Originally Posted by
79pmooney
So that is a clamp using "C" sections arranged vertically? There is no positive support under the rails? If I've got that right, just "why?". Things that look simply wrong to an engineer at first glance are usually not worth persuing unless there is something important to gain.
I looked at the pic in the first post and couldn't make sense of what I was looking at. That a bolt ran across the clamp and tightened the clamp from the sides seemed to be indicated, but this is Specialized and their engineers know what they are doing. At least I thought they did. (I heard of one seatpost with side nuts in a thread probably here that was a nightmare for that rider. Is this a cousin?)
Yes, this was pretty much exactly my reasoning! Especially with my recent experience with the Selle Anatomica carbon rail conversion kits, in which they spell out what is needed to support their saddles, in gory detail. And while I like S-A products, I don't have too much respect for their engineers. There's a lot of "build it, launch it, and then fix the problems the public has found."
The overarching value in the case of SA is based on in their "2-series" saddles with aluminum frame and hollow TI tubing, they took about 20 mm of saddle position adjustment range out of the design. When I complained, they hemmed and hawed and harrumpphed, and finally said, if you upgrade the rails to the carbon version, you'll have the full setback range again like you do on the steel frames," so of course I ponied up, since the H2 is nearly perfect for me. Sheesh!
But they make a big point of using seatposts with vertical over and under clamps, and long ones. This works extremely well with my Nitto two-bolt seatposts.