bike saddle post locator

I’ve been cycling a lot recently, requiring me to leave my bike locked up outside the office, outside shops, all over the place.

I’m always paranoid about theft, so I lock the bike. I pop off the front wheel and lock it too. Just to be safe. I don’t pop off my saddle as often as I should though. Usually I can’t be bothered. Not because it takes time to remove - but because it takes time to put back in exactly the right place. That doesn’t mean it won’t be stolen someday though.

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Introducing the bike saddle post locator thingy.

I line up my saddle post using the line of grease and grime that builds up. But if I’m in a hurry it can be a smidge too high or low, and a smidge to the right or left. This can have a serious impact on certain parts of a chaps anatomy if he’s not careful.

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The locator is a collar you attach to the post which fits exactly where you want your post to rest (the excellently drawn white thing above). You just push down until you feel the clunk - and drop the quick release. Job done. No brain input needed. You could do it in the dark. Easy.

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That deals with the height. The rotational alignment is handled with a lug pointing downwards at the back of the collar. This fits between the fastening bars for your quick release. Angled to be a universal fitting, it simply drops between them to get everything aligned. Bingo.

I’ll need to prototype to see if the act of tightening the quick release scuppers this part of the plan. On a test with a big screwdriver and some duck tape it looked okay though.

I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find anything like this. The fabrication would be easy, it could be a cool color. It could weight almost nothing. It could have an LED in it, or a mount for a light. It MUST exist.

And while I could replace the quick release with a straight bolt, then I’d have even more hassle getting the bike into the back of the car than I do now. And yes I could just leave the bike rack on the car at all times, but that’s just not very green. Is it.

CC bike post pic thanks and credit to http://flickr.com/photos/rulerofheck/380537663/ (saved me washing my own).

September 12, 2007 | Filed Under ,

 

Comments

4 Responses to “bike saddle post locator”

  1. Rinky Dink on September 12th, 2007 1:53 pm

    Love it … great idea - Big’Um!

    Only problem would be moving it so that you could pop the seat down a wee bit for blasting down singletrack.

  2. Steve on September 13th, 2007 12:32 am

    Good point Dave. Being an old ‘commute on my hybrid’ type I forget such things. We need an offroad version. I sketched one on the train - I’ll model it up in Blu Tac and post it later today. There must be Blu Tac here somewhere….

  3. Cameron Incoll on September 13th, 2007 6:15 am

    A nylon cable tie around the post would be a simple cost effective solution to the height problem.

    As for the left and right alignment… maybe two lines, one on the bike and one on the cable tie - line them up then tighten…

    We have this place in Australia (which I just found) called cableties.com.au - they sell cable ties with European Quality! Wow.

    I’m loving your ideas, by the way. Reminds me of when I was about 7 I invented a device that would charge up a car battery while the engine was running. My dad suggested that I should call it an Alternator. He laughed at his own joke, then explained why - I simply said that it just showed that I had a good idea.

    Keep ‘em coming!

    Cam.

  4. Steve on September 14th, 2007 7:34 am

    I like the cable tie idea Cameron. Cheap, reasonably robust, quick. If they stay put. I’ll try that this weekend. ‘European Quality’ is a nice phrase!

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