woohoo!!!! problem solved: i might get some negative responses for this, but f@#k it, it worked for me. i took a round file and shaved off a millimeter or two on the side of the hole where the bolt slides into, so that i could tilt the clamps to my desired angle. lord and behold, it worked.

it doesn't look like i compromised the structural integrity of the seatpost. again, i only shaved off a couple of millimeters off to make the hole longer.

i actually have the nose slightly tilted downwards.


thanks for all your responses. it was reassuring that i wasn't that only one that ran into this problem.