ixan

Hi guys,

my first post, so hope this is in the right place etc.. forgive me if not.

having trouble with my brooks b-17,. any advice greatly received.. here's a video which will hopefully explain the problem better than my words:

.be
Many thanks,
ixan

ixan

ah, i've seen a lot of people talking on forums saying not to bother tightening etc.. so here are pics to show how it was when new and now all saggy and out of shape:

AlexCyclistRoch

Well, it appears that your adjustment bolt has become unstaked from the carrier. You can try to either peen it in from the top with a hammer and a punch, or maybe solder the shaft into the carrier. Perhaps you can get away with braking it without burning the leather, but I'd use a pencil torch at best if I were trying that. Spotwelding it would almost certainly burn the leather.

fietsbob

Needle nose Vicegrips in your tool Box?

Why is your saddle so Nose Low?

yadder

Couple dots welding is solve thats problem forerver

Plimogz

you have two hands and you choose to turn the wrench with the one which completely obstructs the camera?

This seems like something which would be warrantied by Brooks, have you tried contacting them? Or rather, contacting the seller where you bought the saddle; I have found Brooks to be quite bad about answering emails about shortcomings in their products.

wschruba

Like Bob said, just grab the long bit of the bolt between the saddle rails...no need to get rube-goldbergian in fixing it. Tension from the saddle will keep the nut from walking once you adjust it.

AlexCyclistRoch

OK, I know Slavs love using a welding torch to fix EVERYTHING, but, trust me, doing that will ruin the leather.

Bike Gremlin

Actually, we prefer hammers, but not everyone has the fine motor skills required to use a semi-automatic hammer!

dedhed

Very little welding in the real world gets done with a torch. A couple dots with the MIG gun is all it takes.

MrFrisbo

To anyone still facing this problem: this is most likely a case of the nut loosening itself and running all the way down the bolt. In conjunction with nut and bolt bonding/rusting you get the situation presented in the video.

What helped me:
1) Remove the tension bolt completely from the saddle
2) Run the nut down the bolt shaft a couple of times (holding the bolt with tongs) to remove any rust and grime accumulated until you can spin the nut freely with your fingers
3) Install the bolt back into the saddle
4) Repeat the technique shown in the original video (holding down the bolt shaft with and adjustable spanner and bending it just a smidgen worked perfectly for me)

Steps 1 and 3 may provide with some problems. Especially if you had your tension bolt in the loose position for a long time, which will result in significant force against the bolt even in the loosest position. I had to sweat quite a bit removing and especially installing the bolt, but managed to do all of it just using an adjustable wrench. I was using the instructions from another forum post for replacing a broken bolt, attached below:


To replace the pin, you'll need the saddle off the bike and free of the seatpost and clamp. I prefer to invert the saddle and place the cover on a soft towel to prevent marring the leather cover.
Where the old pin snapped, you're halfway there; the cover and nosepiece should slide free of the remaining bolt end with no problem. DON'T PRY ON THE LEATHER! You may need to ease the steel nosepiece gently over the tension bolt end using a broad, straight-tipped (slotted) screwdriver. I use a small titanium pry bar, but the screwdriver will work. Be sure to note where the nut is on the remaining tension bolt shaft. This will be your reference for indexing the tension on the new bolt.
To replace it, you'll need the nose free of the old bolt end,so remove what's left of the end , the nut, and the shaft. Insert the tension bolt fully in the rails, the nut screwed all the way forward to minimize tension. Lower the rails into the inverted cover so the tension bolt end is on the cusp of the nosepiece.
With the bolt threaded in all the way and no tension on the cover, it should be fairly easy to sort of >>pop!<< the edge of the metal nosepiece over the bolt shoulder. Once again, DON'T PRY ON THE LEATHER! There is a sort of knack to it, but it is something that really only becomes obvious when you are prying. I can say it takes surprisingly little effort once you get it right.
Once the parts are mated, then simply retension to prior levels and you're done.


I hope I helped someone out. Cheers and good luck!

phughes

Great, I'm sure the OP has been anxiously waiting since 2016 for this answer.

MrFrisbo

Well, I was looking for help with this in 2020 and couldn't find a solution like this, and still got this post as my 1st search.
So just posted for anyone searching for help in the future, obviously not OP.

phughes

Humor is lost on you isn't it.

ixan

I had my local metals workshop cut thru the bolt and I replaced with one with a screwdriver groove.
Wish I'd chosen a longer bolt tho, I'm already at maximum stretch.

roth rothar

The Brooks factory is at Downing Street, Smethwick, West Midlands, a good excuse to ride over from Cambidge and visit