Has anyone ever thought of the idea to make a double quick release seat post clamp? Double bolt clamps seem very common among unicycles because of how secure and tight they are. The downside is that it is impractical to change the seat hight. What if somebody developed a quick-release version of the same thing, with two levers rather than one. I doubt it would be as tight as a double bolt, but I bet it would make a much more secure clamp than a normal quick release, while keeping the ease of adjusting seat hight.
I agree that the seat height adjustment is a pain. My son and I like to swap during rides. While a double lever would be somewhat more secure, it would still be less than the bolts, as when you push the second lever, the first one will become loose. I find that the bolt clamps need to be torqued a couple of times as the clamp grips the tube.
I don’t know of anyone who makes one.
I’ve thought of just stacking 2 normal QR clamps
Post Clamps
As was stated above a double quick release post clamp is impracticle but maybe a super thick post clamp with a longer lever, for more tightening leverage, that folds 90 degrees so that it lays flush with the unicycle neck would be a very cool contraption.
unicorn
A couple years back, the unicycle magazine had a clamping comparison between clamps, and the Salsa and Hope QR clamp had more holding power than the KH double clamp. I can vouch for the strength, they are strong. I think the UDC double clamp was the strongest, but not by much over the QR’s.
There is also a grease you can buy that has “grit” mixed in, designed to be grabby, used on carbon fiber seat posts and bars. Good stuff, used it for my Ti frame and it works wonders, increases resistance to slippage, but does not bind or freeze up.
Where would I get this gritty greese? Just ask my LBS? Any particular brand?
QR clamps with long handlebar
Ben, thanks for the review of the QR clamps and the tip on the gritty grease. John Foss (see below) nearly had me talked out of using QR clamps with my Shadow HandleBar. I have double hole (165/137) cranks so I raise and lower my seat often (I’ve stripped 4 sets of Double Bolt clamps; always the bottom bolt) and the QR clamp seems like it would be a real time saver.
I use a Hope QR collar on my muni 24 and muni 29 with no problems. But I wouldn’t want one on my 20" because I’d be afraid of catching it on clothing while I’m doing tricks.
i had one on my muni but took it off when it snaged on my shorts and made me upd
and had one on my trials but i broke it
The hope collar is nice because the end of the clip is rounded, so it is difficult to catch on clothing from normal riding and muni. I think you would have a hard time even if you tried to get it to catch.
The hope and salsa QR look nice, but do they have one for the 25.4mm diameter?
I can vouch for the Salsa clamp being a awesome clamp and definitely comparable in holding strength to a KH double bolt clamp. I have had other quick releases (haven’t tried the Hope ones yet) and none have come close.
Unicycles tend to come with very cheap seat clamps as standard. Buying a good quality one will make a big difference.
A long handlebar will make your seat even more twist-prone, so you’ll need a solid clamp. But the article referenced above suggests that those two clamps may do the trick. My main experience is with an ancient QR clamp on my Schwinn Giraffe. When you change the seat height during a show, a QR is pretty handy. Also I usually lowered the seat for loading it into the car. That one worked great, but in the following years, most of the ones on the market were lightweight junk. Those two newer ones sound interesting though…
I have a question for you guys… how much would you pay for one?
I ask because is we have a design that we are struggling to get the price down on. The reason being is that seatpost clamps are thrown out in their 100,000s, that gets the price down. Starting with a new concept the price was about x5!
Would you be willing to pay that for this kind of clamp?
Feed back please… this may make this happen.
Roger
The Hope and Salsa mentioned above are both around £18 and both excellent at the job. You’d probably need to at least be around that price. The Hopes are made in pretty small batches.
Roger, the existing clamps are pretty good, though I’d like to see one that is less likely to snag a leg; Salsa could be nasty. I’ll try a Hope next. I think they retail for $35 USD
From what I have seen the Salsa one also is not effective on unicycles since the top Q/R is designed to clamp on the seatpost and the bottom on the frame. This is to deal with the problem of seatposts on bikes dropping down during riding… not a problem we have.
I did not know that Hope did one. I can not find it on a quick search. I will give them a call tomorrow. They are a really nice company.
Cheers
Roger
Roger:
I would pay up to $30 for a good quick release assuming it looks nice and worked as well as a Salsa. I might grudgingly fork over $40 for the same clamp if it works with a 25.4mm post.
The salsa does not clamp on the seatpost, just has a bit of a lip like any other post clamp.