I’m trying to change my Zwift saddle, are there any tips for this? I’m trying to figure out why Zwift have made this so difficult, even when the bolt is loose, it seems like the saddle bars are still too wide to slot into the bracket. Any tips on how to do this? Update - still not luck due to the bracket design. I challenge the team at Zwift to change or replace the saddle on the Zwift ride, if you figure out how to do this then let me know
Ok - so this is how I got the new saddle on:
Remove the bolt completely
Put left side saddle bracket in place, then hold the assembly together on left side
Then gently pull the right saddle bar and push it on to the right half of the bracket
Then put the bolt back in and tighten
Zwift team - this needs a redesign or at least some detailed instructions
Many thanks Steve, the issue is ‘Position the second rail and press down on the saddle to insert the second rail’, when this is such a tight fit and the bolt is moving around this is tricky. I managed to change the saddle by taking the bolt out. Cheers, Tony
Shuji at Zwift HQ here. Thanks for your feedback on the saddle clamp design, I’ve relayed that to the team in charge of that.
We’re glad you figured it out, but for those googling their way to this thread in the future: trying to pry the saddle rails apart takes a lot of hand strength. It’s a totally valid way to get the job done, but It’s easier to slide the saddle rearward into place.
Remove the bolt completely.
Place the inner cone-shaped pieces of the clamp in place with the slots horizontal at the top. Hold both of them with one hand.
The gap between the two saddle rails widens at the back of the saddle Think of that gap as the “mouth” of the rails. With the other hand, slide the saddle rails rearward over the inner clamp pieces.
Once the saddle rails are in place over the cone shaped pieces, hold the other pieces of the clamp in place.
Install the bolt and the spring and tighten.
For anyone who needs one-on-one help with this procedure, please contact Zwift support and we can walk you through it.
I have installed a new saddle today as I preferred the ones with a hole. It was my first time as I never had a bike before but as Shuji said just slide the saddle rearward into place. I figured everything out and installed it in less than 15 minutes.
Although the solution obviously works, the clamp mechanism is still extraordinary bad.
I immediately replaced it with by an aftermarket (Ali) clamp inspired by the one Specialized uses on their older or lower tier seatposts (e.g. S-Works Pave, Roval Terra). Cost me 15 bucks, fits perfectly and also opens the door to get a 7x9mm version so that I can use the same saddle as I ride outdoor.
However, I still think ZWIFT should do something about this shitty part and also offer the revised version to existing customers at a fair price.
I am going to try and find this clamp mechanism. It seems if they made inner rail clamp narrower by 1mm, and outer rail clamp 1mm wider, saddles would just drop in. There is definately an interference w/ my Volt rails and inner clamp, making it super difficult to get on.
Even with removing the bolt and trying to slide the saddle on from the back it’s still either impossible, or extremely difficult. I shouldn’t need to hit the saddle with full force to try and adjust fore/aft and angle simply b/c the head was designed as wide it is.
And for the record, not every saddle is wide enough from the rear. The saddle I prefer to ride likely will not fit because the rails do not get wide enough at the back and I can hear it stretching out trying to fit it onto the clamp.
The saddle clamp mechanism is by far the worst part of the entire set up and really needs to be redesigned. Why Zwift decided to go with such a proprietary, out of spec, design is beyond me