Repair damage to my seatpost clamp?

Question

I am not sure I have the right terms, but here goes.

I stopped in a bike shop to look around. It specialized in racing bikes.

I asked the owner about why my glutes were always hurting after a bike ride.

I described my gel cushion seat. He recommended I replace it with one from Walmart.

I told him I damaged my "stem" that holds the seat up and drilled a hole thru it and put a block of wood behind it because the seat was tilting forward.

Could I get help in what to do to repair this?

I want to do this right. I want a new part that holds the seat up.

Later, I can go to the issue of a better seat.

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Answer 1

Your pics show a 2 piece setup, where the clamp is a separate part to the seatpost.

These are not normally secured together with mechanical fasteners; instead the single bolt of the clamp is supposed to compress the band around the seatpost.

Also, the saddle is all the way aft on its mounting rails, and the bike seems to have a relatively upright position which puts most of your weight through the rear of the saddle.

I suspect the combination of all this, as well as wear in the clamp's locking surfaces has produced a combination where the saddle moves to nose-up on a bump.

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These days you'll really only find integrated clamp seatposts like this one. It will secure to your current saddle:

They may have one or two screws to clamp around the saddle's rails. Two is better but both are workable.

The seatpost diameter MUST match your bike frame to the tenth-of-a-millimetre. No guessing, no using a ruler or tape measure.

Most seatposts have their nominal size stamped into the lower face, but calipers are the best way to measure one's seatpost.

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Choose a new seatpost that is at least as long as your current one, and taller is okay too. I suspect your saddle is a little low and a lot aft, and your glute pain is coming from a saddle that is too low. I suspect your knees are sore as well.

Answer 2

If you' re happy with your saddle, just get a new seatpost, like the one above. The one you' re using is generally the type used in very low end bikes or vintage bikes. New ones attach to seat rails. On your seatpost, the original bolt (black) tightens the saddle to seatpost, and also adjusts saddle's tilt. I presume dents on the saddle to seatpost "interface" are destroyed, due to soft metals, and not holding it tight anymore.

Get a correctly sized seatpost. You'll need a caliper to correctly measure seatpost diameter: seatpost generally start from 25.4 in vintage bikes, and go up to 31.6 or more. Common sizes are 27.2, 30.6, 31.6, but there are also rare ones, in 2mm increments. You can buy a cheap, plastic caliper, but get one...You'll always need a caliper. Or, remove your seatpost, and go to your local bike shop.

In current condition, your seat post is not very safe. Drilling a hole in a already thin and weak material is not a good idea.

Gel saddles won't help sore glutes. Your saddle adjustment is off by a huge margin. Instead, get some padded tights. With good padded bibs, it takes 2 hours to get sore bum for me. Lower quality, under 1 hour. Unfortunately, the most effective way is to get used to it, as there is no cure to it. Getting a good bike fit will solve %80 of your problems...happy riding.

Answer 3

The "stem" holding the saddle is called seatpost, they come in different diameters. Use some calipers to meassure the diameter or pull it out and look for markings. Also your seatpost has setback, meaning your saddle is not mounted directly above the pust, but set back a bit. Look for an post with comparable setback.