mastre

And on my new bike's maiden voyage, it kept slipping - my knees started to hurt and I realized what was happening. Thankfully I had a minitool with me but still had to turn back - Thanksgiving Holiday Club Ride ruined

What do I do now? I have Simple Green degreaser, is it safe to use on carbon seatpost & inside of the carbon frame? I would need to kinda wipe it onto the inside of the frame as I don't want stuff dripping to the bottom on the frame where it would be enclosed.

I hope it's not ruined? It's possible since they must've thought that it was not carbon (even though it should be obvious, the frame is carbon weave PF CG2 and the seatpost a Fizik Cyrano) they may have tightened it too much.

I have some carbon paste, just clean with Simple Green, dry, wipe and use assembly paste?

vettracer

Yes, that should work fine. I would skip the simple green though. Since you are using the carbon paste, it does not need to be perfectly clean, just wipe out the seat tube with a rag wrapped around a screwdriver. If you really want to degrease it, you should turn the bike upside down when you clean the seat tube to prevent the cleaner from running down to the bottom bracket.

FBinNY 

The simple green is OK but you'll want to rinse it off immediately. Start by wiping as much as possible off the post, then finish with a rag dampened with simple green or regular dish detergent.

The frame is a bit trickier, because as you point out you don't ant stuff running down into the BB. Hang or (have a friend hold) the bike up with the seat tube sloping down so any leakage runs out. For jobs like this I use a small rag to which I've securely a piece of string, I then push it down with a stick, and use the string to pull it back up. As with the post, start dry, then finish with solvent or water and detergent, then rinse and wipe dry. When you're done, you might want to use some carbon assembly paste for better grip at lower clamping force.

Better yet, let the folks who messed this up clean it up for you. Tell them it's only fair that they buy you an espresso while you wait.

reptilezs

just clean it out. use some coat hanger or spoke and wrap a rag around it. chuck it in the drill and go to town

dsbrantjr

I second FB's advice to dump this in the LBS's lap. In the unlikely event a problem comes up later, they won't be able to point the finger at you for using the wrong method or chemical on the frame. They should have known what the bike they sold you was made of and how to assemble it properly. You should insist that they make it right, and they should do it without argument.

Bill in Houston

Do it yourself so you know how well the job was done.

Mr. Beanz

+1...how can you expect an dipstick mechanic to fix a problem he created? Sometimes they cause more damage than correction, like using Simple Green and leaving a puddle on the inside of the frame..

There is a reason I started maintaining and building my own.

Looigi

Exactly. I do all my own work so there's never any question who screwed it up and who's going to fix it.

mastre

LBS didn't sell me the bike, it's a custom build on which I did as much work as I could/had time for myself but decided to take her in for cables as I wanted to ride the bike sooner rather than later. They asked if I wanted them to put anything else on while at it so I brought my seatpost figuring it would save me some time and there wasn't a ton to be learned from the experience - I was wrong on both counts, but at least learning the hard way sticks with you I had developed a good relationship with one of the LBS mechanics who seemed knowledgeable, but I had to leave the bike overnight and someone else ended up performing the work, in a less than stellar fashion (I won't go into more details, but I had to correct other things as well - a person without extensive knowledge of bicycle mechanics would have had to go back multiple times). I actually saw him install the seatpost right in front of me and remember thinking "cool, they have an assembly paste gun just like they do for grease!" Needless to say, that wasn't assembly paste

Decided to skip the Simple Green - I cleaned both with detergent and rinsed with water, about to smear on some assembly paste and torque to 5 N·m and see how it goes. Thanks for your input guys, you rock! One more thing to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

MooCow

I agree with that conceptually, putting the responsibility back on them. But how much do you trust a bike shop that greases a carbon seatpost to know how to intelligently and correctly take care of the problem they created?

This kind of thing happens with so many different bike shops I've tried. I wish I knew just one guy at one shop that I could trust completely. But more and more, I try to take care of my own maintenance and repair. Agree with that other guy who said do it yourself and you know how well it was done. That's like learning to cook for yourself, and knowing what went into it, versus placing your trust in what some restaurant prepares and serves.

kycycler

I agree that the LBS should correct the screw up. Must have been a real wiz kid who did the assembly.

Mr. Beanz

Sorry but this is actually kind of funny. If someone told me to bring my seatpost, I'd slip it in the tube so I didn't have to carry it, ......there it's in.

ibis_ti

I'm not sure I would take it back. Who know what else they would do to it. I mean they probably zigzag'd the post on the way in and out or when adjusting the height and did they use a torque wrench? did they line up the collar with the slot or did they rotate it 180?