Securing Seatpost/Saddle for Anti-Theft
 

Does anyone have a sound method for theft "proofing" your seatpost/saddle? I've searched the forums but haven't really gotten any definitive answers. I was thinking about stripping all my hardware but that seems drastic and maybe a little too permenant.

you can glue a ballbearing in the allen head bolt, or fill it with grey wax, or do the ugly cable from frame to seat rails, or buy the onguard seat pin special tool thang, or go to a fancy hardware bolt store and buy the bolt that has a star nut with a post in the middle like they use on play structures, or school lockers. takes a special allen tool with a hole in the middle.

you can get special skewers that go in your seatpost bolt to secure that. some people like to loop a bit of extra bike chain around the saddle rails to the seatstay bridge to slow down thefts of saddles.

In terms of the ball bearing method, if you ever want to take the seat off, can you just pick it out with a knife or something? Or does it basically **** the allen hole permanently?

yea you can just poke it and the bearing will pop out. its not much of a theft deterrent other than it may encourage a theif to try another bike in the effort of saving a few seconds.

i filled the head of my seatpost clamp bolt in with solder, then sealed it with a thin layer of super glue. i also have a cheezy little cable that runs from my seatstays up to my saddle as a deterrent. i usually throw a plastic shopping bag over the saddle and seatpost if i'm going to be locking it up outside.

I guess its mostly about making it a little less easy rather than completely un-stealable. I can live with that. thanks ya'll.

I was looking at the Puma Fixed Gear 101 booklet and I saw it show a drawn picture of an old chain fastened to the frame and seatpost. I had no idea how to go about but then i took my old bike chain, used a chain tool to make the proper length and BAM !!! i hope i have nothing to worry about now. It was an annoying process and you may end up with sore thumbs if using a small chain tool. After i was done i wrapped it with an old inner tube and electric tape to keep it on.
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oh, i have also seen these round magnets that fit in the hole, and you have to put a big magnet on it to pull them out.

That is a good ****ing idea! I just found an old chain...sahweet!

I put RTV sealant in my post/binder bolts.
It takes a couple minutes of digging with a knife before you can get an allen key in.

Its a bandaid solution though.
Metric Torx Security bolts are the real answer.

whoa that's a great idea. after nearly having my bars stolen yesterday, i could go for two of those in fact.
any idea where I could get one?

But where in America can you get metric security bolts? I've some quick internet searching and only found a couple places in England that had them... and those places seemed aimed at large orders. I've even considered re-tapping the threads on my stem & seatpost collar to english just so I can use security bolts, as they really do seem like the best option.

the magnet is the best idea yet.

mcmaster.com has security torx in metric sizes

edit: i may be wrong, they have SAE though.

it would also help if the locking skewers, seatpost clamps, and stem caps weren't so rediculously expensive.

Any high end fastener store should either have these or be able to order them. I've never found a good source for fasteners on the internet, but I'm sure there must be a good place somewhere in new york.

My local auto-parts store had them. That's what I would recommend, I usally check the auto parts stores first when I'm looking for nuts and bolts for a bicycle.

ooooh I like this idea. I mean how many theives are gonna be rockin a magnet set? That, and the fact that if you wanna do any adjusments or switchouts it'd be no problem. Any idea where to get these? I honestly can't think of any place off hand that would even have magnets.

The chain thing is a visual deterrent, but I would fill the hole as well. Once the saddle is off you just twist until the chain breaks.

I just pop the saddle/post off with a regular hex key, it doesn't take that long. I guess I'll get around to getting a QR some day. You have to carry it and all, but whatev, I have a bag. Not going to work for messers, but I ain't a messer.

Put a QR on your seatpost and take it wherever you go.

Yeah, I could hang with poppin it on and off no bigs.....when choosing the size qr do I measure the diameter of the tube or the circumference of the post itself er what? dumb question, maybe, but I really dont know.:p