rydwhite

I have Cannondale R600, aluminum bike and carbon front fork. I am looking for a way to soften the ride a tad and make it a little more comfortable and a couple people have mentioned that I may want to switch to a carbon seat post. I was wondering, if it is worth it? Will it make that big of a difference in the ride quality? If so, what do you recommend? Or, is there a better alternative to smoothing out the ride than a carbon seat post?

sydney

Buy it for the bling and you won't be diasppointed. Run a few less Psi in the tires and you will get more benefit and have more money for beer.A better alternative is a better riding frame.

rydwhite

Unfortunately a new frame won't be coming for another year or 2, so I have to make due with what I have and a few improvements along the way.

darkmother

Save your money. A carbon post will not make one bit of difference, other than lightening your wallet. Try a different saddle, or larger tires.

biker7

I think I would want a carbon post if I rode a carbon fiber bike...they seem to go together. I don't see the benefit if you ride a steel bike...but its all good if that's what you like. Believe the transistion would be almost transparent performance wise.
George

53-11_alltheway

https://weightweenies.starbike.com/ph...pic.php?t=7202

This was interesting thread. Although I think the test the magazine did was flawed in other areas I though it was interesting what they said about CF posts.

MerckxMad

A CF post will add some bling to your ride, but it won't smooth it out. A change in wheelset, tires, or bar wrap will have more effect than a CF seatpost.

53-11_alltheway

Not according to that test in the link above. I haven't ridden a CF post so I can't really comment.

Too bad this is all "subjective".

michaelyons

get one. Take it from experience that it will not be like adding a shock, but it will take out most of the buzz or road noise out of your frame. It's not like riding a full carbon bike, but I did notice a difference. I would recomend a bontrager post, because I like the quality and you can get them on ebay for 60-80 bucks. I would stay away from some of the cheaper ones like the bottom of the like fsa. Some of the lower end posts are aluminum wrapped in carbon. That's just not as effective as a full carbon. It's just my opinion, but I always recomend it.

mike

coenan

does a CF seat post have some weight limit? I though I saw this mentioned for other
CF stuff. I could be wrong though.

sydney

Yeah, it's often refered to as 'new toy syndrome', or I paid alot of $$ for this so it has to be better'.

MerckxMad

I don't know anything about the test mentioned, but I have always used Thompson posts (Classic or Masterpiece) on my bikes (traditional, non-compact alu, alu-CF, ti, and CF frames) same wheelsets (Mavic K's or OP's) and kits. Over the past few years, I've switched the posts on most of my bikes to CF (Sette, Easton, USE). I cannot tell a bit of difference in the ride quality or amount of road buzz coming up through the rear end on any of my bikes. Oddly enough, I did notice a difference when I switched out the aluminum post for a ti post on my ti bike. I felt the ride was much more muted.

Machka 

Nope ... not worth it. I got rid of my carbon seatpost and my carbon forks, and my bicycle rides as smoothly as it did with them.

Oh ... and if you do get a carbon seatpost ... be VERY careful how tightly you clamp it down ... if a girl with minimal upper body strength can put enough force into it to shatter the seatpost, I hate to think what a guy with some upper body strength could do.

53-11_alltheway

Well there are probably more legit ways to get your bike to ride better.

Tires are probably number 1. Bar tape number 2. If that doesn't work starting thinking "comfort flex" wheels etc.

I'm not sure if smoother riding frames come with just as stiff BB's though. It seems to me no free lunch exists because Bikes don't have suspensions.

midgie

My Allez came with the Specialized cf post. I broke it, over tightened the seatcollar binder bolt.(i was picking carbon fibers out of my fingers for a week) Specialized warranty'd it for me, and I got the Specialized Future shock suspension post instead.
I've never been happier, I don't have weight issues, I want Comfort!



[edit] Machka, I didn't read your post til' after I posted. You broke yours too?

womble

I've got a CF post for my commuting bike. I only bought it for the bling factor, and because it matches my matt black frame. I've noticed absolutely no improvement from a comfort point of view (ie there is the same amount of shock as from an Al post) and I don't think it was much lighter than an Al post either.

IMO, if you want a slightly more comfortable ride, get a leather saddle.

Machka 

Yup!

A guy at the shop and I were packing my bicycle up to go to Australia at the end of September ... it was all in the box, and he picked up my seatpost with my saddle attached to set it into the box when he stopped and took a second look at it ... the seatpost was shattered. I have no idea when it went, but I'd probably been riding around very precariously for a while!!!

I was VERY fortunate we discovered it when we did because I was a couple days away from a 3 month cycling tour of Australia. We replaced it with an aluminum post.

I had been having trouble with slippage, which apparently is a fairly common problem with carbon seatposts, and so without thinking I had enough strength to tighten something too much, I tightened the clamp as much as I could, so that the seatpost would stop slipping ... and ...

midgie

Good thing the mechanic looked it over, could have been a lousy ride.

I had only had my bike for a shortwhile. I was still fine tuning the height and POP, I shattered mine. Then like an idiot I ran my fingers over the shattered area. Doh! I was picking little pieces of carbon out of my fingers for a week. Our Specialized rep was kind enough to warranty it.
I'll never have anything carbon again, if I'm able to break it that easily. And I won't mess with my headset or stem being the forks carbon. I'm not sure if it has a carbon steerer, and I'm not going to find out the hardway. I would be afraid to own a carbon frame. They cost to much and ignorance can break them.

neil0502

Sage words, those.

When tightening a carbon seatpost (I have two Eastons), never grease the post (it will take extra torque to overcome the slippery factor--too much torque for the post.

Seatposts only have to be tightened until you can no longer turn the seat with the force of one hand. No more.

suntreader

My bike came with a carbon post. I don't think it makes any difference at all. The bling effect is negligible, too. Who cares?

rydwhite

Thanks for the input. Looks like I will be sticking with what I have. Wheel and tire upgrades will come probably towards the middle summer. Got to save a couple extra pennies.

darkmother

Scary stuff. Why do they make seatposts out of carbon if you can break them just by tightening the bolt? Unreal. How can this be considered acceptable, or even safe? As a consumer, I'm expected to pay a premium price for a suposedly "high tech" carbon fiber seat post, only to find that it is so fragile it fails when you subject it to a normal adjustment procedure. Is this really progress? My $10 aluminum post will outperform this high dollar crap.

If these manufacturers must use carbon (and I'm not sure why you would want to in this application), why not wrap carbon over a thin metal shell to handle the compressive and shear stress from the collar? A post that implodes when you tighten the binder bolt is beyond foolish. Who is designing these things? Someone's marketing dept. I'll wager.

martin_j001

^^So now when people ignore specifications provided by the manufacturer, its the manufacturers' fault when you break it? If you want carbon on your bike, do what most intelligent people should do anyways--buy a torque wrench. If you can afford to spend over $100 on a seatpost, be smart with it, pull your head our of your ass, read the instructions/specifications, use the proper tools, and enjoy your new carbon post *bling*bling*. Its as easy as that....

khuon

Yep. Like any material, CF has certain care requirements.

Let's see. I have an Easton CT2 CF post on both my MTB and RB. I have Easton CF handlebars on both my MTB and RB. I have a CF steerer on the fork of my RB. I adhere to the torque specs when clamping and don't grease my posts. I use the Easton posts because of the RAD profile which prevents crushing. I've had my MTB post for about six years now and the bike has been crashed numerous times. At one point it was involved in an endover that caused the bike to flip over my head and land right onto a boulder seat-first. I've had my RB post a little over four years now and the bike has also been through a couple of high-speed (25MPH+) crashes that involved direct impact to the saddle. All parts were carefully examined after the crashes and periodically during cleaning. There has been no sign of damage to any of the components. BTW, CF does not hold a monopoly on materials of snapped seatposts. I've snapped aluminum posts and handlebars in the past. And yes, they did just snap... and didn't spend time bending first. Admittedly, I've only bent a steel post. I've yet to snap any CF components.

darkmother

When the specification is irresponsible, yes. Seat posts should be designed for the way people actually use them. How many bicycle owners even know what a torque wrench is? I'd bet very few. However, all of them will have to adjust thier seat height at one time or other. This should be the most basic of design requirements. To assume that joe bicycle rider is going to buy and use a torque wrench when raising or lowering the seat is foolish, regardless of what the spec says. Would you buy a car that would fly apart if you exceeded the speed limit, or would catch fire if you put the wrong grade of fuel in it? I think not. Critical structural components should be designed with a reasonable margin of safety. Posts that collapse when you tighten a 5 mm hex binding bolt with a 3" long allen key are not properly designed.

Look, not all carbon parts are poorly designed or dangerous, but some are. So are some aluminum, titanium and steel parts. I am tired of the over funded marketing and underfunded engineering that is so common in the bicycle industry today.