Keep Your Bike Seat Locked and Safe

Did you get your bike seat stolen? Or maybe you have friends who got their seat stolen? Fear no more! With these cheap and easy to use gadgets, most people won’t bother messing with your bike seat, saddle, or seatpost ever again!

Gear Recommendations for 2024

There are a few options to secure and lock your bike seat so no one steals it. Here’s my quick recommendations and things are described in more detail further below.

1. Easiest: Buy this small chain lock (pictured below) to secure your bike seat (seatpost + saddle) and keep it safe from thieves.
2. A sleeker setup: Buy a Pinhead seat/saddle lock for your seatpost, and maybe your saddle too.
3. The innovative options: Try out SeatyLock and if you don’t mind replacing your seat.

A Quick Bike Seat Refresher

Your bike seat consists of 2 parts:

1. The seatpost – This is the pole that fits into your bike frame. You can move this up and down to adjust the height of the seat.
2. The saddle – This is the actual seat set atop the seatpost.

I have rarely heard of the saddle only getting stolen. Most bike seat thefts come from an opportunistic thief opening a quick release lever and taking out the seatpost, which conveniently includes the saddle too. It’s unfortunate that some places have this kind of petty theft, but one thing in our control is to get some kind of lock and bring back the peace of mind. A stolen bike seat is an easily preventable problem!

You have two main options for security when it comes to locking your own bike seat. I use both of these methods on different bicycles, and they both have their pros and cons. There are also other alternatives like SeatyLock & that are good options.

1. A Small Chain Lock (Buy Abus)

This small chain lock is the easiest method. You thread the lock through the loops on your saddle to your bike frame, and it essentially keeps your seatpost safe as well. You can get them in a keyed or combination lock version. I’ve also used this same lock to secure a bag to my bicycle.

Pros

• Keep the quick release or hex keyhole on your seatpost for easy adjustment (within the range of the chain lock of course).
• A one-size-fits-most option. Be aware if the frame is far from the saddle, you may need get a longer version that fits your bike.
• No key if you get the combination lock version (you can’t change the combo, it comes with a combo and that’s what you get)

Cons

• If your bike saddle is significantly higher than the frame it may be hard to reach! It’s a one-size-fits-most situation. You can get longer chains for this situation.
• It can sometimes hang out and hit your leg while riding if you haven’t wrapped it well. Just make sure to install it in a way that avoids that, as seen in the video clip at the top of this post.

If you’re tight on the budget, you can make one of these using an old bike chain. Not as secure as the Abus lock since someone could open it with a standard chain breaker, but definitely inconvenient to do so.

2. Planet Bike Seat Leash for No Key Seat Security (Buy Planet Bike)

The Planet Bike Seat Leash is a small cable that you can install between the saddle and the seatpost which makes it more annoying for petty thieves to quickly walk off with your seat, and makes it look like your seat is locked when really it’s just confusingly attached. This is great if your saddle is far from the frame and doesn’t fit, since it’s longer than the Abus Chain Lock mentioned above.

Since thieves usually take the seatpost off and not only the saddle, this cable is installed when you put the saddle on by looping it around the frame. This way, if the thief tries to remove the seatpost, the whole shebang is still stuck with the bike! While a thief can always remove the saddle to remove the cable, that takes apart the whole system leaving bike pieces everywhere and seems much more inconvenient to mess with.

Pros

• No key to worry about
• Fits more bikes with long seatposts since it’s 24 inch (60cm) in length
• Keep the quick release or hex keyhole on your seatpost for easy adjustment.

Cons

• Need to take the saddle off the seatpost to install. Check your saddle angle before so you can put it back the same way.
• Quite thin, likely cut with tools very easily (the Abus chain lock probably isn’t fully bolt resistant either, but seems stronger than this)
• Not fully secure unless you use a separate saddle lock (discussed in the next section!)

3. Buy a Seatpost Lock and Saddle Lock Separately

Sometimes, I choose to only buy the seatpost lock, since it’s unlikely a thief would go to the trouble to stick a hex key/allen wrench under the seat unless your seat is especially nice (like the Brooks model in some of the pictures). Do whatever gives you the most peace of mind.

Pros

• Sleek look
• Don’t have to worry about your thighs accidentally touching the chain lock

Cons

• You need the key to change the seat height. Make sure to carry it around with you!

There are a few different companies making these locks, and each one has some intricacies:

Pinhead

Buy this Seatpost/saddle lock alone or in a set with locking skewers to keep your wheels safe.

Pinhead has some of the best bike security components to secure everything on your bike. Each key is unique, so people can’t go buying any pinhead product to open your locks. They have ONE one-size-fits-most lock that you can BUY TWICE to secure your saddle and your seatpost.

• To secure the seatpost, you replace the current quick release clamp with the pinhead seatpost/saddle lock.
• To secure the saddle, you clamp the same Pinhead lock to the top of your seatpost where it blocks access to the normal hex key you’d need to loosen to get the saddle off. Therefore, the same product can be used to protect your saddle too! Pretty cool I think.
• Some older bikes have no clamp or collar and just has a hole in the frame to hold in the seatpost. Pinhead also has a product to add a lock to that as well.

Abus Saddle NutFix Seatpost Lock

I haven’t used this one, and wouldn’t recommend it, but it is an option because it doesn’t use any key. You just have to make sure you lock your bike up in a certain way so a thief can’t turn the bike 90 degrees and unlock the special seatpost clamp.

Save Your Seat Seatpost Lock (seems discontinued)

This is something I found while searching for seat locks. Looks like another option if you want a more standard key and the quick release feel. It is a little easier to tighten the seatpost with the quick release handle rather than with a tool, so definitely a nice option. They also mentioned you can slip your helmet strap in there to lock your helmet if so desire, an interesting plus.

Unfortunately this was discontinued as many indie bike projects are. Maybe you can pick it up where it was left off.

4. SeatyLock Where Your Seat is the Lock

I know I mentioned two main options, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more! The SeatyLock doesn’t actually lock your seat, but it doesn’t have to because your seat turns into a lock! It’s a folding lock, so it’s not the highest security double shackle lock you can get, but it does solve lots of problems at once.

They offer a classic seat that would work on most road/hybrid bikes, and a cruiser style seat that’s a little wider and good for an upright/cruiser bike. I haven’t used this personally, but I’ve talked to people with them, and they seem to love it.

Pros

• No need to lock your seat. Your seat is the lock.
• No need to carry around a normal bike lock, because your seat is the lock.

Cons

• Folding lock isn’t the highest security lock. But not an issue if you don’t live in a high risk city.
• I’ve heard anecdotes that it can rattle and not be completely stable when riding on the seat. It is after all, a seat that’s also a lock.
• Seatpost is still vulnerable unless you lock it with one of the options I’ve described above. However, this is unlikely to be stolen when there’s no seat on it.

5. SeatyGo Where Your Seat Comes Off Like a Bike Light

I love how the SeatyLock company continues to innovate, and they’ve made a new SeatyGo that apparently can be removed off the seatpost with a quick release tab. Seems like an interesting concept. I personally prefer to leave the seat on the bike (with lights too), but it’s another option if you want to give it a try.

Pros

• No need for a saddle lock if you remove the seat when you lock the bike.
• Seat never gets wet in the rain or hot in the sun if you always take it with you. (check out my ultimate rain gear guide if you have a typical seat that needs rain protection)

Cons

• Have to carry around your bike seat when you lock your bike.
• Seatpost is still vulnerable unless you lock it with one of the options I’ve described above. However, this is unlikely to be stolen when there’s no seat on it.

Bicycle Insurance (Buy Lemonade)

For maximum peace of mind when locking your bike outside, you can insure your bicycle on your home/renters insurance policy! I use Lemonade insurance to cover one of my bicycles for about $3.50 a month extra. You’ll want to get “scheduled personal property” coverage, or “extra coverage” as Lemonade calls it. This allows you to claim your bicycle easily with a $0 deductible, and it’s still covered even if your bike is stolen out on the street. Chances are your standard home or renters insurance has a deductible that’s above the value of your bike, and that won’t help you at all.

Be Happy and Lock Your Bike

I hope owning a bike seat lock like the ones above will help make your bike commutes easier and worry-free! If you’ve used any of these products (or ones I didn’t mention), let me know what you think in the comments!

Don’t forget to lock your wheels as well, and take a look at my full security recommendations to keep your bike and everything on it safe. It’s worth noting that motivated thieves may still steal a seatpost or saddle someday, so you should be mentally prepared for this situation and get some insurance!