Replacing your seat?

Has anyone replaced their seat? I’ve been trying to take mine off of my 3, and I cannot get it to come off. It seems like they used some type of sealant to keep the screw from coming undone.

Any suggestions?

The vice-chairman of Hong Kong Strida Club has replaced his Strida’s seat with Brooks Flyer Special Saddle.

Nice Pic !!

Yes they do use some threadlock but its not permanent … just needs a bit more muscle.
There is some info … About moving saddle back … which also may help…
strida.us/Tips-from-Mark.pdf

I played about trying various saddles … I like soft saddles that sit low on the seat mountings so they look part of it, rather than ‘plonked on top’ … but seats are SO subjective !!
Once you get the screw undone … slide it out (you may have to bend the flexible side of the saddle to get it to go past. You may need a flat screw driver to carefully prize out the saddle rail on one side. Then you can snap on a new saddle – rails into the slots, one side at a time seems to work best - but also possible to snap on straight down.

The main factor which would prevent a saddle fitting is if the top is horizontal or not (there is no angular adjustment on the plastic strida seat mounting). If the rails are a tight fit in the slots that is OK, as when you refit the bolt and clamps the rails will be pulled into the relatively soft plastic grooves. BUT DO NOT over tighten the screw / Nut … just take up the space, close the gaps, BUT with NO overall high clamping force. This is to prevent damage to the seat mouldings - the only reason these ever break is due to over tightening this bolt/nut … it acts like a vice and crushes the plastic, which is then weakened. Other wise I find the plastic (nylon) seat mounting is virtually indestructible (and is low cost to replace if necesary).

Do not buy a Brooks B17 saddle for Strida because it cannot fit onto the plastic seat mounting.

Kelvin, the vice-chairman of HK Strida Club used to use a B17 saddle on his Strida before. Because the saddle could not fit onto the mounting, he cut off some part of the mounting to let the saddle to be fitted onto it.

However, after he has been using the B17 saddle with the cut seat mounting on his Strida for a few months, the plastic mounting broke suddenly during his ride. That caused him to fall down from his bike and got injured on his arms and legs.

Then, after replacing the broken seat mounting, he replaced the B17 saddle with a Brooks Flyer Special saddle which can be perfectly fitted onto the seat mounting of Strida.

So remember, if you want to replace your saddle, make sure it can be fitted onto the plastic seat mounting without problem and do not try to cut the mounting to adapt the saddle.

That’s a pretty scary picture of the broken seat mounting. Such a happening could cause a catastrophic accident if one was being followed closely by a car.

Cutting into the plastic seat support is obviously a very bad idea.

Have there been any other incidents of broken seat supports when the riders have not been meddling with the plastic mount?

No- only if over tightening seat clamp bolt as per human_amp’s reply above

As a new owner, I found the stock Strida seat hard on the tush for an 11km daily commute. I substituted this Raleigh Plush Comfort saddle that is on sale for C$15:

reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/073 … eviews.htm

In addition to better padding and shape, it has solid rubber secondary suspension. It may not look as stylish as the original, but it’s wayyy more comfortable.
Here are some pictures I took, after the first ride with it installed.

fotothing.com/photos/d59/d59 … 1237344073
fotothing.com/photos/3d0/3d0 … 1237344110
fotothing.com/photos/441/441 … 1237344155
fotothing.com/photos/ec5/ec5 … 1237344194

Yes, I had to do something similar. Although I find the bike fine for longer distances (10-20 miles), the saddle was really uncomfortable after even a couple of miles and after getting off I walked like an octagenarian. I replaced mine only yesterday with a Specialized Expedition saddle, which is wider, has better padding, and also springs :wink:. Squeaks a bit, and maybe the springs are overkill, but it is much more comfortable.

Colin

I tend to think that springs may provide an extra safety margin to the seat mounting. To me the use of plastic in such a crucial function is risky. Anything that helps that cantilevered seat mount do its job and stops it from breaking off is a good thing. I’m glad my seat now has springs. Maybe they will save my skin.

After reading everyone’s replies I picked up an specialized expedition plus saddle (1 inch wider) and that thing rode like a champ. Before I was worried about manhole covers cause the feel just went right up my behind, now after having the new seat I rode over it and the spring took everything before it even got to me. There’s like at least an inch of spring suspension in that spring area and it made the bike from good to great! I ride 5.5km to work daily (one way) and this was quite an upgrade for my little strida 5. If I didn’t need to wear dress pants I might have tried that brooks B67 but periodic oiling made it risky to show up to work in soiled pants.