seatpost malfunction

information on the brand, model & age would be helpful!

Mark Heiple said:

I was out riding today, and the seatpost clamp bolt (where
the clamp attaches to the saddle rails) broke.

I was standing to climb a hill, and when I sat down I
heard a loud 'ping', followed by the sounds of something
metallic bouncing on the road. The saddle got all loose
and wobbly, so I stopped. I found the top half of the
clamp with the end of the bolt still in it, but the bottom
half was gone. The only thing holding the saddle on was my
saddle bag, which snaps onto the rails and has a velcro
strap that wraps around the seatpost.

Fortunately, no crash or injury resulted, but it did put
an end to my ride.

I stopped at the bike shop to get a new seatpost, and
showed them my broken one. They said that it was kind rare
to see the bolt break like that, but it does happen.

Anything I can do to avoid a repeat, or to watch for so
I'm not surprised on the road again?

Thanks.

Mark Heiple <[email hidden]> wrote in news:mark-02AF05.20461223052004
@cinbell.usenetserver.com:

Quoted message said:

I stopped at the bike shop to get a new seatpost, and
showed them my broken one. They said that it was kind rare
to see the bolt break like that, but it does happen.

A broken bolt is not that rare. 99% of the time, it happens
when someone tightened the bolt way too much. Not applying
grease or anti-seize to the bolt makes the problem worse.

In article <[email hidden]>,

jim beam said:

information on the brand, model & age would be helpful!

Mark Heiple said:

I was out riding today, and the seatpost clamp bolt
(where the clamp attaches to the saddle rails) broke.

I was standing to climb a hill, and when I sat down I
heard a loud 'ping', followed by the sounds of something
metallic bouncing on the road. The saddle got all loose
and wobbly, so I stopped. I found the top half of the
clamp with the end of the bolt still in it, but the
bottom half was gone. The only thing holding the saddle
on was my saddle bag, which snaps onto the rails and has
a velcro strap that wraps around the seatpost.

Fortunately, no crash or injury resulted, but it did put
an end to my ride.

I stopped at the bike shop to get a new seatpost, and
showed them my broken one. They said that it was kind
rare to see the bolt break like that, but it does
happen.

Anything I can do to avoid a repeat, or to watch for so
I'm not surprised on the road again?

Thanks.

I bought it about a 1 or 1.5 years ago from
performancebike.com. They listed it as Ultegra, but it is
marked Shimano 600. The bike shop told me that Shimano
hasn't made that seatpost for probably 10 years. It is
really short and heavy.

In "]news:[email hidden],
Mark Heiple <[email hidden]> typed:

Quoted message said:

Anything I can do to avoid a repeat, or to watch for so
I'm not surprised on the road again?

Replace it with a Thomson seatpost. Well made, micro-
adjustable and tough as hell. I run them on downhill
mountain bikes.

lhthomson.comlhthomson.comOpen ↗

Mike

I've had two bolts break on two separate Weyless carbon
seatposts. I'm guessing, but both broke around 3000 miles of
use. It's a hollow bolt, a totally stupid design. Since I
can't ride without a saddle (try it sometime, if you think
you can), I won't use it anymore. By luck, I had some rubber
covers for my look cleats, so the 5 mile walk didn't destroy
my cleats.

Did use grease, didn't overtighten.

mark-<< They said that it was kind rare to see the bolt
break like that, but it does happen.

Anything I can do to avoid a repeat, or to watch for so I'm
not surprised on the road again? >><BR><BR>

grease onto thw threads of all the bolts, grease onto the
seatpost where the rails live, don't make it too tight.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

In article <[email hidden]>, Ken <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Mark Heiple <[email hidden]> wrote in news:mark-
02AF05.20461223052004 @cinbell.usenetserver.com:

Quoted message said:

I stopped at the bike shop to get a new seatpost, and
showed them my broken one. They said that it was kind
rare to see the bolt break like that, but it does
happen.

A broken bolt is not that rare. 99% of the time, it
happens when someone tightened the bolt way too much. Not
applying grease or anti-seize to the bolt makes the
problem worse.

I suppose I could have over-tightened the bolt. I was having
problems with the saddle tilt slipping, and I had to tighten
the bolt a lot to stop the slipping.

The bike shop recommended a Salsa Shaft, which has a set of
micro adjust bolts that works independent of the clamp. I
shouldn't have to tighten this one down like the old post.

Callistus Valerius said:

I've had two bolts break on two separate Weyless carbon
seatposts. I'm guessing, but both broke around 3000 miles
of use. It's a hollow bolt, a totally stupid design. Since
I can't ride without a saddle (try it sometime, if you
think you can), I won't use it anymore. By luck, I had some
rubber covers for my look cleats, so the 5 mile walk didn't
destroy my cleats.

I've broken no less than two seatposts, and I can attest to
being able to ride a few miles with no saddle. I rode a few
rather technical off-road miles (luckily, not a lot of hills
anyway) with the saddle strapped to my backpack when the
first one broke.
--
Rick Onanian

Mark Heiple <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<mark-
[email hidden]>... <snip>

Quoted message said:

I bought it about a 1 or 1.5 years ago from
performancebike.com. They listed it as Ultegra, but it is
marked Shimano 600. The bike shop told me that Shimano
hasn't made that seatpost for probably 10 years. It is
really short and heavy.

Shimano 600 is the same as Shimano Ultegra. For a time, some
packages said "600 Ultegra" on them.

The Salsa Shaft is an adequate replacement.

Jeff