. Personally, I coasted a lot...

I know how you feel. It was just a few weeks ago that somebody cut my cable lock and took my seat and seatpost. I skipped riding home standing up and took Metro. Unlike yours mine wasn't even a Brooks -- it was the plain old stock saddle from Fuji on a suspension post. My only thought is that somebody cut the cable lock before realizing that they still had 2 more locks before they could steal the bike. Since they'd already cut one lock they had to take something so off with the seat.

Is there some way to prevent this from happening? I'm not worried about my junker clunker, but I would be about my good bike.

Koffee

bummer- no pun intended. It's the only drawback of a Brooks saddle they're a thief magnet on a commuter bike.

My Brooks got smashed while locked to a parking meter when a delivery truck backed onto my bike. It was the only thing on my bike that looked like it had any value. I also had a cylcometer ripped off too- just the display unit- they left all the other parts on the bike. I don't leave anything on the bike nowadays except for my milkcrate, which makes the bike look particularly unattractive.

That is really sad.

Paul

I had a wire cable on my mtb that had a loop on both ends. On end looped around the frame and the other end could be locked to the seat via a small padlock.

Heres a similar one. Like mine, it won't deter a theif with a pair of cutters, but I never had a problem losing my seat at my work.

https://bicyclesource.us/itemdetails.cfm?ID=6097

Either chain up your seat, or use some obscure metric security screw. Or fill up the hex head. Or just plain weld the seat post in, making it a part of your frame.

For things like this, I recommend going to your nearest fastener supply, and getting some stainless security torx hardware... Then you'll have to go off to your local tool supply of course..



Oh.. and I ride a bmx standing up all the time =D

(sucks about the brooks, it takes a real lowlife to steal parts)

There are eccentric security nuts that would look round but are not. They require a matching socket to be installed and removed. This would make a seatpost difficult to steal along with the attached seat. I am still using a cable run through the seat rails with the ends connected to my U Lock.

I use this product, from Pinhead Components, for my seatpost (plain old Fuji suspension post with unremarkable seat, just like Marylandnewbie), and also for my wheels. So far it's worked. This way I only have to carry one lock around with me.

OUCH!
At least the thief had good taste.

Had a seat clamp bolt shear on a Tour du Port ride two years ago. Luckily I was on my third loop and only 3 miles from the start. Still, climbing the back of Federal Hill standing was no fun.

Two years ago at Bike New York I saw a guy riding the tour with no seat. I assume he finished the 42 miles standing.

I had a seat post bolt snap once and had to ride half way home standing up, you can't believe how hard that is! It reminded me of a story in Bicycling describing how this "guy" rode century rides without a seat on purpose, he said his seat came off once and he never put it back on. The guy must have had legs like Eric Hyden.

Last thursday my left crank arm stripped out and the pedal came off...I had to ride home (about 7 miles) one legged. Fortunately I was riding fixed, so it wasn't much of a problem, except for the hills. It looked really silly, I'm sure.
One pedal and no seat...now that would be a challenge.

Why not use a quick release and take the seat with you? Makes it look like some bastard already worked you're bike over too.

Sorry to hear that. Someone once stole my rack. I would rather buy a rack than unbolt one, takes way too much time. So many losers in this world but at least you kept a decent attitude. We are always gonna get ripped off if we ride enough. You can claim double miles for your stand up ride on BJ

I had to do that in college once but I only had to go a mile or so across campus. Same deal, low-life swiped my saddle and seatpost. From then on I was probably known as the-guy-who-takes-a-bike-seat-into-class.

Yeah, last summer, I brought my seat inside with me at work because it was supposed to rain that day. It was one of those stupid sponge seats that stays wet for days. About six people came by my office on their way in with urgent looks on their faces informing me that my seat had been stolen.

Later, I wondered about the rain and the open seat tube. Probably got a half inch of water in there.

That happened to me once! My bike was locked up outside my apartment. It was a flea-market Schwinn Suburban, with a Pletscher rack. Hardly bling, but someone stole the rack anyway. I wish I could figure out some way to secure my rack to my bike. Mabe I can find some kind of anti-theft screws somewhere. Or someone once suggested to me that once the rack is installed, take a pliers and completely mangle the screw threads that protrude through the frame eyelet and the nut, and that way the rack can't be removed without cutting off the nug. Makes sense -- maybe I'll try it.

That really does suck, but I have to say I'm slightly grossed out by the idea of stealing a strangers seat, and then using it . I'm sure they clean-up just fine, but it seems so wrong on many levels.

I had a seat post bolt shear on me once when I was about 1.5 miles from my destination. I stuffed all the parts in my pannier and rode off into the sunset, sans seat. It wasn't too bad for that 1.5 miles, although I was riding 24 speed back then. Riding fixed that way would be *tough* and I hope I never have to find out HOW tough!

I can't find prices anywhere on their website. Do you have any idea how much the products cost?

$42 from SpeedGoat: https://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=115462