Seat holder and opener

Are you nagged by the flimsy saddle hinge, especially when having the storage compartment open and both hands full? You were busy in the storage compartment and the saddle fell on year head or even jammed your hands? You need a seat holder and here’s how to do it!

Prepare for some magic!

For little money (~5-10€/$) and 30 minutes of work you can apply this hack and get a seat holder which keeps the saddle staying place!
All you need to do is get a (pair of) hydraulic gas springs/dampers originally made for furniture. In 99% you’ll get a set of two because they were meant for holding/opening furniture doors, but we need just one of them. Don’t worry, they’re really cheap and you’ll get them nearly anywhere, e.g. at Amazon or eBay.

Just make sure that they meet these 3 points:

  • They’re not stronger than 100 Newton meters
  • The damper are about 24-25cm long when fully expanded
  • The set has at least on vertical and one omnidirectional mounting plate/pod

Nearly all sets look somewhat like this kit (give and take one or another part):

Beyond this, all you need is a screwdriver and a bit of a handyman talent.
The screws can be directly screwed into the compartments and seats plastic. While the latter is pretty soft, the compartment is made of a stronger plastic, so you either use a bit of force or do it like I did: First mark the spots where the screws will go, screw in the screws without the mounting plates, get them out again and finally put everything in place. I suggest not pre-drilling the holes as this will reduce the material for the screws to hold in place – the plastic is already thin enough and you don’t like to risk to rip out your cool seat holder after a while.

After all that bla-bla, here’s my video showing how to do it:

21 thoughts on “Seat holder and opener

  1. Hi,
    Has anyone noticed signs of rust on their NIU’s?
    Mine is currently rusting away fast and it´s only about 4 months old.

    1. Hello, my one too. Mainly on the thinner metal parts like the mounts for the rear mudguard and also on the bottom of the kickstand, as it is scratched due to streetcontact. (bought my one in nov.17). i hope the mainframe is not affected :O

      @axel: thx 4 the nice idea of the seat opener (and 4 initiating this blog), very usefull i think. got my gas springs today, gonna mount them now 🙂

    1. Sure, there’s always more than one solution to a problem. Yours is definitely worth a look… mine is for the inpatient who might not want to wait weeks for a delivery from china. With some luck you might get everything you need at your local home improvement shop…

  2. Hi,

    Great hack! After riding with it for a while, is it still good? Or are the screw holes bad and the spring/damper a little loose?

    1. Her Marcus,
      Nope, after a year of using it, all screws are still sitting tight and the damper is doing its job just fine.
      Actually when doing “the stunt” in public, I still get looks and people ask if that is electrified, too 😉

  3. Also, would you mind giving a link to the exact spring/damper that you use? Trying to find it, but can’t…

    Thanks in advance!

  4. Hi,
    Yes, I did. But I couldn’t find a 100N with both a vertical and non vertical holder. None of them looks the same as the one on your picture.

    1. You don’t have to stick to 100Nm… it can be a bit more, no prob there.
      Where are you located? Have you tried ePay?

  5. I’m in Stockholm. And you?

    Haven’t tried ePay, but how hard can it be. Planning on selling me your second one? Perfect! Send me an e-mail on marcusbjork at outlook.com.

  6. Hi Marcus
    A suitable damper can be found at the nearest
    Bauhaus store (in Sweden). Bought a set last weekend and installed yesterday. Works like a charm. Good idea.

  7. I just did it with a 120Nm dumper and it works like a charm!
    Thanks for the neat tip.

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