Aluminum is nice, and light but can "bite" you right in the a** literally! While coming back from a Walmart shopping trip, I rode over a dip in the bike lane about a half mile away from home, and all of a sudden, I found myself falling back away from my folder, and landed on my back while the bike rolled on it's own for about 10 feet and fell on the left side.

I quickly got up, and ran to the bike to pick it up. At first I thought that the suspension had broken or something, but to my surprise, it was the seat post that had snapped! I also had to pick up my cyclometer which had fallen off in the middle of the street.

Since I was close to home, I was able to ride the bike the rest of the way by standing on the pedals. The only "injury" if you can call it that was to my ego, and I did cut two of my finger tips but not so bad as I can type this message with no discomfort.

Here are some photos of the breakage:







In retrospect, I should have known better, as I had seen a couple of "nicks" on the seat post just above the frame. The frame is steel, and indestructible! It'll be still be around by the time I start collecting social security.

Guess that 'splains why so many folders are going to >27.2mm seatposts nowadays.

yikes, glad you're not hurt.
I wanted to replace the steel post on my Gekko for an al one but the weight savings
would be minimal because it doesn't use an extended post like most folders.

Well mine is 28.6. But I know what you mean. I've seen seat posts, especially on some 16" bikes that scare me. I got online, and ordered a new Kaloy seat post for about $18.00! The new post at 400 mm is longer than than what I need since my folder's seat tube is taller than most as you can see in this side photo of my bike



I trust the Kaloy will be more durable. I hope

Thanks. I tell you what. It was one of those, "WTF!" moments as I found myself heading back first towards the pavement! A few minutes after I got home, I just laughed thinking about what happened, and then took the photos.

Here is a that link shows the new Kaloy seat post I ordered through Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ima...sporting-goods

I had forgotten that I bought one just like it back in 2008 to replace the seat post in another folder that I owned back then, and was impressed by it's quality.

what kind of bike is that?

It's a budget priced 5 speed Chinese folding bike made by a company called "K-Rock". They used to be known as "Qile Duo".

https://www.qileduo.com/en/

I bought it from a dealer that's right here in Florida, almost two years ago.

https://www.coolstuffforboats.com/foldingbike.htm

' glad you're okay and didn't get the rear treatment.

I'm glad you weren't hurt. I'll be checking my bikes' seatposts, now!

Thanks "DVC45" and "neilfein". I woke up, and got out of bed about a 45 minutes ago, and feel perfectly fine, in spite of the fact that I got "powerbombed" by my own bike yesterday. LOL!

And yes, it is good practice to closely inspect seat posts, and aluminum frames. They can fail catastrophically without warning. In addition, carbon fiber is another material that a cyclist must watch closely as well. I've read about CF forks failing suddenly. It gives me the "willies" just thinking if something like that happened to a rider while going downhill at speed.

Very scary. It could have been a whole lot worse. One of the nice features of steel is that it yields, permanently deforms, before it fails so there is some warning. When I got a longer seat post for my R20 I stayed went with steel even though it’s heavier. As I recall it was 28.6 but I might be wrong. I don't remember the length but I think it was 400mm.

Well, it's not a carbon fibre fork, but.. A carbon fibre frame is close enough.


Amazingly, Eric Barone survived that particular incident.

Glad you're OK! After reading your post, I've decided to upgrade the seatpost on my soon-to-be-built BF....Thanks!

It looks like I am going to have to wait a little more to get my new Kaloy seat post. I checked into my Amazon account, and found out that the vendor had cancelled my order due to not having any in stock from their supplier.

So, I had to reorder from another vendor, who is charging a few dollars MORE, and will delay my getting it a few more days.

I must admit, I am anxious to be riding my folder ASAP!

Well the broken seat post saga wages on. An email from the vendor on Amazon this morning indicated that the silver 400 mm is out of stock but they have the 350 mm available. I then realized that my bike doesn't require such a long post anyway. It's seat tube is tall so a 350 mm post is plenty long. In fact, even a 300 mm would do. So I went with it, and is being shipped today.

My lady friend had suggested to me the day I had the accident to try to use what was left of the post in the meantime. I objected at that moment thinking there was not enough post left to make it work. But after getting off the phone with the vendor, I decided to try it. And Son of a Gun, it does work! Well it's not the right height but it's enough for me to pedal the bike comfortably. In fact, it's enough to make me rethink about having the seat so high to where my legs are almost completely extended.

The bottom end is about 2 inches into the seat tube which is plenty as the tube flares out to a much wider diameter and doesn't really provide any side support to the post anyway. Now at least, I get to ride my folder over the weekend

Glad you are OK.