Road Cycling - carbon seatpost recommendations

i'm looking to make my aluminum frame ride a bit less
harshly. some fellow riders have suggested getting a carbon
seatpost to take out a bit of the vibrations. any recommendations
for a good carbon seatpost?

so far i have looked at the Easton EC70 (and the more expensive
EC90) as well as the USE alien.

dimensions: 27.2mm diameter + length of 250mm or more.

is the hype for real regarding carbon seatposts?
and if so, which one to buy?

thank you in advance.

I have the USE Alien seatpost on my road bike and can recomend it whole heartidly....

I have the Easton EC90 post. I like it, but to tell you the truth, I cannot notice that much of a difference between it and my Thomson Elite aluminum post. One thing is the Easton seat posts have a lot of setback, so they are good for that. Also, I had a bit of an issue with my saddle sliding back on the EC90. It has one bolt, and the clamp is composit, that might have something to do with it. I had to way over torque it to keep the saddle in place. I'm not sure if the EC90 is worth the $170 price tag.

I just replaced a Thompson post with a FSA carbon post on my road bike. The FSA is very light and easy to adjust. As far as less vibration, I would say it is a little better. Please note that I ride a titainum frame so my situation is different than yours.

i'm looking to make my aluminum frame ride a bit less
harshly. some fellow riders have suggested getting a carbon
seatpost to take out a bit of the vibrations. any recommendations
for a good carbon seatpost?

so far i have looked at the Easton EC70 (and the more expensive
EC90) as well as the USE alien.

dimensions: 27.2mm diameter + length of 250mm or more.

is the hype for real regarding carbon seatposts?
and if so, which one to buy?

thank you in advance.


I have a USE Alien post on my 5200. It works well once it is adjusted, no slipping, looks good and rides fine. It is a royal pain to adjust though.

the new specialized pave seatpost looks really interesting. it's a carbon post with their "zertz" elastomer insert. it's the stuff that's found in the fork, seatpost, and seatstays of the new specialized roubaix. i'm thinking of getting it next year some time.

I had many folks tell me that a carbon seatpost won't do very much to ease the ride, especially on a frame with traditional geometry. If you have a sloping top tube, there's more room for flex in the seatpost, but you're still not going to do a tremendous amount to change the ride of the bike. The advice that I received was to save my money on a carbon post if I wanted it for ride quality but to go ahead and get one if I wanted something a little more trick on the bike or wanted to shave a couple of grams. I'm sticking with Thompson. Not much heavier, available in a setback configuration, great clamp mechanism that makes adjusting incredibly easy. The only carbon post that I've noticed with a two bolt adjustment on the clamp is from Time, and it ain't cheap.

What frame are you on?

Your are right about the standard and sloping frames. The sloping top tube allows a longer exposed seat post, thus by using a titanium or carbon fiber post they can absorb more. But again not that much more than others.

PS The FSA post has a two bolt adjustment, like the Time and Thompson posts.

I stand corrected.

my frame is a FELT F50 (7075 aluminum with a carbon fork, but NO
carbon seatstays -- older model).

thanks for the input...

You dont' have to have carbon stays to make aluminum ride smoothly.

Good luck with whatever you might end up doing, though. You might also consider a saddle switch, if you haven't already.

i agree that carbon stays aren't needed for a comfy ride. just wanted to add
that info since the 2004 FELT's all have carbon seatstays.

i'm quite happy with my saddle. after a long ride, my butt isn't sore. it is
my lower back that feels the miles. this is _not_ due to my positioning on the
bike. i am relaxed while riding without excess strain on my back.

it looks like i will be holding off on purchasing a carbon seatpost. it seems that
the difference is not a great one...or at least not enough to justify the $100+
expense.

Maybe a saddle with CF rails would dampen the shock?

DEMON

Ive ridden some carbon posts and I think it isnt a huge difference. I would pick a Thomson over a carbon as the clamp is so much better compares to those 1 bolt ones.

This sounds like a good excuse to start shopping for a new frameset to me. Such an excuse should never go unused...

Edit: demoncyclist, carbon rails won't make a tremendous difference either. They'll help, sure, but the bang for the buck isn't great. I think the shape of a saddle is more important, but that's just me.

Carbon will still dampen some of the vibration, but I always get up off the saddle for a big thump. Then again, I ride steel, so it ain't no big thing.

Preach it, my brother. Steel is real.