Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Two thoughts. One, a seatpost is best when the setback is such that the clamp is somewhere in the middle, not slammed. The ti railed seats I like for comfort tend to break sooner if I clamp the start of the bend and I like having a little more room to go on any adjustment. Slammed and no further possible always felt wrong to me, whether it be stems or seat rails. To me it is like "I can make this bike work. Just watch!"
And two, ease of adjust-ability, esp the ability to dial in the seat tilt accurately and be able to change the tilt and get it back exactly is, in my book, the mark of a good post. (To dial in at the start in the road with just a wrench and no measuring equipment is a huge help and being able to change the tilt say 1/3 of a bolt turn for a saddle sore, then a week later go back that 1/3 turn and have the tilt back exactly is just as or even bigger level of importance. The Thompson heasd is really nice in that respect. I have two mounted on 160 mm setback custom posts (and rails centered - life is good).
Ben
Yes, the Thompson post is wonderfully easy to adjust and it is close to a best choice when a new Al post is needed. Having said that I never, ever adjust a saddle position or angle once I get it right. The idea of fooling with my saddle angle is completely foreign to me. IMO there is only one right saddle angle for a particular saddle and a particular rider. It may take some work to get it right, but I think changing the angle back and forth after that just falls into the category of head games. Many a process has been irretrievably upset by too much "knob turning". I put bicycle saddle adjustment into that same basket.
Furthermore, the only saddle rails I have ever broken were Al, and even trying to use them was just plain stupid. I don't think it matters where on the rails your saddle is clamped with common rail materials and designs. The rail tolerances for torque ought to be well beyond the differences produced by clamp position.