Danny Palmer

Hi

I could really do with some help please. I have a Specialized EL05 frame and a carbon seatpost. The seat tube on the frame isn't a circular cross-section, it has an elongated bit at the back (difficult to describe but anyone with one of these frames will know what I mean.) The seatpost on the other hand is just a circular cross-section. Now the bike shop that sold me this set-up said it wasn't a problem at all and used something they called a spacer I believe to go round the seat post and into the seat tube, which expands when tightened and holds the tube in place. However, the seatpost snapped at the point it was being clamped after only a few hours riding. Another bike shop that took a look at it said that this mechanism for holding the seatpost in place was always going to snap a carbon seatpost - it couldn't take the stress. The original bike shop on the other hand say the design is fine and that the seatpost must have been over-tightened.

Does anyone have any thoughts on which view is correct? Has anyone had any trouble with this design before?

Thanks in advance,

Danny.

bandregg

My track frame came with a similar setup I believe. The seat post "clamp" is a circle to hold the post attached to a wedge which fits in the seat tube and holds the post tight. My carbon seat post has markings on it for the maximum amount of torque that the post can take before cracking (and breaking). This system works fine for me, but then I was very careful with the torque. Is it possible that the seat post clamp was over torqued and damaged the post?

Ebbtide

That sounds about right, which leads to the next question: Who installed the seat post and did anyone make adjustements afterwards?

Danny Palmer

Bandregg cheers, yep that sounds exactly like what I was trying to describe, apart from the markings to show the maximum torque (nothing like that from what I can see.)

Ebbtide, the shop set up the bike for me and I had no need to adjust anything - it only lasted a week! I'm waiting for them to get back to me after they've debated with Specialized whether the seatpost was faulty. My attitude is much that I don't care whether it was a defective seatpost or it was overtightened - neither was my fault and I'm not prepared to pay for the new seatpost!

Ebbtide

Yep, definitley do not take no for an answer. If they installed it and you never touched it press the issue. If they are worth thier salt they will replace it. Actually, I think Specialized had warnings and a replacement program for thier carbon posts.