5 months later and i still can't get the seat to stay in place

[mimindhse]

i FINALLY received my unicyle and i have yet to be able to get the seat to stay in place. the pole has a lever to adjust the seat height/position but i can't seem to get it to tighten. is there a trick to it? i've never had this difficulty with my road or mountain bike. what gives? i've turned the lever 20 times but it doesn't tighten. there's a spring but it won't stay even if i push it in. AND worse case is that it barely clears the pole.. everytime i turn it the lever brushes against the pole.. please help so i can learn to ride it before next christmas.
thanks!!!!!
ana.

[kb1jki]

bring it to a bike shop and replace the quick release lever for a seat collar. the shop can also recommend the right seat elevation and if it loosens, just bring it back! good luck!

[mimindhse]

thanks! sounds easy enough.. all site/videos kept saying to loosen and tighten with allen wrench but it doesn't have an allen screw.
thanks again.

[MuniOrBust]

Originally Posted by mimindhse

i've never had this difficulty with my road or mountain bike. what gives? i've turned the lever 20 times but it doesn't tighten.

Usually with a quick release you don't turn the lever. You open the lever, then turn the round "nut" on the opposite side, then close the lever.
Sometimes the nut size is hard to turn by hand, and then you might resort to turning the lever side.
If you are turning one side and the other side is simultaneously turning with it, nothing is getting tighter. It's just spinning around.

[ezas]

I don't like quick release on uni. Always feels like you need a 2nd thumb on your third hand. But when I had quick release on road bikes I always held the 'nut' and turned the lever. Worked fine for me. Of course this is with the lever in the open position.

There is kind of a guideline to follow with quick release. When you press it closed the lever should leave a bit of an imprint in your palm.

But i'm with the poster who said get a collar. On my fiancee's cheap uni that's what I had to do to get the seat to stay put.

[brendan]

buy a double bolt clamp. Quick release clamps are gadgets. There's a reason why all high end uni's ship with them.

Incidentally really good single bolt clamps work real well too. Look at the ones from Hope. I use it on my trials and it doesn't slip one bit.

[mimindhse]

well after sitting for almost a week my boyfriend finally tightened it for me.. of course only when i asked if he did it then he said yes but let me tighten it a little more (knowing he never did it in the first place). i rode for a few minutes and it's not tall enough. of course he hasn't fixed it so tomorrow i think i may go to the bike shop and try the clamp... thanks for the advices, i will keep you posted.

[ally1776]

I have a little Sun 20" that had a quick release, and personally I can't stand quick releases on unicycles so I just removed the bolt from the quick release junk that is attached and put the bolt through found a nut that fit the bolt and now I just tighten it with a wrench, works great.

[DanL R]

Originally Posted by brendan

buy a double bolt clamp. Quick release clamps are gadgets. There's a reason why all high end uni's ship with them.

Incidentally really good single bolt clamps work real well too. Look at the ones from Hope. I use it on my trials and it doesn't slip one bit.

I agree get a double bolt because you will probably have to constantly turn the seat back straight if the unicycle falls hard. I also find that quick release gets in the way sometimes.