Cracked B.17 Tension Bolt-- What to do?

[Mike On A Bike]

The tension bolt on my 26 month old B.17 Champion Special cracked
today, and I'm wondering what to do for repair. I know that it is over
the 2-year Brooks Warranty, and I'm not sure if this is something I
could take on DIY, or if it would have to be sent into Brooks. Also
wondering if now is the time to try a Berthoud for what I've heard is
a higher quality of workmanship.

I'm wondering if I might have contributed to this failure by a)
grabbing it under the nose to walk it up stairs (to avoid ruining
dynohub cable) and b) tightening the tension bolt a half turn about 3
months ago because it felt a bit swaying.

Have any of you all had this happen and either repaired it or had
Brooks repair/replace it for you? I'd hate to lose this saddle, as
I've put about 5,000+ miles on it and it's super-duper comfy.

[CycloFiend]

http://tinyurl.com/wallbike-brooks

I've replaced one tension bolt. It was a bit tricky to find the right
combination of angle, pressure and oomph to get things back in place. IIRC,
Brooks has a very specific pneumatic press to aid in this step.

I think it's a bit odd for that to crack that early. You might contact
Brooks first to see what they say. And I do think it's odd for that to
crack anyway - I would tend to think rails would break long before you ever
break the tension bolt.

- J

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
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"Nigel did some work for some of the other riders at Allied, onces who still
rode metal. He hadn't liked it when Chevette had gone for a paper frame."
-- William Gibson, "Virtual Light"

[Thomas Lynn Skean]

I replaced one. it *was* a bit tricky. I even had to saw the old one into two pieces "in situ" in order to be able to remove it. A Dremel would've made it easier to do that. But I'm not terribly "handy". So if I could do it, most people probably can too.

In my case, there were at least 270+ reasons it bent within 9 months. *And * I probably over-tightened it (way more than just one time). And I wonder if the fact that it sat and was ridden and was tightened in very very cold weather (below zero Fahrenheit) pretty often had something to do with its early demise.

Yours,
Thomas Lynn Skean

[Ken Freeman]

I don't know the construction exactly, but you could just take the saddle to your local hardware store and see if they can help you fit a replacement bolt. I'd suggest a stainless steel Allen head bolt. If this approach is reasonable, I'd expect to pay about $3.00 max for the bolt, associated washers, and possibly a nut, if the saddle doesn't have a captive nut already.  I would not do anything with a Dremel tool.

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Ken Freeman
Ann Arbor, MI USA

[Peter Pesce]

In the absolute worst case, you can always send it back to Brooks and have them repair it. It won't be free, but you won't have lost your well-broken-in saddle either.
I'm sure even if you tried a DIY and botched it (not a major botch, but a minor one) Brooks would bail you out in the end. They do have great service from everything I've heard.


-Pete

[Tim McNamara]

No and no.