How to keep a Seat from Moving??

[southp]

I posted this in another thread, but it was a bit off topic.

Recently I took off my bike seat to clean it up and stop some squeaking. My problem now is that since I have loosened the seat from the post it won't stay put no matter what I do. I ride the bike for 5 minutes and it gets loose. I'm sliding back onto the tire or forward onto the bar. No amount of tightening seems to keep this seat in place. I tried changing the nuts but it didn't make a difference.

Any recommendations? Is there a certain type of washer I could use? How about nylon threaded nuts?

Help me before i slip right off my bike!

 

[socal_jack]

Had one of those old POS Schwinn seats with the flat rails doing that and it turned out that it had been overtightened at some point in its life and that had bent the rail grabbers, kept them from functioning properly. Had to take it apart and replace the seat clamp assembly. Sometimes there can be a subtle line-up problem with the grabbers that also prevents them from grabbing the rail properly. It's a crappy system, too bad even the modern cruisers still have them.

 

[southp]

Maybe I'll try using the grabbers from a crappy seat I have lying around. Just not sure if they'll fit properly.

Any other ideas?

 

[Kustom Kreator]

I had the exact same problem on my stretch chopper http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1892 with a Bell brand seat I bought from WalMart(you can see the bell seat in the last couple of pictures of the thread in the link). I would tighten it properly and after hitting a little bump it would go out of adjustment. I tightened it numerous times only to have it happen again and again. To END this problem for good I adjusted the seat angle where I wanted it, tightened it, and then took the seat and seatpost off of the bike as a unit. Then I turned it upside down, got out my mig welder and welded it so it couldn't move EVER. I wire brushed off the loose paint after the welds cooled and shot it with some rattle can black. Never had a problem with it again!

 

[Anonymous]

BIZZZ BIZZZZ SPARK SPARK BIZZZ BIZZZZ

oooh you want it to move DOH!!! umm yes what they said lol :lol:

 

[socal_jack]

Another possibility is if this is on a modern cruiser, the seatpost diameter might be compatible with a newer seatpost diameter like on a mountain bike seatpost, you can take the old style seat clamp completely out and use a modern seatpost on a cruiser seat with round rails(in most cases). The modern setposts by and large have a much more secure lock-up system. I've done this on my Nirve cruiser before with the stock seat( 25.4mm setpost diameter).

 

[southp]

Another possibility is if this is on a modern cruiser, the seatpost diameter might be compatible with a newer seatpost diameter like on a mountain bike seatpost, you can take the old style seat clamp completely out and use a modern seatpost on a cruiser seat with round rails(in most cases). The modern setposts by and large have a much more secure lock-up system. I've done this on my Nirve cruiser before with the stock seat( 25.4mm setpost diameter).

Yeah I thought of that but I don't have the round rails on this seat. It's a bit older and it's got those wider rails with the wider clamps:

And it turns out they're all stripped:

I don't have a welder, so I'll have to replace the wide clamps. However, after a quick internet search I didn't see them anywhere.

 

[Kustom Kreator]

You may end up replacing the whole seat if you can't find those clamps. Or if you absolutely have to use that seat for some reason get it all aligned, mail it to me, I'll weld it for you and mail it back. You pay shipping both ways and I'll weld it for free or maybe you have something to trade? Oh, wow, I just noticed you're in Canada. It may not even be worth it for us to do that with the cost of shipping? I could sure use some snowmobile parts though!!!!

 

[superflygeoff]

I had the same problem and i used some metal epoxy... dont use epoxy it makes a mess and gives you a false sense of hope!

 

[southp]

I had the same problem and i used some metal epoxy... dont use epoxy it makes a mess and gives you a false sense of hope!

So you're saying metal epoxy worked... regular epoxy didn't work?

 

[socal_jack]

Geez, yours is worse than mine, although in the pic below it's a bit hard to see but the outside piece like you're holding are both bent compounding the problem of stripping..

 

[southp]

Yeah, yours look pretty bad too. I'm not having any luck finding the wide-rail clamps online. Anyone ever seen these anywhere?

 

[socal_jack]

Now and then you'll see one pop up on ebay, but I'd go to the classifieds here and post a WTB title with that in there for the whole clamp assembly or start looking for beater bikes with a good clamp.

 

[southp]

I posted in the classifieds, because I had no luck finding those clamps anywhere online or ebay, etc.

 

[Hooch]

yea its always good to ask because I would never list anything like that and I have 4 or 5 sets
I have tons of that little stuff it seems I always need a piece and dont have it

 

[southp]

I really appreciate it Hooch. You're right that those are the little things that might not be worth putting up on Ebay. Especially when they make a nice little cut off the auction.

This site is great for things like this! No more slipping onto my back tire!