Originally Posted by
bark_eater
I'm still not sure whats happening here.... But as to the physical properties of this seat post, it looks to me that it is assemble incorrectly. The nutted bolts should be through the loops allowing adjustment of the seat tilt. The photo shows proper assembly.
That's correct. The slots are part of the saddle clamp assembly and enable micro-adjustable seat tilt angles.
When I worked in shops in the '70s, I much preferred this design (usually encountered in the Simplex version) to the coarsely adjustable and easily stripped type used on straight steel posts and even to the Campy two-bolt posts, with the all-but-inaccessible front bolt requiring repeated attempts to get the angle right.
The type being discussed here, with the vertical slots behind the clamp, is much easier to adjust: loosen the nuts, set the angle by tilting the saddle up or down so that the bolt slides up or down in the slots, tighten the bolts; done.