Velo Mule

I picked up a bike recently for the components, one of which was an Avocet Touring II saddle. I rode the bike and it had a creak coming from the saddle.



It is in nice overall shape and surprisingly, no scuffs even.



Where the seat rails go into the plastic there are gaps that have opened up and on our right side there is a crack at 4 o'clock. Can this be saved? I have nothing to loose.

SurferRosa

Sugru? JB Weld?

Velo Mule

I first dribbled C-A (Crazy Glue) into the gaps and the crack, then mixed up a 5 minute epoxy and tried to get it into the gaps and crack. I will wait a day or so until this fully sets up before I try it out.

Have any of you had any luck with a similar seat problem like this? How did you go about your repair? Did it hold? For how long.

Here is my seat after a dose of C-A glue and 5 minute Epoxy. I'll clean the excess off next.



Will it hold?

Nessism

Some spray lube where the rails enter the shell may help but glue won't. In fact, the epoxy may keep the spray lube from reaching the points it needs to. Also lube the rails where they sit on the seat post can help. I do this a couple of times each season after noise develops from the seat/seat post area.

Velo Mule

That is a direction that I didn't expect. I know what you're saying because these seat rails are not molded into the seat shell. They seem to be inserted sometime after the shell comes out of the mold. Most likely after the cover is on. So, there may (will) be some movement in all plastic seats. And this could even be creaking from where the rails go into the nose of the seat. Interesting!

gaucho777 

That's too bad. Surprised to see the crack in the shell, since your saddle looks to be in great shape with low miles. For me, the main issue wouldn't be the creakiness. I'd be more concerned about the crack quickly spreading on impact, and causing a sudden failure. Hopefully, your epoxy will do the trick, but it would be hard for me to put that crack out of mind on a bumpy road, sitting down hard at the top of a climb, hitting an unexpected road hazard, etc.

Generally speaking, +1 to greasing rail contact points.

repechage

bonding to nylon is possible but not good at all to metal.
I would and have added a few drops of Kroil.
did the job- the seat had impacted the ground- no visible but probably tweaked ever so slightly.
did the job short term, but my son wanted a different saddle for comfort. No long term report. Same brand, different model.

easyupbug 

Petroleum based lubes tend to accelerate rubber and plastic decay so I would avoid, I have had some success with silicone oils which are much less likely to react with plastics.

ollo_ollo

Your saddle is very good cosmetically, and the repair may hold for a while before failure. Fortunately the Avocet Touring, Touring I, II, III saddles were produced in vast #s, so when its time comes, find a bike co-op, mine has them from Free to $5. Free ones may look something like this, but are still comfy riders with functional structure.

Avocet Touring Saddle, removable cover model

repechage

not sure about silicone oil not reacting with plastics. Silicone is an effective displacer of the plasticizers in many plastics, then it departs and the plastic is then weaker and brittle.

Notes from my plastics professor long ago.
A good analogy, apply Armor-All to a vinyl covered dash and you are married to reapplying it periodically otherwise it is going to crack. The silicone displaces the vinyl plasticizers. I did and every 60 days applied more, the dash did not crack in 12 years but would have without maintenance.

be careful though of TPO resin... that does not like silicone AT ALL. The Germans use it a bunch, and Chrysler too when owned by Daimler.

Velo Mule

I put the saddle on my Schwinn LeTour Luxe yesterday and also adjusted the derailleur to work. I took the bike for a spin and was making adjustments and lubricating the front derailleur, so I completely forgot about the seat. It wasn't' until later that I realized I had a quiet, creak free ride.

Thank you for all of you input. This is only one ride, so it is too soon to say that epoxy is the way to go. I think this case may be different from a creaky seat where the plastic hasn't opened up. This is why I went for the epoxy.

I noticed that no one recommended heating the plastic and reshaping it. I would think that would be difficult since you couldn't really get a heat gun into the area where you would really need the heat and you have to be careful that you don't go too hot.

I'll post here again if anything changes.

Steel1

I have a very squeaky Flite TI saddle. I think the holes are opened a little like yours.
However, I started down the coarse of greasing the rails and dripping every lubricant known to man into the plastic holes. Really no lasting improvement beyond a few miles.
I had also thought about the JB Weld, but think its now too late now that its full of so much oil. Guess I would have to flush all that out to get a decent surface.
Please post back after some miles to let us know if the glue holding.

repechage

If you consider that at some point- protect the plastic and heat the frame- the transition temp for nylon is as I recall about 300 F
too much plastic mass to get things rubbery or near molten from the outside surface - from the frame, much easier

Velo Mule

SurferRosa I never heard of Sugru before. It looks like it would be handy for a lot of things. I learn something everyday here.

canklecat

I use wax for most creaky squeaky bits on bikes. Gulf Wax, which I already have for chains (or canning, if I ever get around to that again), or leftover scented candle wax, which is softer and easy to apply with fingers. Both seem to work pretty well.

I've used wax to quiet squeaky clipless pedal/cleat/shoe surfaces, and smooshed between black painted/enameled spokes that got creaky.

And there are some light lubes and protective coatings that contain paraffin: Boeshield T9 may be the safest, with a track record in the aircraft industry. Boeshield doesn't appear to contain flammable solvent, although it may be combustible. White Lightning Easy Lube is paraffin in naphtha and has a bit more body than Boeshield. It was too clumpy for my liking on chains, but should serve well enough for quieting squeaky stuff elsewhere. The carrier evaporates quickly leaving only a dry-ish waxy surface.