So I had the Raleigh Competition torn apart anyhow after the powder coat for the frame and was building it back up only to find the seatpost I had originally planned to put on it wasn't really a 27.2 I put it into the frame and it went THWOP as fell all the way down into the seat tube -nothing but net, nuts to butts.

I needed the seatpost that I was using before in the testing R&D mode of this bike for my CX bike and am riding that almost every day now for training so I had to buy another 27.2mm post anyhow for this bike.

Nashbar is selling the Ascent carbon seatpost for $35-ish so I figured if I had to buy a nice seatpost for this bike I might as well give CF a try. It's not a whole ton of money and really nice alloy post is going to cost nearly that much anyhow.

Since I had the frame apart anyhow I decided to clean out the seat tube really well with a hone -careful not to go nuts and remove any metal -just polish it up a little and maybe remove a half a thousandths of an inch at the most. Then I swabbed it out really well using a bit of twine all the way down and out the bottom at the empty BB shell and hitching a rag soaked with alcohol inline so I could pull it up and down repeatedly and really clean out the bore. After a few rag changes I was able to move on to paper towels and watch as they started to come out really clean. Now it looks almost like the bore of a clean gun-barrel when I shine light up it so I am sure there are no burrs, rust, or any residual grease in there. I also bought some carbon paste to use with this post so I can be sure of good grip and not have the post get stuck.

I've been told that the seatpost binder needs to be tightened only as tight as you would screw in a lightbulb with a carbon post. Something between 60-80 inch/lbs or thereabouts. Too tight and it'll crack The seatpost and lug are in really nice shape -nice and round with no smooshing or anything -I made sure of that before I sent it out for refinishing.

This is my first carbon seat post and I'm all ears about hints/tricks. This frame is already smooth as silk on the road but will I notice any more improvement with the carbon post? I'm only saving about 50g over a comparable alloy post with this particular post as it really isn't super light at 250g but is more of a "comfort" post than a weight-saving carbon item. But every little bit counts as my front rack, decalleur, handlebar bag and associated mounting hardware all weigh in at WELL over a kilo even before I put the first item into it.

What can I expect? Is a carbon post over-kill with a steel bike? Is it all placebo the raving reviews about how great they are?