Creaking saddle rails

[rick99]

I have a San Marco Regal-e that creaks where the rails enter the back of the saddle. I can visibly move the rails in and out a bit without too much force.
Is this movement normal and unlikely to occasion more than enough just to creak, so lube is the answer? Or, should the rails be pretty fast and epoxy is the answer? Or is it finished and new saddle is probably the answer after the other 2 don’t work?
Thanks in advance .

[peetee]

Are you sure it’s the saddle rails? I had a creak which I thought was that and within a couple of days the clamp bolt on the seat pin snapped dumping me off the back of the bike. A very unpleasant experience.

[pwa]

I put a San Marco Rolls on a bike for my son a couple of weeks ago and that creaked. I narrowed the cause down to the flanges of the body of the saddle rubbing against the rails at the narrow bit a few cm back from the nose. Getting a bit of wax in there to effectively lube it did the trick. It was the plastic/leather top rubbing on metal.

[Jdsk]

Yes, it can be very difficult to find the source. Lubricant can be used for diagnosis as well as treatment.

Jonathan

[rick99]

Thanks for your replies. Pretty sure. I mean I can move the rails in and out a few mm by yanking the back of the saddle up... and it creaks . Not 100% thst test either of course.
My main question was: should the rails move? Or rather, should the saddle move wrto the rail entry point...I don’t want to put lube into the junction if the right answer is glue, you see....

[pwa]

Thanks for your replies. Pretty sure. I mean I can move the rails in and out a few mm by yanking the back of the saddle up... and it creaks . Not 100% thst test either of course.
My main question was: should the rails move? Or rather, should the saddle move wrto the rail entry point...I don’t want to put lube into the junction if the right answer is glue, you see....

If the arrangement is how I think it is, your weight on the saddle should actually be forcing the rails into the aperture at the back, not pulling them out, so I don't think there is a danger of the rail coming out while you are sat on the saddle. I have seen rails move a little like that before. I wonder if you could get some silicone sealant in there.

[Mick F]

Back in the dim and distant past on this forum ........ or should I say an earlier forum, as this is the third reincarnation of it in my experience ................. I had a creaking and asked for advice. It took a while, but it was traced to the saddle rails.
After the advice, I took the saddle right off, greased the rails, the clamped it tight - very tight.

It's been years - fifteen(?) - and not one creak ever since.

[Andy Short]

One last possibility:

I have Rolls saddles on about 56 bikes (commonality for the Andrew Haig QR saddlebag clip!).

On two, one of the rails snapped just aft of the seat pin clamp. Obviously long-term fatigue.
Check for cracks....