Minor bike seat repair

[John Spartan]

Hello All,

I rode my bike into work for the first time today. I loved it, but about halfway through, I had some issues with the seat.  I'd like to correct it, but I'm a complete biking noob, so I wanted to see if anyone could help me.  Bonus points and many thanks if you can reply before I bike home tonight :)

Anyway, forgive my lack of bike terminology (as I said, I'm a noob), but I hit a bump in the road, and the seat tilted up.  I could point the seat back to a comfortable position, but once I put any weight back on it it would point up again.  It makes for a pretty uncomfortable ride, plus it forces you to quickly change your position in a jerking motion (which I'd really like to try to avoid while biking in DC traffic).  I have a multi bike tool that hopefully can assist me with any repair today (plus a more respectable tool box back home).

Thanks in advance to any replies!

[skyrefuge]

It sounds like your seat clamp bolt just came loose.

At the top of the seat post, where the post connects to the rails on the seat, there should be a hex bolt (on the rear side of the post) pointing upwards that tightens the seat post's clamp down on the seat rails, and fixes the seat angle in place.  It's a relatively large hex bolt, but most bike multi-tools should have the proper-sized wrench.  First loosen it a bit, and that will allow you to adjust the seat angle freely (and also move the position of the seat forward and aft).  Once you get the seat positioned how you want, tighten the bolt.  Crank down fairly hard on it to keep it from loosening again.

Here's a picture: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/fix/images/pics-fix/SEAT3.JPG

[John Spartan]

Thanks for the info!  My tool actually doesn't have exactly the right size hex wrench, but I seem to be able to "sort of" tighten it.  Hopefully it will hold for the trip home.  It looks like the seat slid a considerable amount forward on the post.  This was making it easier to tilt back, I assume.  I'll tighten it more properly when I get home.  Thanks again!