Metaluna

I've read that when dealing with carbon seatposts, you should rotate the seatpost clamp so that the split in the clamp is 180 degrees away from the split in the seat tube, to distribute clamping forces more evenly. Does anyone know if that also applies in general to carbon frames? What about alloy seatposts in carbon frames? Does this technique reduce seatpost slippage, or it is only done to protect a carbon seatpost (and therefore does not apply to my Thomson).

I tried this trick recently on my new CF frame w/ generic non-offset clamp, and experienced slippage after ~100mi when the bolt was torqued to 5Nm (I also used Finish Line assembly gel). I retorqued to 7Nm and the seat didn't slip after ~50mi, however I did notice that the clamp left a cosmetic mark in the clearcoat at the front of the seat tube where the ends of the clamp came together. So I've since put it back to the normal rotation as I don't want to damage the frame (we'll see if it holds better or worse in this configuration). I've also seen so-called "offset" clamps from Campagnolo and others that have the binder bolt rotated at an angle from the seat tube split, and I wonder if these would be more effective at clamping the tube securely without risking frame damage.

sammy5001

Hmm 7Nm... have you checked what the max clamping force your CF frame can take? Mine is 5Nm and I know several other CF frames are also 5Nm. So putting 7Nm on your CF frame may not be a good idea...unless your frame really is rated for 7Nm.

Metaluna

I started out with 5Nm but I had slippage, so I tried upping it to 7Nm. I'm checking on the torque specs, but to be safe I'll back it off to 5, but try rotating the clamp back to its original position.

I should probably back off the front derailleur clamp as well, as I've got that at 7Nm as per Campy specs.