Cycling UK Forum

I recently had a tension bolt break on one of my B17 flyer specials, the most used one by far but only just over three years old.

I tried to fix it myself but there was no way I could stretch the saddle to fit over the bolt nose and in the end just sent to off to Brooks to do their thing with their machine designed for it.

I had a tension bolt related issue with a B17. I found that new adjusting spanners were too small for my old saddle's nut. I even had a bike shop owner try one from a brand new saddle he had hanging on the shop wall and he couldn't get it to go on the adjusting nut. However last summer I bought a new B17 that came with an adjusting spanner in a shop in Idaho and whadya know? The new spanner fit my old adjusting nut. Rght after I had aid to the man in the shop "Just watch. This spanner won't fit the nut on my old saddle" of course. In the intervening couple of year Brooks must have fixed the problem. Or perhaps I was dreaming. Anyone else come across this?

BSRU wrote:I recently had a tension bolt break on one of my B17 flyer specials, the most used one by far but only just over three years old.

I tried to fix it myself but there was no way I could stretch the saddle to fit over the bolt nose and in the end just sent to off to Brooks to do their thing with their machine designed for it.

After an hour or more of faffing, I managed to fit my new nose bolt to my B17. It's really difficult to manoeuvre the new bolt into the hole in the nose. In the end I managed it by zip-tieing the bolt onto the rails so that it doesn't move, then lever the nose of the saddle up with a flat screwdriver, using the end of the bolt as a fulcrum, then slide the bolt head along the screwdriver into place. It didn't quite clip into the hole, but a bit of further levering with some long nosed pliers did the trick.

A few turns of the bolt to re-tension the saddle and it's done .

Big T wrote:

BSRU wrote:I recently had a tension bolt break on one of my B17 flyer specials, the most used one by far but only just over three years old.

I tried to fix it myself but there was no way I could stretch the saddle to fit over the bolt nose and in the end just sent to off to Brooks to do their thing with their machine designed for it.

After an hour or more of faffing, I managed to fit my new nose bolt to my B17. It's really difficult to manoeuvre the new bolt into the hole in the nose. In the end I managed it by zip-tieing the bolt onto the rails so that it doesn't move, then lever the nose of the saddle up with a flat screwdriver, using the end of the bolt as a fulcrum, then slide the bolt head along the screwdriver into place. It didn't quite clip into the hole, but a bit of further levering with some long nosed pliers did the trick.

A few turns of the bolt to re-tension the saddle and it's done .

Well done, I think I was too worried about damaging the saddle and decided to let Brooks sort it out.

Hi
well done on getting the new bolt installed.
It might be too late but any chance of a before and after shots?
Thanks
Gerry

I didn't think to take photos while I was doing it. I got my wife and daughter's boyfriend to help out. We tried several methods including trying to stretch the leather and manouevre the rails, but in the end I managed it on my own with the assistance of the zip ties. I'll see if I can post a photo up showing where to put the zip ties.

When I first tried to tension the new bolt, it was just spinning around but i held the end of the bolt with the long-nosed pliers and after half a turn there was enough tension to hold the bolt in place. A couple more turns of the bolt and the saddle is tensioned.The job would be easier if the thread went all the way up the shaft of the new bolt, then you could just wind it into place. The replacement bolt has about a cm of plain shaft with no thread.