bigfred 

It was Carleton who initially posed the question about the single bolt systems.

Your point about the weight of Specialized components makes some of their decissions all the more confusing.

They truly are just pandering to the "style" they believe people will buy. But, they're there to make money, not convince us that what we actually need isn't what we think we want.

carpediemracing 

I think that some ISP frames are designed such that the ISP bit can absorb some shock? I'm thinking of the Giant and I think a Time frame?

Of course I'm the one that used an adapter shim so I could use a 27.2 in my 31.6 ST Cannondale, so you're preaching to the choir.

I guess this will nip my desire to go looking for an aero zero-setback 27.2 seat post for a month or two.

tetonrider

yessir…but it was carelton's post i initially quoted (with the reference to weight and posts and trade-offs). sorry for thinking it was you when you later replied questioning it.

i'm not sure i would use the term pandering. pretty sure most people realize specialized is a company in it for the money.

also, i was just sharing an anecdote that even at their top-level bike they still have to make some trade-offs. the conversation i had with the engineers is actually how impressed they are (and these are skeptical types) with the way those decisions are made. the product manager ultimately makes the call.

yeah, seems weird to have a heavier post (why not have a vibration-absorbing AND light post?) on one's top-end bike, but when you think that they have actual production costs and margins that they want to hit…and when they've determined that $10,500 is the sweet-spot and not $10,650, they have to trim somewhere. the point from the engineers was that to their amazement they will take the input of the engineers and, say, not scale back on the quality of the suspension in this case but rather where it will do the least harm to the ride characteristics.

i found the anecdote interesting. big companies often get a bad rap when it comes to making decisions purely on numbers. was nice to hear that it is not only about the #s for them. these are guys who are not without options in terms of employment, so they were pleased that their work has an impact on the bikes that are offered for sale.

anyway, back somewhat to our regularly-scheduled topic: in this example, the post is not a proprietary size so it is easy enough for people to see the included post and buy a new one. i tend to prefer bikes with standard size posts as i usually swap them out for something that better meets my needs, but in the cases where i have bikes with proprietary posts at least there is some semblance of consistency (aero road frame gets an aero post; TT bike has an aero post).

Racer Ex 

Lose some weight lard butt. Only half of the proprietary posts I've had slipped.

bigfred 

I guess we can simplify it to: They keep building them, because we (the greater cycling pop. in general) keep buying them.

carleton

Hahahaha!

True.

JerrySTL

My Giant Defy Advanced has a CF teardrop shaped seatpost for an 'aero' advantage. Of course I usually have a big seat bag hanging behind it disturbing whatever area advantage there is.

I had to buy a $35 adapter kit from Giant so that I could use my workstand on the post.

Then like a big dummy I managed to over-torque the seat post clamp and ruin the seatpost. Instead of just buying any 27.2 post, I had to special order the teardrop shaped post for $200. I also bought a small torque wrench and some Tacx Carbon Prep so I won't make that mistake again.

gsteinb

in a decade we'll look at ISPs the way we view scott drop-ins and briko glasses

bigfred 

That's fine. As long as we don't put them in the same category as Factory Pilots.

carpediemracing 

Farg. You ruined my plans for the spring. I'm going to take the Drop-Ins off my bike now and take the inserts out of the Brikos.

Andy STi

perfect!

Ygduf

want

bigfred 

Classic

LesterOfPuppets

If you go way back even 27.2 was kinda rare.

25.4 is probably the most common size over time, including cheep bikes.

Larger sizes came about as the desire for larger OD, thinner-walled tubing came about.

People are saying this is a 41 thing but I'm thinking both the 10 and the 229 would yield better answers than 41 or 33.

botto 

mollusk

I have some of the bad player seat posts on some of my bikes. My old (1986) Serotta "Sunday Driver" has an aero Campy C-Record seat post. Gorgeous piece of metal, but very heavy. The whole C-Record group is heavy, but shifts like butter and is visually pleasing.

My rain bike that I bought on Ebay has the notorious USE Alien seat post. That only went into fail mode once and not sliding into the seat tube. The bit that holds the seat in place loosened up. It is currently out on loan to a team mate that had his bike stolen.

My race bike has a straight Thomson Elite. Never a problem.

Skyline516

I purchased my noah rs because I was seduced by the aero stylings and fancy space-age look which included the aesthetics of the seatpost. Companies take advantage of those thoughts to get people to buy their stuff and it worked, in my case. Personally though, I have not had a problem since I assembled it and I weigh 100 kilos.