the seat (post and all) wont fold into place!!! ?

[rivadandres]

hello all...
new to posting, so here it goes.
I just got a couple of a-bikes over the mail a few days ago and it has been perfect up until this morning. I came out of the subway (bike in tote) and rode it to my apartment, once there, i began to fold it and found that the seat stayed unfolded at a 90 degree angle! i dont want to force it... obviously... but i dont know what to do! I tried unfolding it and doing it again but to no avail. help please!

[Artefex]

Release the clamp that holds the saddle post and it should fold correctly.

[rivadandres]

Release the clamp that holds the saddle post and it should fold correctly.

that doesn't seem to be the problem... I tried it and still.
It seems to be stuck somehow.

[rivadandres]

please help!
Im desperate

[Artefex]

I think there are two possible reasons why it wont fold.
1: the position of the seat clamp (Changing the position of the clamp on the lower tube affects folding), but you say you have tried this.
2: the telescopic part of the frame is not pushed all the way in, something blocking the tubes?
Perhaps if you post a picture it will be clear what the problem is.

[rivadandres]

2: the telescopic part of the frame is not pushed all the way in, something blocking the tubes?
Perhaps if you post a picture it will be clear what the problem is.

I am pretty sure thats exactly what it is! The tubes are not going in all the way... they do seem to be blocked. How can I fix this?

[rongood]

It could be the brake cable has a kink in it and is jamming while folding. Or not. I would suggest opening up the crank case. You should check out the videos at http://abikesupport.ning.com if you are unfamiliar with opening it up. The fact that it used to fold up fine makes me think there is something loose or broken inside, and not the problem with the seat-post. But wait, I just had another idea.

pic for forum 2.jpg (28.71 KiB) Viewed 16202 times

It just occurred to me that it might be the joint at the base of the seat-post. See in the picture where the black plastic joint fits down over the lower down tube. I have had that part break on me before, it can come loose if the metal downtube gets cracked or it could perhaps have popped out of place. It should be snapped down tight and have no play.

[rongood]

Sometimes the jammed folding problem is related to the rear brake cable getting kinked during folding. Once a kink develops it will always kink during folding. You could replace the rear brake cable, but here is another option:
I just had this happen to me and i figured out a work around. While folding the bike, pull up on the brake cable in its black tubing where it enters at the top of the rear downpost. As it folds, just keep gently pulling up the cable. Also do not rotate the handlebars back until you finish folding the bike. When you unfold the bike, the cable should just go back in place, but check at the end that it is all the way seated.