Sworks Tarmac Seatpost Binder puts bike out of action...!

bernithebiker

Just wanted to raise my seatpost a bit and took it out for a clean....Plop! The wedge half of the seatpost binder fell down the seat tube.

OK, no problem I thought, just turn the bike upside down. But the wedge had caught in the Di2 cables, so I gave it a shake - bad idea - wedge no longer visible. Seems it has gone down the chainstay as I have a good view of the downtube via the BB access port, and it ain't there.

Tried shaking the bike in all directions for all I'm worth, but no movement, no sound.

What makes it harder is that there is a thin carbon circular shell in the BB, which makes it hard to see / move things around.

So because of a dumb ass seat binder design, the bike is now totally out of action.......

bernithebiker

keef66

Bummer!

No useful suggestions...

bernithebiker

keef66 wrote:

Bummer!

No useful suggestions...

I know, this really sucks. It must be alu so I can't use a magnet to find it.

I have an endoscope, but it won't get past the BB shell.

Only an X-ray would let me see it (I actually did this at the airport recently...!), but even if I could see it, it seems to be stuck as no amount of shaking causes any noise.

My only hope seems to be to beg steal or borrow this part, put the seatpost back in and ride the bike over the bumpiest roads I know, to see if I can dislodge the part.

homers_double

Saw the chain stay in half, remove offending item and repair with duck tape?

bernithebiker

homers double wrote:

Saw the chain stay in half, remove offending item and repair with duck tape?

I was so pissed off I did actually consider that.

Just got the little bastard out. I slid a welding rod down each chain stay - on the right it went all the way to the end, on the left, no. So I'm thinking that's where it is, right at the end of the left chain stay.

So I bang that area hard with my hand, and lo and behold there's a loud rattle. Still no idea where it went though. Turns out it had gone right through and up to the headset.

Managed to get it down to the inspection port, so I can see it, but can't grab it. With a bent steel rod, I managed, after 20 minutes to fish it out.

So we're good to go, but Christ on a bike what a crap design. I'll have to be super careful when I reassemble that when putting the post back in, this part doesn't fall down again - there's nothing to hold it in.

Hopefully this thread may help anyone else caught out by this.

bernithebiker

I made a short video to better explain the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqnYz8rXAJ8

ayjaycee

bernithebiker wrote:

I have an endoscope, but it won't get past the BB shell.

To be honest, the mere thought about where else that endoscope might have been tells me that you were wise not to insert it into your bike but glad you got it sorted without it! My Synapse is not as exotic as your Tarmac but I think they have a similar arrangement for the seatpost and I have always been a little bit wary of losing something down the tube.

slowmart

I have the same fitting on my tarmac and the shop warned me about the downsides of the design when I collected the bike, the remedy is a plastic sleeve which you insert when you take the seat post out.

Ask your spesh dealer for a sleeve.

bernithebiker

Slowmart wrote:

I have the same fitting on my tarmac and the shop warned me about the downsides of the design when I collected the bike, the remedy is a plastic sleeve which you insert when you take the seat post out.

Ask your spesh dealer for a sleeve.

Ok, interesting, but how do you get the sleeve in?

Presumably you have to pull the seatpost out first, and the wedge has then already dropped down, before you can get the sleeve in, no?

Also, I guess you have to remove the sleeve before refitting the s/post, so same problem right?

homers_double

Remove seatpost with bike held upside down via sky hooks.

Problem solved.

slowmart

bernithebiker wrote:

Slowmart wrote:

I have the same fitting on my tarmac and the shop warned me about the downsides of the design when I collected the bike, the remedy is a plastic sleeve which you insert when you take the seat post out.

Ask your spesh dealer for a sleeve.

Ok, interesting, but how do you get the sleeve in?

Presumably you have to pull the seatpost out first, and the wedge has then already dropped down, before you can get the sleeve in, no?

Also, I guess you have to remove the sleeve before refitting the s/post, so same problem right?

Use a bike stand and/or rotate the bike so the front wheel is lower than the back wheel and remove and replace the seat post with the sleeve. As you suggest the design may not be the best from a practical point of view!

The process was described to me in the shop in case I wanted to remove the seat post and drop the bike in the back of the car, which to date I haven't done.

ayjaycee

Being a bit thick, I hadn't realised that the thing was liable to fall down the hole just removing the seat post - I wonder what engineering genius came up with that one and what even bigger genius approved it for production? At least with my Synapse, you have to be silly enough to loosen the bolt too much before it falls in!

bernithebiker

ayjaycee wrote:

Being a bit thick, I hadn't realised that the thing was liable to fall down the hole just removing the seat post - I wonder what engineering genius came up with that one and what even bigger genius approved it for production? At least with my Synapse, you have to be silly enough to loosen the bolt too much before it falls in!

Initially at least, there is a tiny O-ring holding the wedge to the bolt, so it doesn't fall in.

But this perished and failed for me after less than 6 months - it's a very fragile tiny thing.

Once it's gone, I see no way of getting another one back on.

Hanging the bike upside down or tilting it right forward to take the seat post out does work, but it's not very practical is it? What if you're on your own without a workstand? And with Di2 you have to disconnect the battery from the seatpost with one hand while holding the bike up with the other.....!

slowmart

Conversely the design does provide clean and beautiful lines........

Flâneur

I kept that sleeve, though I have dropped/loosed too much the wedge and had the fun of getting it back and fitting it back in.

I kind of feel the pain, glad it all got sorted mind.

Lost the silly little button for the seat post bolt when moving house the other day, that was annoying, replaced in now mind

bernithebiker

Flâneur wrote:

I kept that sleeve, though I have dropped/loosed too much the wedge and had the fun of getting it back and fitting it back in.

I kind of feel the pain, glad it all got sorted mind.

Lost the silly little button for the seat post bolt when moving house the other day, that was annoying, replaced in now mind

Yeah, all sorted now, and all greased up too, as it was creaking whenever I loaded / unloaded the saddle.

I also lost that little rubber bung for the bolt hole, and impossible to find / buy one. What did you use?!

Flâneur

Specialized store had them, charged £3 but hey ho. May be worth contacting your local dealer, failing that send me a PM if you want one sorting in an airmailed envelope

slowmart

What a royal PIA.

The o ring perished and the assembly fell apart in the frame when I took the seat post out.

45 minutes later and a call to my local concept store to illicit dome top tips. My seat post is staying firmly in place from this point.

bernithebiker

Slowmart wrote:

What a royal PIA.

The o ring perished and the assembly fell apart in the frame when I took the seat post out.

45 minutes later and a call to my local concept store to illicit dome top tips. My seat post is staying firmly in place from this point.

Can't say I didn't warn ya!

slowmart

Tell me about it. Considering this a forum it's hard to quantify other people's spannering ability

I wasn't prepared for how low the bar was for a commercial organisation as large and competent as Specialized to approve the concept let alone put into a commercial environment. Even a Mancunian could have designed a better solution.

Cyclomama

Initially at least, there is a tiny O-ring holding the wedge to the bolt, so it doesn't fall in.

But this perished and failed for me after less than 6 months - it's a very fragile tiny thing.

Once it's gone, I see no way of getting another one back on.

Hanging the bike upside down or tilting it right forward to take the seat post out does work, but it's not very practical is it? What if you're on your own without a workstand? And with Di2 you have to disconnect the battery from the seatpost with one hand while holding the bike up with the other.....!

We solved this problem (after finally getting the pieces out of the frame) by using a small hair rubber band to replace the o-ring. The approx. 1 cm band stretched just enough to allow the pieces to separate just enough to allow them to fit into the seat tube and be refitted in place. I suspect the band will lay longer than the original o-ring did.

pippi_langsamer-2

I'd just stick some foam or bubble-wrap down there to prevent similar kerufflements

Alejandrosdog

Unit cost price production and a marketing driven “innovation “. = expensive and second rate engineered final product.

Don’t by Specialized if you want quality. I’d hate to be their manufacturing partner.

Matthewfalle

The Cervelo ones are the same design and utterly rubbish. Not recommended at all.

#rubbish

barry.drive

Digging up an old thread here, I have just returned from a week’s cycling in Tenerife, SL5 seat clamp broke and dropped into the frame on day 1, still in there somewhere, couldn’t source a replacement so didn’t ride even 1cm on that bike. So annoying. (Hired a BMC in the end, can’t recommend BikePoint enough)
Back in the UK and have a new clamp but can’t see how to insert it, so fiddly. Any tips?

barry.drive

Problem solved, my wife has just managed to install it, took her about 10 seconds!