protecting saddle + post from theft?

[Sanjay Punjab]

I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
both. Thanks

 

[Sam Huffman]

[email protected] (Sanjay Punjab) writes:

> I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
> quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
> Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
> saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
> ideas to secure both.

There are cables that you can use to "secure" the seat. Basically they loop around the mechanism
bolting the seat to the post, and around the frame.

This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle. Or,
alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more effective
than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without being stolen.
That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.

Sam

 

[Bill Davidson]

Mark Hickey <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (Steven) wrote:
>
> >And hearing all the noise in the Giro etc. about bike manafactures being able to make a bike
> >signifigantly less than the 16.5 pounds that the UCI set's as the lower limit of weight. My
> >thought is essentially this, why not make that bike but throw extra weight back in by making the
> >drive train more efficient.
> >
> >Lets say that for arguments sake the average pro cylist puts out 400 watts during a climb up alp
> >d'huez and his drive train is 90% effecient.
>
> Thing is, the data I've seen suggest a clean, well-adjusted drivetrain is closer to 98% efficient.
> That doesn't leave a lot of room for improvement (at least not without spending a fortune on a
> chain with itty bitty little bearings in every link).
>
> That number hasn't changed in recent history, either - probably won't in the near future.
>
> Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame

www.ihpva.org/pubs/HP52.pdf

This study puts the effecieny of Shimano 7 speed derailer hubs at
94.5%-90.3% effecient. I am not sure what has changed since 2001....I would imagine effeciency has
improved but probably not to 98%, although I have been wrong a few times in my life so....Where
did you get this number? I would love to read read the research you got this number from.

SPA

This is not backed up by the research I could find. The best effecieny rating I could find was 98.6%
but it was for a large rear cogged single speed drive train, taking the

 

[Thunder9]

On 04 Aug 2003 07:33:34 -0700, Sam Huffman <[email protected]> wrote:

>[email protected] (Sanjay Punjab) writes:
>
>> I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
>> quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
>> Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
>> saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
>> ideas to secure both.
>
>There are cables that you can use to "secure" the seat. Basically they loop around the mechanism
>bolting the seat to the post, and around the frame.
>
>This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle. Or,
>alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more effective
>than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without being stolen.
>That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.
>
>Sam

What does locking a bike to a tree have to do with stealing a seat?

Is seat stealing a common occurance? Does that happen more often than bike stealing (ie seat
stealing only vs. complete bike stealing)?

I think one could go a bit overboard trying to secure things on a bike. Perhaps the best deterrent
would be to make the seat *look* like it isn't worth stealing.

Regards, Thunder9

 

[Sam Huffman]

[email protected] (Thunder9) writes:

> >This requires that the seat be removed from the post before removing the post from the bicycle.
> >Or, alternatively, the thief could use a wire-cutters. I'd imagine using one is somewhat more
> >effective than not using one, and my seat made it through two years on a college campus without
> >being stolen. That is, until I made the mistake of locking my bicycle to a tree.
>
> What does locking a bike to a tree have to do with stealing a seat?

The seat didn't get stolen by itself. On college campuses, locking a bicycle to a tree is (as I
found out) a sure way to get the bike stolen. The thief simply cuts down the tree. A bike locked to
a street sign is a similarly easy target.

> Is seat stealing a common occurance? Does that happen more often than bike stealing (ie seat
> stealing only vs. complete bike stealing)?

It's extremely common. Stealing a bike usually requires cutting a lock or chain. Stealing a seatpost
often simply requires opening a quick release and putting the seat in a bag.

> I think one could go a bit overboard trying to secure things on a bike. Perhaps the best deterrent
> would be to make the seat *look* like it isn't worth stealing.

On a college campus, anything that can be stolen will be stolen. I've seen studies indicating that
10% of all bikes on a college campus are stolen each year.

sam

 

[Gary Young]

[email protected] (Sanjay Punjab) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
> quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
> the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
> relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
> both. Thanks

Both Kryptonite and Pitlock (www.pitlock.com) make locking seattube skewers. That won't prevent your
saddle from being stolen off of the post. When that happened to me, I switched to a two-bolt
seatpost (the more you can slow thieves down the better) and use wax or silicon to close the hex
holes. Here in NYC, no one trusts the thin cables you're referring to. The popular thing to do is
take a length of chain (drivetrain chain), cover it with a length of inner tube, run it through the
seatstays and the saddle rails and then close the loop with a chain tool.

 

[Don Wiss]

On 4 Aug 2003 13:03:05 -0700, [email protected] (Gary Young) wrote:

> Here in NYC, no one trusts the thin cables you're referring to. The popular thing to do is take
> a length of chain (drivetrain chain), cover it with a length of inner tube, run it through the
> seatstays and the saddle rails and then close the loop with a chain tool.

Yes. My understanding is bolt cutters tend to crush the chain and not cut
it. Also electrical tape is often used to close the gap between the inner tube ends. Not that
thieves carry chain tools, but they'd also have to carry a knife to get to the chain. Anyway, I
am not aware of anyone that has lost a seat chained down this way.

The one seat I lost was when I removed the quick release and used an allen head bolt. I didn't leave
the bike more than 10 minutes. I gather the thief had vise grips with him to get it off.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

 

[tock]

"Sanjay Punjab" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
> quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
> the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
> relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
> both. Thanks

If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or drill
a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone without
a hacksaw.

 

[Beaver Charlie]

Ahhh, only in America...

Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

 

[Ant]

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:<6uIXa.2166
> If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or
> drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone
> without a hacksaw.

if your bike wasnt stupid light, a rivet or two would look a lot cleaner than a bolt, and would be
more secure. you could always drill them out later. or for a beater-glue. you could just fill
fastener heads with epoxy. use a punch (to break otu the epoxy) or a screw-extractor to remove
later. or- perhaps even filling the fastener with something temporary like wax might work. stop a
thief inserting an allen key without a whole lot of fussing about.

thoughts,

anthony

 

[Kevan Smith]

On 5 Aug 2003 07:33:16 -0700, [email protected] (beaver charlie) from
http://groups.google.com/ wrote:

>Ahhh, only in America...
>
>Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
>with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

I don't think anyone here would be using a 4K bike as a townie.

--
http://home.sport.rr.com/cuthulu/ human rights = peace I represent a sardine!!
12:47:19 PM 5 August 2003

 

[Pat]

x-no-archive:yes

, [email protected] (beaver charlie) from
>> >Ahhh, only in America...
> >
> >Who else would spend $4,000 fretting away every milligram of bicycle weight, only to load it down
> >with 50 lbs of anchor chain to keep it from being stolen!

>
> I don't think anyone here would be using a 4K bike as a townie.

Yeah, but then reality wouldn't sound so great, would it? When you badmouth somebody--or in this
case, an entire country, exaggeration helps a lot.

Pat in TX

 

[Tim Cain]

"ant" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<6uIXa.2166
> > If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you
could
> > weld it in place, or drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place,
and
> > mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone without a hacksaw.
>
> if your bike wasnt stupid light, a rivet or two would look a lot cleaner than a bolt, and would be
> more secure. you could always drill them out later. or for a beater-glue. you could just fill
> fastener heads with epoxy. use a punch (to break otu the epoxy) or a screw-extractor to remove
> later. or- perhaps even filling the fastener with something temporary like wax might work. stop a
> thief inserting an allen key without a whole lot of fussing about.

In an Allen screw, a ball bearing to fit + clear bathroom silicone sealant is a good deterrent.

Tim.

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[Bruni]

The industrial types produce bolts/wrenches with a pin in the center of the socket, hole in wrench
as "tamper proof". Discourages opportunistic theft. Tom

--
Bruni Bicycles "Where art meets science" brunibicycles.com
410.426.3420 <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Sanjay Punjab" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
> > quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike?
> > Locking the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the
> > saddle, but a relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective
> > ideas to secure both. Thanks
>
> If you can get the seat adjusted to a height you're happy with, you could weld it in place, or
> drill a hole through the post, bolt it in place, and mess up the threads so it couldn't be undone
> without a hacksaw.

 

[Paul Bielec]

take it with you

"Sanjay Punjab" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I recently had my saddle and seat post stolen off my bike. I had allen screws securing both, not
> quick release levers. Is there a way to secure the saddle and seat post better to a bike? Locking
> the saddle frame to the triangle of the bike frame could atleast help protect the saddle, but a
> relatively thin cable lock can be cut easily. I am looking for some effective ideas to secure
> both. Thanks