Is it normal for Ironhorse seats to be slightly loose?

[Dr. Phil Is Weird]

A month or two ago I purchased a brand new Ironhorse bikey. Last week I
noticed the seat was slightly loose and would move a couple of inches
from side to side.

I took it to a bike shop, and they insisted that such movement was a
normal part of the bike's suspension and was not dangerous because the
bike has been "broken in".

This seems strange, but should I trust their opinion on this?

 

[BanditManDan]

Dr. Phil Is Wei wrote:
> A month or two ago I purchased a brand new Ironhorse bikey. Last week I
> noticed the seat was slightly loose and would move a couple of inches
> from side to side.
> I took it to a bike shop, and they insisted that such movement was a
> normal part of the bike's suspension and was not dangerous because the
> bike has been "broken in".
> This seems strange, but should I trust their opinion on this?



A couple of inches side to side??? Wow that's a lot IMO. I've never
even heard of a seat that moves side to side. Maybe somebody else can
explain this one.

Dan.



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[Mike Kruger]

"BanditManDan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dr. Phil Is Wei wrote:
> > A month or two ago I purchased a brand new Ironhorse bikey. Last week
I
> > noticed the seat was slightly loose and would move a couple of inches
> > from side to side.
> > I took it to a bike shop, and they insisted that such movement was a
> > normal part of the bike's suspension and was not dangerous because the
> > bike has been "broken in".
> > This seems strange, but should I trust their opinion on this?
>
>
>
> A couple of inches side to side??? Wow that's a lot IMO. I've never
> even heard of a seat that moves side to side. Maybe somebody else can
> explain this one.
>
Move side to side? There might be a little bit of rotational play in a
suspension seatpost, but "a couple of inches" is more than I would think
reasonable.

(If this is a suspension seatpost): Is the movement coming from the two
halves of the seatpost (lower part not moving, upper part moving)? Some
slight movement is normal here, but it should be barely noticeable, if
noticeable at all.

Or, is all the movement coming from the seat relative to the (nonmoving)
seatpost? If it's this, I would think the bolt on the seat would need
tightening, which is a minor thing to do with a wrench.

 

[Dr. Phil Is Weird]

On Fri, 07 May 2004 02:59:38 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
<[email protected]> said:

>Move side to side? There might be a little bit of rotational play in a
>suspension seatpost, but "a couple of inches" is more than I would think
>reasonable.

It's maybe 1 or 2 inches of rotation around the post.

>(If this is a suspension seatpost): Is the movement coming from the two
>halves of the seatpost (lower part not moving, upper part moving)?

I believe so. The rotation seems to end right above where the rear
reflector is attached to the post.

I just don't want the seat to throw me off the bike when I'm zipping
downhill at 30 MPH.

 

[Mike Kruger]

"Dr. Phil Is Weird" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 07 May 2004 02:59:38 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
> <[email protected]> said:
>
> >Move side to side? There might be a little bit of rotational play in a
> >suspension seatpost, but "a couple of inches" is more than I would think
> >reasonable.
>
> It's maybe 1 or 2 inches of rotation around the post.
>
> >(If this is a suspension seatpost): Is the movement coming from the two
> >halves of the seatpost (lower part not moving, upper part moving)?
>
> I believe so. The rotation seems to end right above where the rear
> reflector is attached to the post.
>
> I just don't want the seat to throw me off the bike when I'm zipping
> downhill at 30 MPH.
>
Let's see what we know.
You have a suspension seatpost.
You get an amount of play in the seatpost that seems extraordinarily high to
you, and while there haven't been many posters to this thread, we haven't
heard from anybody who thought this was normal. (other than your bike shop)

Personally, I'd take it to another bike shop and get their
looking-at-the-bike opinion. It may just need tightening (seat to post), but
it may be something more serious. Suspension seatposts can fail; I replaced
one last year that developed a disturbing crack in it.


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Mike Kruger
Blog: http://journals.aol.com/mikekr/ZbicyclistsZlog/