Hi folks - my wife has a Strida bike* that she got second hand a few months ago. It seems good, but the saddle is not the strong point - we’ve tightened the main (middle) screw as much as we can, but the seat still moves from side to side quite a bit while riding. The other two screws are the plastic type (not the better quick release version), and were possibly broken by the previous owner as they won’t tighten enough to be of use (the brackets are loose enough to rattle around).
Is there a way to ensure the seat stays straight? I see there’s an optional upgrade from Strida to get the quick release seat mount, but we’d prefer not to spend the 65 euros on this. Can we just get some extra screws to tighten the upper and lower mounts, or are these purely to hold the plastic in place?
Thanks for any help you can give,
Andy Redwood
- not sure of the model, though I don’t think this matters a great deal for this question.
Hi Andy,
welcome at Stridaforum 
You wrote the other two screws of plastic type - actually are this just plastic cap nuts, they are not intended to carry any load of the clamp.
There is another thread inside the metal clamp - that one will overtake the clamp force.
Also, the middle bolt must not be overtightened, this one goes into plastic.
You need to remove first the plastic caps, then tighten the clamps with the Allen bolt and finally remount the caps.
(Initially, there are three caps, each boilt has that cap.)
If that does not help please try sending me some images - mail below.
Good luck,
Chris
Hi Chris, thanks for the quick reply.
The problem is actually the screws beneath the plastic caps (sorry for not explaining properly before) - I think part of it has broken, so the metal turns with the screw and now they won’t tighten anything.
We made a short (badly filmed!) video to try and show this a little more clearly:
youtu.be/XyNolEOacXY
Perhaps the answer is to replace the metal bolts?
Thanks again for the help,
Andy (:
Omg, guys, what are you doing?
I’d say below the bolt’s head there is the missing nut, no?
And the heads of the bolts belong to the other side, just like the middle one, not vice-versa.
Wait, what?
How comes that you have an Allen bolt head on both sides??
Ha! Yeah, we’ve been thinking the same. This is how it came from the previous owner, so I’m guessing they messed something up / broke something and never mentioned it.
Any thoughts on where we could replacements without paying the full 65 euros? Would a standard bike store have this, or is it a specialised part?
A
I do understand; always problematic to fix someone else’s mistakes…
Unfortunately is that little clamp a proprietary part…and, unlucky as you are, you’re from UK, too, right?
I am, but we live in Barcelona. Do you think we’d have to order the entire seat unit?
A
Let me look if I can find the parts only.
But Spain is good, in case of emergency I have a complete molding here in Vienna which I don’t need.
I would suggest that you disassemble the seat mount and check that the seat pin is not broken. The seat pin is what prevents the side to side movement of the seat mount in both the standard seat mount and the quick release seat mount. The seat pin can break if the seat mount is not mounted securely by the bolts. stridacanada.ca/product/strida-seat-mount-pin/
Cheers, Bill
Exactly what I wanted to propose - thanks Bill
Principially, I could order these clamps from Germany for a few Euros, but that would take several weeks.
I’d suggest that you check first as above and then if the clamps are perhaps just mounted wrong and not defective.
Hey folks - thanks for all the kind help! The seat pin was intact when we moved the seat and the bike’s been used for a very short time afterwards (minutes) so it’s very unlikely the problem.
We just don’t seem to be able to tighten that clamp, probably because the previous owner changed the screws… We haven’t found a way to make it work as it is.
Could you kindly point us towards a web page where we can order it?
Thanks,
A
HI, I don’t have the parts you need in stock at this time, I am expecting an order from Strida this Spring that will include the standard seatmount and the quick release seat mount.
Someone on this forum who may have upgraded their seat mount to the quick release mount may have the parts you need. Also with the plastic side pieces it is worth looking carefully at the area that the seat rails fit into, depending on the position of the seat on the seat mount the plastic parts can be stressed and weakened. If this is the case then replacing the complete seat mount may be a good idea.
Bill
Maybe we could figure out the correct sequence by exchanging images (which I could take of my existing molding).
Sure, just the prices are not so good here:
https://www.strida.nl/en/shop/strida-standard-seat-molding-kit/
So, in the end we decided to get a quick-release molding from the website, because as Bill pointed out the plastic on this one might have been stressed and that’s more convenient to use anyway.
Really appreciate all the kind help on here!
All the best,
Andy (:
Thanks, you are welcome anytime, please let us know if there are any more problems
Kind regards, also to your better half 
Chris