Back in the saddle
I was riding toward home on a level surface at a very comfortable pace when my bicycle seat suddenly fell from below me. Had I not been clipped in I suspect my feet would have slipped off the pedals and I would have experienced the harsh road scrape against my vulnerable flesh. With good fortune smiling upon me during this mishap, my legs immediately responded just as though I had stood on my pedals while climbing a hill. I quickly braked and stepped off of my bicycle, relieved that I had suffered absolutely no bodily harm.
A quick gasp of nervous laughter escaped as I assessed my seatless bicycle and I imagined the numerous uncomfortable consequences that could have come my way. Instead, I gently lay the wounded bike and searched for the broken parts. I quickly located the saddle and inspected it; to my relief it remained in fine shape. I now needed the assembly that attached the seat to the post. As I searched the gravel strewn roadside, I was only able to locate the bottom part of the clamp and the bolt that should have connected it with its upper mate. Unfortunately, it didn't take a second glance to realize the bolt had sheared itself in half. Unable to find the missing nut and the upper clamp I knew I would need replacement parts.
I erroneously believed the final 1.5 miles of my ride home, while standing, was going to be the most prickly part of this repair job. I thought it would prove an easy fix, but assumptions led to unnecessary complications because I forgot to think like a bicycle manufacturer. From that point of view, it seems most beneficial to regularly modify the diameter of bicycle posts and to subtly modify each design to ensure that customers will have to maximize their purchases when replacement parts are needed. Even the powers of Google failed to reveal the existence of a replacement bracket to connect my perfectly usable seat to my almost perfect bike post. I was going to have to buy a brand new bicycle post.
I started by going to my regular shop. They no longer carry Giant bicycles so they sent me to a different shop. The mechanic there needed the bicycle because, as he explained, he would have to put a caliper on the post as they come in sizes that change by tenths of millimeters. I would need the right size. So a multi-transfer bus ride took me to the shop where I purchased the bike, but they were closed for two weeks while moving. One final trip to a downtown shop near where I work proved equally fruitless.
Frustrated, I picked up the phone and called another nearby shop and prayed that they would have a replacement carbon fiber 27.2 millimeter post or a compatible bracket. After providing them $24.99, they delivered just what I needed; and after a week's delay, I found myself back in the saddle again.
A quick gasp of nervous laughter escaped as I assessed my seatless bicycle and I imagined the numerous uncomfortable consequences that could have come my way. Instead, I gently lay the wounded bike and searched for the broken parts. I quickly located the saddle and inspected it; to my relief it remained in fine shape. I now needed the assembly that attached the seat to the post. As I searched the gravel strewn roadside, I was only able to locate the bottom part of the clamp and the bolt that should have connected it with its upper mate. Unfortunately, it didn't take a second glance to realize the bolt had sheared itself in half. Unable to find the missing nut and the upper clamp I knew I would need replacement parts.
I erroneously believed the final 1.5 miles of my ride home, while standing, was going to be the most prickly part of this repair job. I thought it would prove an easy fix, but assumptions led to unnecessary complications because I forgot to think like a bicycle manufacturer. From that point of view, it seems most beneficial to regularly modify the diameter of bicycle posts and to subtly modify each design to ensure that customers will have to maximize their purchases when replacement parts are needed. Even the powers of Google failed to reveal the existence of a replacement bracket to connect my perfectly usable seat to my almost perfect bike post. I was going to have to buy a brand new bicycle post.
I started by going to my regular shop. They no longer carry Giant bicycles so they sent me to a different shop. The mechanic there needed the bicycle because, as he explained, he would have to put a caliper on the post as they come in sizes that change by tenths of millimeters. I would need the right size. So a multi-transfer bus ride took me to the shop where I purchased the bike, but they were closed for two weeks while moving. One final trip to a downtown shop near where I work proved equally fruitless.
Frustrated, I picked up the phone and called another nearby shop and prayed that they would have a replacement carbon fiber 27.2 millimeter post or a compatible bracket. After providing them $24.99, they delivered just what I needed; and after a week's delay, I found myself back in the saddle again.
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