Seatpost clamp help

[SqueakyOnion]

So, recently I bought a KH24 used. Love it. I came with 165s, which'll work well for muni. Only problem I've been having is with the seatpost clamp. My seatpost tends to rotate, leaving the seat not straight with the wheel. This happens when I am learning idling/hopping/backwards riding and fall off, saddle hitting the ground.

Its a single allen bolt clamp. I tighten it as hard as I can.

Is there something I'm doing wrong, or could be doing better? Do I just need a double allen bolt clamp?


Thanks for any input.

[Danni]

Double clamp will do the trick.

[The UniSLAB]

yeah dude a double bolt should work. If not i'll take a look at it come friday

[qhxakg]

i have a quesion also how good is the nimbus quick relase seatclamp? does it keep the seat in place?

[pkittle]

There are lots of threads about seatpost clamps. For quick releases, almost any of them will do the job if you're just doing elementary riding. But if you're doing trials, tech muni, or intense street/freestyle, you should get a higher-quality quick release. I have a Salsa on my muni, and it holds very well; I have a no-name on my 29er, and it works less well, but the trails I ride the 29er on aren't as prone to needing hopping, etc., to navigate, so it's sufficient.

Others have highly recommended the Hope QR for muni/trials.

Personally, I like the QR because I like to be able to adjust my seat height mid-ride when needed, and it's a hassle to dig out a tool. If you don't want a QR, pretty much any 2-bolt will do it for you.

[Unicorn]

The Single bolt seatpost clamp was one of the biggest bugs fixed by Kris in the 2007 models. When I bought my KH29 2005 MDC was cool enough to throw in a free K1 seatpost clamp because they were getting a lot of complaints about theis issue. Seatpost clamps are not expensive.

Unicorn

[agentQ]

Okay, so I am tired and quite annoyed with how many seatpost clamps I have broken and stripped lately.

Usually the issue is stripping out the threads. However, yesterday I was tightening on my clamp and the thing just busted in half. I had noticed the metal on the side looked all bumpy and super stressed, and after checking out the damage you can see that where it broke the metal had been stretched to about half the thickness of its original size.

I have a few options here.

•Trying a clamp that has a hex nut or some sort of steel threaded item for the bolt to tighten into.

•Getting some Heli-coils and putting them in the old stripped clamps.

•Get a Ti seatpost clamp. I seem to be able to find a couple options ranging from 5 year to lifetime warranty, 40-60 dollars.

Any thoughts?

[ntappin]

For my triton I'm using a slightly modified CF clamp, it cost me 30 AUD on ebay. When I first got it, it sucked. It wouldn't clamp hard enough, so I widened the gap and now its much better, it was also really easy to do with just a bit of sand paper. This clamp isn't threaded actualy on the clamp, there is a steel insert that the hex bolt threads into. The insert and the hex bolt meet like a T the top part being the insert and the long bottom part being the hex bolt.

I also use a BBB clamp. This one is wayyy better! I don't even clamp it down to the point where I feel like I'm cranking it down all the way, I just go for a bit and then its already mad tight. It is also very light, thin, and probably cheap (I got a great deal from Danni).

If you can get one with a warranty, that would definitely be cool though.

[kevinalexandersmith]

I like the Schwann and Semcycle style frames because there is no issue with rotating seat posts. However, neither of them make a frame that works with ISIS hubs.

How bad would it be if SqueakyOnion on his KH24 or I on my N29 …

Drill a hole thru the frame and seat post then tightened a (smooth) nut and bolt thru to hold the seat in place?

Would the frame deform in a way that impeded function?
Would the seat still rotate (a little) because it is not a three piece cantilever frame?
Would it be better to drill higher, lower, or in the middle of the frame?

Maybe this is a crazy idea, but you never know unless you ask. Schwinn frames look look this:
http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=60

[ntappin]

I don't think the aluminum would handle it very well. ANY play at all would pretty quickly enlarge the hole increasing the amount of movement and significantly weakening the frame.

Also putting a bolt through your frame is dangerous, because it is attaching a protruding piece of metal. QR seatpost clamps are already scary to many of us (I still have the scar on my ankle from one almost three years ago).

If you drill a hole in your frame is also limits the amount that you can move the seat height. There is no adjustability, which is something that for most unicycles is pretty essential. It is fine if the uni is cheap and only you will ride it just to learn on, but for serious riding you will probably play with the seat height a lot.

[Into the blue]

Are you sure it's the clamp that's the problem?

I had a similar thing happen to me a while back and after much faffing about discovered it wasn't the clamp after all.