[CR]What is the worst bike component ever made?

(Example: Framebuilding:Technology)

Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 12:29:35 -0500
From: "Leonard Bulger" <bulger@erim-int.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]What is the worst bike component ever made?

After all this discussion of the pinnacle of lightweights, how about something completely different. I've always been more interested in failures than successes, so what was the worst bike part? I want to exclude junk made for department store bikes, but rather discuss parts made for good bikes by companies who should have known better.

My nominee is the Columbus microadjusting seatpost. This thing was very light, but their engineer must have been on vacation when they designed it. The post uses a ball and socket arangement with a single bolt to tighten it. There is a very small screw on the front to adhust the tilt. The problem with this design is that there is nothing to constrain the saddle from tilting to the side or to the back. If you happen to be sitting and hit a bump, the saddle moves. As it's hard to pedal with the right side of the saddle 2 inches below the left, the rider has to stop, get out the allen wrench and readjust. It was impossible to get the bolt tight enough to prevent this. After three weeks with this piece of garbage, I bought a Campy NR seatpost which remains my favorite Campy component.

Leonard Bulger
Ann Arbor, MI
A small amount of snow.