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Home > Forum > Triathlon Forum > Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked?

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Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked?
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LOW2000
Jan 5, 23 13:31
Post #1 of 5 (916 views)
Has anyone else with a Felt AR had the upper clamp piece of their seat clamp crack? I was trying to find the source of a noise on my bike and when I put my hand on the saddle I noticed the left rail moving in the clamp. I double checked torque with a Shimano torque wrench and the problem was still there and I could see a visible light gap between the rail and top clamp so disassembled it and saw the following:




Looks like from some digging this is the same clamp used across several bikes (SADDLE CLAMP. COMPATIBLE WITH AR DISC, SOME MODELS AR RIM 13+, IA FRD 2014, IA RIM 2019+, IA ADVANCED DISC, IA FRD DISC) but I don't see replacement parts available anywhere...SEATPOST SADDLE CLAMP VARIMOUNT V3 | Felt Bicycles

Any suggestions where to look for replacement parts so my bike isn't completely sidelined?
Last edited by: LOW2000: Jan 5, 23 13:43
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Re: Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked? [LOW2000] [ In reply to ]
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Peter Ghimme
Jan 8, 23 2:40
Post #2 of 5 (830 views)
I knew it would happen! I had a felt IA advanced disc which uses the same clamping system. I had been used thick carbon rail and onday, I decided to test fit Sele's ti rail saddle. The clamp was not firm at all even though I torqued it to 9Nm. I was wondering why, and today I found the answer. The culprit was the plastic deformation of those alloy thingies...

How about asking Felt directly via their email enquiry system? I once asked for their help though this and they were super friendly and fast.
Stay home, stay healthy.
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Re: Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked? [Peter Ghimme] [ In reply to ]
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LOW2000
Jan 8, 23 9:21
Post #3 of 5 (809 views)
That’s exactly my situation as well. Regular saddle is a carbon railed S-works saddle and when I flipped the stem to install the CrMo/Ti ISM saddle is when I noticed the problem.

Local bike shop has a call out to their Felt rep and sent an inquiry via their website support as well. Hoping to hear back good news soon.
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Re: Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked? [LOW2000] [ In reply to ]
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SBRcanuck
Jan 7, 24 10:41
Post #4 of 5 (460 views)
Did you ever find a resolution to this? Is it in fact due to the allow of the top ears bending from using the larger carbon rails? I'm having the same issue with my 2020 Felt IA disc. Was using a Specialized Sitero Pro with the thick carbon rails. Tried installing a saddle with normal size round rails, won't tighten down....
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Re: Felt AR Seat Clamp Stress Cracked? [SBRcanuck] [ In reply to ]
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LOW2000
Jan 7, 24 15:40
Post #5 of 5 (423 views)
Not sure I can point to the cause being the round vs. oval saddle rails but I was able to order the replacement parts through my local bike shop/felt dealer. Unfortunately, with the felt website redesign, they neither list those parts separately nor do the previous links I have to the parts go to anything.

If I remember correctly, the replacement "kit" came with all of the clamp parts, not just those two ears and was ~$100 total.

The page below is a link to what Felt claims here https://www.feltbicyclesshop.com/...-clamp-varimount-v3/ this is a scam site, however they at least have a picture and part number for what you're after:
https://www.feltbicyclesshop.com/felt-bicycles-seatpost-saddle-clamp-varimount-v3/


Interestingly, on the newer version, the silver part of the inner clamp is slightly rough/raw aluminum, on the original design, it was all powdercoated/painted and I'm wondering if that was some of the problem surrounding having to crank on that bolt to prevent slippage which results in those ears being bent.

One other thing to note is the "nut" to the crossbolt has a key on it that indexes into the small square inserts to keep it from spinning while you tighten that bolt.



Last edited by: LOW2000: Jan 7, 24 15:42
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