I was riding along, just getting in some miles before my first climb. It’s a flat stretch along Foothill Expressway, then all of a sudden, I felt something sink. It wasn’t a flat, and it felt like my saddle position dropped. It wasn’t too dramatic, and I decided to keep riding on, until I reached the intersection. I checked, and it looked a little low, and my knees were bent a little more than usual. I better head back, then suddenly, the saddle height dropped quite a bit more … it got to a point where it sank about 1-2 inches. I couldn’t even ride seated.
I proceeded to ride standing … it is difficult to ride without your saddle. I knew it would be tough, but this was ridiculous. I went back to Los Altos Community Center, where I saw Dillon there, getting ready for another Pescadero ride with Steve.
Luckily, Dillon had a torque wrench, specifically designed for the saddle. We loosened it all the way, and even then we had a problem raising the saddle height. If we had this problem changing the saddle vertical position, then how in the world did the saddle height sink? I did a ride the previous day, climbing Saratoga Gap, with a good 40 miles, 4000 foot climb … good thing my saddle didn’t slip while on that ride.
I took the bike over to Bicycle Summit. There was ample grease on the seat post, so it wasn’t a lubrication problem. Perhaps it just wasn’t torque’d down enough. I still find it strange that it suddenly sank on me, and then we had problems raising the saddle height. Oh well … I guess that’s one mystery that will not be solved.
Oh, while I was there, I might as well ask for a torque wrench. The guy goes back, grabs a torque wrench from their tool kit, and gives it to me. Let me say again, he gives it to me – For free. “Are you sure”, I ask … he says they have plenty of them. Really .. Well, that’s customer service for ya!
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