mleptuck
10-18-2007, 05:24 AM
I just finished getting my Soloist Carbon built up (pics to be posted shortly), and had a less that ideal experience with getting my saddle aligned and fastened correctly, and wanted to see if it was an anomaly or if it's a design oversight.
First off, I'm NOT knocking Cervelo, I LOVE the craftsmanship and design elements on the frame, but the saddle mounting could use a little tweaking, I think.
I was having a hell of a time getting my saddle level, and the main culprit was the thumb screw on the front of the mounting bracket. It's tedious at best getting the saddle level (arbitrarily set thumb screw, mount saddle, tighten bolt to spec into t-nut on the back, check saddle, disassemble, adjust thumb screw up or down, reassemble, recheck, etc.) Turns out I could NOT easily turn the thumb screw by hand (only way is SHOULD be tightened, as it's simply a round, knurled head, no Allen or Phillips socket). If I disassembled the entire mounting bracket and threaded the thumb screw directly into the seatpost, it was fine, not busted threads, no lingering shards of metal from the tapping, etc.
So, I then placed the thumb screw through the top mounting bracket and then tried to thread it into the seatpost, and it would bind horribly. Turns out, the bracket itself had some leftover flash from the casting process that was not cleaned up adequately, and the shoulder of the thumb screw did not seat properly within the bracket. I little work with a needle file (ugh, on a BRAND NEW bike part...), and a couple of quick coats of black paint (I'm assuming it's an AL alloy part and doesn't NEED it, but still, I'm a little compulsive...) and I could actually turn the thumb screw by hand WITH the saddle in place, as I believe the engineers intended. What a pain...
Anyway, just wanted to vent what seems to be my only 'issue' with the frameset (and honestly, it took all of 15 minutes to diagnose and fix), and see if anyone else had a similar experience. OR, maybe I'll save someone else the headache of trying to figure out why they can't get their saddle level AND tightened properly.
-Mike
First off, I'm NOT knocking Cervelo, I LOVE the craftsmanship and design elements on the frame, but the saddle mounting could use a little tweaking, I think.
I was having a hell of a time getting my saddle level, and the main culprit was the thumb screw on the front of the mounting bracket. It's tedious at best getting the saddle level (arbitrarily set thumb screw, mount saddle, tighten bolt to spec into t-nut on the back, check saddle, disassemble, adjust thumb screw up or down, reassemble, recheck, etc.) Turns out I could NOT easily turn the thumb screw by hand (only way is SHOULD be tightened, as it's simply a round, knurled head, no Allen or Phillips socket). If I disassembled the entire mounting bracket and threaded the thumb screw directly into the seatpost, it was fine, not busted threads, no lingering shards of metal from the tapping, etc.
So, I then placed the thumb screw through the top mounting bracket and then tried to thread it into the seatpost, and it would bind horribly. Turns out, the bracket itself had some leftover flash from the casting process that was not cleaned up adequately, and the shoulder of the thumb screw did not seat properly within the bracket. I little work with a needle file (ugh, on a BRAND NEW bike part...), and a couple of quick coats of black paint (I'm assuming it's an AL alloy part and doesn't NEED it, but still, I'm a little compulsive...) and I could actually turn the thumb screw by hand WITH the saddle in place, as I believe the engineers intended. What a pain...
Anyway, just wanted to vent what seems to be my only 'issue' with the frameset (and honestly, it took all of 15 minutes to diagnose and fix), and see if anyone else had a similar experience. OR, maybe I'll save someone else the headache of trying to figure out why they can't get their saddle level AND tightened properly.
-Mike