Saddle mount is breaking off

Smart Bike is tearing off.
Recently, I noticed a slight wobble in the saddle. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that one screw had broken off. The saddle is held to the rail with two very weak screws which I had never touched. One of them has broken off. The second is likely to follow soon. The metal of the screws is also soft, so the Allen wrench easily rounds off the remaining screw. This construction seems very weak by design. A new seat post is expensive and will probably have the same weak point. With the new seat post (warrenty case), I will carefully try to replace the screws at least. The old post I will try to repair. Has anyone had similar experiences? Any solutions?
I would have uploaded pictures, but apparently I'm overwhelmed with that

The saddle mount on my Tacx Neo

0 Mcynewski 1 month ago

I have the exact same problem. I tried using Speed Out bits to extract the broken screw, with no luck. I'm considering using epoxy to glue the head of the screw back on, with the hope of being able to remove it using the Allen key. I purchased a replacement bike seat post in 2022 for $150. I really do not want to spend another $150 because of a broken screw.

0 ParlabaneDarcourt 1 month ago in reply to Mcynewski

This is really frustrating and expensive. Garmin kindly provided me with a new saddle free of charge. However, I don’t trust it. That’s why a friend of mine, who is an engineer, repaired the old saddle using the right tools. First, he drilled out the broken bolt, then installed stronger counter bolts and flat-head screws. Since then – now two years – I’ve been riding with the repaired saddle and kept the new one as a backup. I should probably have the same modifications done to it, since the screws on the new saddle are still exactly the same and will likely break again at some point. Good luck with your repair!