Seat post question

Ok so maybe I am looking to buy a lighter seat post for my bike. I see most are in the $200 range. These are 3 that I saw not necessarily what I will buy.

Thompson Masterpiece

Ritchey SuperLogic Carbon 

Syntace P6 Carbon HiFlex

The only one I have read a review on yet is the Syntace. It says to get the benefit from it you should have 150mm sticking out to get the benefit of the flexing of the seat post. I am assuming you have to use carbon paste on all of these seat posts to keep them from slipping. Not sure I need the flexing option of a seat post but if they are all the same in the price range I guess I will enjoy that option. Are there other carbon seat post options out there say in the mid price range $100 - $150? I guess you also have to use the KCNC collar for better support so the post doesn't slip. Any help would be appreciated. The only way I say these 3 were what 3 different bikes had on them.

How do I know if I want the 300mm 400mm or 480mm length other than looking what my stock bike had and guessing the 480mm is out?

Thanks
Zman

My $.02: I've tried many different alloy, Ti, and carbon posts over the years. Frankly, I've found that as far as comfort is concerned, tire width, construction and pressure, as well as frame design and bike fit determine comfort; while seat post selection has minimal effect. For me, the most important factor in seat post selection is reliability and ease of adjustment and maintenance. To that end, I've found the Thomson posts to be winners in all regards. I happen to be running a Thomson Masterpiece on my 44Biike Huntsman. But in all honesty, the Thomson Elite is just as good and only a bit heavier. Both the Elite and Masterpiece come in various lengths and offsets, are a delight to set up and extremely reliable. Proven winners over the years.

Regarding seatpost length: the general rule I've always hear is that it needs to extend a half inch below the bottom weld of the top tube, if that makes sense. I guess you can pull your current seatpost out and measure it for reference and buy that length, but if you're looking to shed weight, any excess length beyond the top tube weld could be cut off.

bobknh wrote:My $.02: I've tried many different alloy, Ti, and carbon posts over the years. Frankly, I've found that as far as comfort is concerned, tire width, construction and pressure, as well as frame design and bike fit determine comfort; while seat post selection has minimal effect. For me, the most important factor in seat post selection is reliability and ease of adjustment and maintenance. To that end, I've found the Thomson posts to be winners in all regards. I happen to be running a Thomson Masterpiece on my 44Biike Huntsman. But in all honesty, the Thomson Elite is just as good and only a bit heavier. Both the Elite and Masterpiece come in various lengths and offsets, are a delight to set up and extremely reliable. Proven winners over the years.

Agree 100% (though I have not personally tried a Ti post).  The elite/masterpiece is so easy to fine-tune adjust when you're out on the road.
Also, and it seems like you might be confused, but the Thomson posts are all alloy, not carbon.  So no funky paste is needed.

I've switched out seatposts and kept everything else the same and the difference is noticeable. \n \nIf you're riding a 0 setback I'd stay away from the Thomson. Masterpieces are far more compliant than Elites, but that's not saying a whole lot and aluminum is too much work if you ride in slushy winter conditions. I had to remove my last masterpiece with a blow torch. \n \nClarkson- I have an Eriksen sweetpost and I can't honestly tell the difference between it and my old $25 Nashbar carbon post. The Nashbar was like 5 years old though and it was starting to worry me.

Ok so I bought a Syntace P6 Carbon 27.2 x 350 mm on Ebay for $79.95. Not sure what it cost or retails for but it's at least $100 cheaper than the Syntace P6 Carbon Hiflex and that works for me. Not being the techy guy can somebody tell me the models of the KCN Seat post clamp and seat post grip JOM of gravel cyclist has on his Roker Sport that he built up. I have to wait about a month to get this as I guess it is getting ship from China like my one Topeak under the seat bag I bought on Amazon.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Zman

Half price eBay carbon shipping directly from China?  This is making my palms sweat just thinking about it....

clarksonxc wrote:Half price eBay carbon shipping directly from China?  This is making my palms sweat just thinking about it....

I don't know what the Syntace P6 carbon sold for before they went to the newer model which is Syntace P6 Carbon Hiflex. I know the newer model is around $170. When I bought the Topeak bag that I wanted. I went to my LBS who sells Topeak bags and he couldn't get it for me as it was shipped here to the States anymore. I don't know if this is the same with this or not as it probably is a discontinued model.

Zman

Zurichman wrote:Not being the techy guy can somebody tell me the models of the KCN Seat post clamp and seat post grip JOM of gravel cyclist has on his Roker Sport that he built up.

I would stay away from that. He basically had a second seatpost clamp to supplement his lightweight one....which only makes the wallet lighter.

 
Put some carbon fiber paste on the seatpost when you install it, then tighten your existing seatpost clamp to 5nm. I'm pretty sure your Roker has the same clamp as my RXCs and RXS. I weighed it and it was a little heavy, but not enough to justify the $25 to save a few grams.

The lightweight seatpost collars tend to use lightweight (softer in this case) bolts which will strip after a few cycles of tightening and loosening. Titanium is very popular and sometimes scandium. If you replace a smallish bolt with titanium to save weight, it should be something you're not going to touch again (like a brake rotor bolt) or something with barely any torque like a frame water bottle bolt. Stuff like stems and seatposts I tend to fiddle with and use steel bolts that you can find at your friendly, neighborhood Lowes.

Dangle thanks for that info. Correct me if I am wrong. What I wanted the red clamp for is I plan on traveling quite a bit with my Roker. The red clamp would be more or less a marking for my correct seat post height instead of just using electrician's tape. Can you suggest a cheaper collar clamp then. I thought the red one was also to help keep the carbon seat post from slipping some. I also know about the neighborhood Lowes as I work in the Tools/hardware dept. there. Also curious as to where you bought your inch lbs toque wrench. Is it a Parks tool and model please? 

Thanks
Zman

dangle wrote:

I would stay away from that. He basically had a second seatpost clamp to supplement his lightweight one....which only makes the wallet lighter.

 
Put some carbon fiber paste on the seatpost when you install it, then tighten your existing seatpost clamp to 5nm. I'm pretty sure your Roker has the same clamp as my RXCs and RXS. I weighed it and it was a little heavy, but not enough to justify the $25 to save a few grams.

The lightweight seatpost collars tend to use lightweight (softer in this case) bolts which will strip after a few cycles of tightening and loosening. Titanium is very popular and sometimes scandium. If you replace a smallish bolt with titanium to save weight, it should be something you're not going to touch again (like a brake rotor bolt) or something with barely any torque like a frame water bottle bolt. Stuff like stems and seatposts I tend to fiddle with and use steel bolts that you can find at your friendly, neighborhood Lowes.

Ah, that's a totally different purpose than I thought. It's not a bad choice if paint or a sticker aren't your style. Or maybe it is. I have zero experience with seatpost collars for marking seat height. I'll defer to somebody else.

dangle wrote:Ah, that's a totally different purpose than I thought. It's not a bad choice if paint or a sticker aren't your style. Or maybe it is. I have zero experience with seatpost collars for marking seat height. I'll defer to somebody else.

The collar has a little bit more of the cool factor and then double bonus it helps from seat post slipping.

Thanks
Zman

I installed the syntace p6 hi flex post on my titanium eddy merckx road bike 3 years ago, and i'm never going back to alloy or ti post. Easy to set up. Virtually eliminates road buzz and small bumps. Love it! Thinking bout putting one on my masi cxgr. Its a tight fit, no worries about slip.

Some more thoughts in this review...
https://www.cyclingabout.com/seatposts-overlooked-yet-critical-for-cycling-comfort/

I replaced a Ti seatpost on a Ti Dean road bike and definitely could feel a difference - less high frequency vibration.   I would like to try the new Specialized CG-R post.  I like the concept and the guys on the team riding Diverges with the CG-R aren't having any complaints, but since that's the post that came on the bike they couldn't say if it really made much/any improvement.

Greg

NoCoGreg wrote:Some more thoughts in this review...
https://www.cyclingabout.com/seatposts-overlooked-yet-critical-for-cycling-comfort/

I replaced a Ti seatpost on a Ti Dean road bike and definitely could feel a difference - less high frequency vibration.   I would like to try the new Specialized CG-R post.  I like the concept and the guys on the team riding Diverges with the CG-R aren't having any complaints, but since that's the post that came on the bike they couldn't say if it really made much/any improvement.

Greg

\n \nI have a CGR on my road bike but I used it on my gravel bike for a while too. It's overrated. I didnt notice any change when I switched from the CGR to the cheap Nashbar post. The only good thing about it is it's oval rail compatible. \n \nI'm probably selling it to get a Ritchey flexy post.

Volsung wrote: I have a CGR on my road bike but I used it on my gravel bike for a while too. It's overrated. I didnt notice any change when I switched from the CGR to the cheap Nashbar post. The only good thing about it is it's oval rail compatible. I'm probably selling it to get a Ritchey flexy post.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll stick with my carbon posts.

IMHO, the vibration/shock absorption properties of titanium posts are overrated.  If you're looking for durable, Ti has that covered but for comfort I'll go with CF.

I recently installed an aluminum Thompson mtb post on one of my Frankenbikes for gravel.  They're light, easy to adjust seat angle, beautiful workmanship and made in the USA.

Greg

That's interesting as I though of doing the same thing as in the picture...  The problem I've encountered a couple times with CF posts is not being able to keep them from slipping.

The two options I'm considering are:
1. A 2nd clamp on the seat tube with a slight gap between the two clamps to spread the clamping force (will have to Dremel off the lip on one of the clamps).

2. A 2nd clamp on the seat post as in the picture.

I'm not a fan of aluminum and Ti bolds because the metal is softer than steel.  Stainless is my preferred bolt material, especially for stems as sweat is especially corrosive.

For the record, I've used a couple different brands of carbon lube which contains an abrasive to prevent slipping, but sometimes even this isn't sufficient.

If posts are binding inside the seat tube there is something wrong. My first guess is insufficient lube.  Salt is extremely corrosive to both steel and aluminum so a good seal is very important.

dangle wrote:

I would stay away from that. He basically had a second seatpost clamp to supplement his lightweight one....which only makes the wallet lighter.

 
Put some carbon fiber paste on the seatpost when you install it, then tighten your existing seatpost clamp to 5nm. I'm pretty sure your Roker has the same clamp as my RXCs and RXS. I weighed it and it was a little heavy, but not enough to justify the $25 to save a few grams.

The lightweight seatpost collars tend to use lightweight (softer in this case) bolts which will strip after a few cycles of tightening and loosening. Titanium is very popular and sometimes scandium. If you replace a smallish bolt with titanium to save weight, it should be something you're not going to touch again (like a brake rotor bolt) or something with barely any torque like a frame water bottle bolt. Stuff like stems and seatposts I tend to fiddle with and use steel bolts that you can find at your friendly, neighborhood Lowes.

NoCoGreg wrote:For the record, I've used a couple different brands of carbon lube which contains an abrasive to prevent slipping, but sometimes even this isn't sufficient.

If posts are binding inside the seat tube there is something wrong. My first guess is insufficient lube.

Be careful about calling it 'lube' around here. It's kind of the opposite and I wouldn't be surprised if there's already people around here lubricating their seatposts already (which they shouldn't!). Carbon fiber paste is full of granules to help prevent movement. The Park Tool paste has some pretty big granules and that's what I have found to be the best for slippery seatposts.

Yeah I wouldn't recommend the Ti either unless you have money to burn or want to complete a look. Mine looks good on my stainless steel frame and I had cash sitting around