Bike Forums - Anti-theft saddle screw?

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- - Anti-theft saddle screw? (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/893443-anti-theft-saddle-screw.html)

I guess there's a market for a quick-release saddle screw so that we can easily take the saddle with us while leaving the seatpost.

Foldabikes CM Wasson, used Brompton's SAP and replaced the clamp bolt that
holds it onto the main post with a MTB QR.

But it was more to pack since you can take a Brompton inside with you.

Good to know. I'll contact Foldabikes for more infos.

Got a reply from McMaster-Carr:

Quote:

Due to the complexity of U.S. export regulations, McMaster-Carr accepts international orders only from our established customers. This decision also applies to orders shipping within the United States, because it is based on the final destination of the items. We will not provide a quotation or accept your orders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winfried (Post 15700759)

Thanks for the link. I'd rather secure screws than a cable.

But torx screws are insecure since they can be removed by anyone, while secure screws by the companies above require a special key, pretty much unique to the user.

Yes, but so is every other option for saddle security. Cements and expoxies succumb to solvents, cables can be clipped with shorty bolt cutters, and it's not that hard to find a multi-head screwdriver set at your local Harbor Freight for whatever was used to bolt the saddle down. There is no such thing as complete security, only theft deterent for a crime of opportunity. If you aggravate the would-be thief enough, he might just show up later with a hacksaw and just lop it off at the post. Now that would be fun to watch.

What about leaving the seatpost in place (possibly securely fastened), and using a quick-saddle release screw?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324274

A saddle is much lighter and smaller so it fits in a bag/backpack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RubeRad (Post 15700737)

Pitlock offers saddle cables; it's hard to tell, but if you go here and roll the mouse over the saddle and seattube clamp areas, you can see in the pictures the cable being looped around a saddle rail, and the end-loops going around the pitlock seatpost-clamp bolt, which would secure your saddle (assuming you can trust the strength of the cable). Worst somebody could do is loosen your saddle bolt, maybe leave it dangling (or leave it loose so it falls off when you sit on it).

I have seen other people "securing" brooks saddles with light steel cables like that, but it's a question of what do you attach the cable to?

BTW torx screw I don't see as very secure. If a good thief doesn't have a torx on him, if he spies your bike in the same place more than one day in a row, he can count on coming back with a torx later.

And of course there's always an angle grinder. There are horror stories out there of bike thieves at work for a surprisingly long time with tons of passersby doing nothing.

Pitlock seems as good of a bike security solution as I've ever seen (but I've never bought them -- I'm fortunate that I only ever have to lock up in fairly safe suburban areas, and I get to roll my bike right into my cube every day, so I only ever bother with a cheap cable lock)

True, but all this assumes it's a bike that's worth making an ongoing effort to steal. If the thief spots your bike, realises you've got high security screws on it, figures what tools he's going to need, comes back with them later - all potential threats but unless the bike is something pretty special the chances are your thief is going to have decided it's easier to just steal something else. Chances are he'll be able to find a nice bike that someone just left propped against a wall, or where someone secured the front (QR) wheel leaving him free to steal the rest of the bike for the sake of a few seconds of effort. Usually the people who leave bikes like that seem to leave them in places where someone else can secure their bike leaving the front (QR) wheel readily stealable, so within 60 seconds or less you've got a bike less the front wheel, plus a front wheel, and effectively have a whole bike to ride away on.

FWIW if I want to secure the saddle I put a D-lock through the frame and rear wheel paired with a cable to loop through the front wheel and D-lock. The cable is usually coiled fairly tightly around whatever I've secured the bike to, and then a padlock locks the saddle rail to the cable.

If someone wants to cut the cable they'll be able to steal the saddle and the front wheel but they won't get the saddle without either cutting the cable, or the lock, or the saddle rail. My saddle isn't worth enough for a thief to go to that kind of trouble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by contango (Post 15758387)

My saddle isn't worth enough for a thief to go to that kind of trouble.

This assumes that they want to steal the saddle, while I'm more concerned of ******bags who just want take it and throw it in a trashcan just for fun.

Just the other day, I left my folding bike locked for about 15mn, and someone lowered the saddle while I was away. They could have stolen the saddle + seatpost. I don't feel like removing and carrying the whole thing every time I need to keep the bike locked outside.

Or there's this integrated seatpost/saddle design Tom Ritchey made 40 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwdDA-0iNhc

Don't know how you would adjust that though. I guess it could be made to slide fore-aft, but angle? Buy a fixed angle for the wrong seat tube and you're out of luck.

But anyways, my point is, it would probably not be too ridiculously difficult to engineer an integrated seat/post, even one that is adjustable, but the saddle does not come off of the post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winfried (Post 15758923)

This assumes that they want to steal the saddle, while I'm more concerned of ******bags who just want take it and throw it in a trashcan just for fun.

OK, so they're still going to have to go to a fair bit of trouble to throw my saddle in the trash for their giggles. It's easier to pick on someone else's saddle.

It's like the whole thing about if you're walking with someone else and encounter a lion. You don't need to outrun the lion, you just need to outrun the other guy.

Got a reply from PinHeadComponents that my idea was passed on to their engineering team. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm sure there's a market for a simple way to remove the saddle from the seatpost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winfried (Post 15763317)

Quick-release saddle-rail-clamp seems like it would be quite a pain to readjust height/angle every time. Instead of secure bolt for the seatpost and quick-release for the seat, it seems preferable to just use quick-release for the seatpost and take the whole thing with you. Yes it's annoying to have to carry a seat and seatpost around, but it's not that much less annoying to just have the seat.