It might help to read the OP's original post.

A buddy of mine has a $100 seat post. I asked him what about a seat post could possibly be worth $100. I asked this with sincere curiosity and not in any way mockingly. He honestly couldn't answer the question. Some people just have too much money was my conclusion.

It's true only if he can't answer!

Perhaps one of the biggest reason why the Nitto (and Thomson) seatposts are so expensive is where they are made. Japan (and the US of A) do not exactly have cheap labor. On top of that, the manufacturing conditions (e.g., environmental restrictions, health regulations, etc) add quite a bit to the cost. Due to the inherent high baseline cost, it makes no sense to use cheap material/processes, so you'll also getting one of the best material and manufacturing processes (including QC). It all adds up.

The cheaper seatposts may be just as strong, but they may not be as consistent and you may loose out a bit (or a lot) on making sure the labor is fairly compensated and adequate care had been taken to mitigate environmental impact. To make the seatposts that much cheaper, some corners have to be cut. These corners may have nothing to do with the functionality of the product, but corners were cut nevertheless. It's not as if anyone's getting rich making seatposts or any other bike parts!

We all make our choices, hopefully with eyes wide open.

$25 worth of material and tooling, plus $75 worth of envy as people drool when they check out your bike.

Is a SON28 really 2x better than a Shimano 3N80?
Is a Thomson post really 2x better than a VO Grand Cru?
Are VO stainless fenders 2x better than PB Freddy HCs?
Probably not... but it makes me smile when people tell me how nice my bike looks.

A friend of mine only rides Thomson seatposts, he claims that he has broken every other seat post he's tried. I suppose that's a good enough reason. Although I have yet to break even a single seatpost myself, its still a good reason.

and the VO fenders are definitely twice as pretty as the Planet Bikes...

oooooh!!! I have a seat post with a desirable brand written on the side. I feel...I feel complete. Thanks for letting me know CliftonGK1.

Seriously...it's really all about utilising suitably engineered components that are up to the task of whatever your yearly mileage is. i think Fuzz2050 sums it all up very well:

Indeed Fuzz...why tempt fate? Just cut to the chase and buy a component that you know will be fit for purpose.

That is why I'm happy with my Thomson 'Seat Steam'

The 'brand' game really isn't my scene.

Some people, regardless of yearly mileage, are into having nice toys. Brand name may not matter to everyone, but I've been on club rides with guys who put in 2000mi/yr at the most, and they're rolling on $5000+ worth of equipment. On the flip side of that coin, a guy in my rando club rides a beater lookin' singlespeed conversion 1970s Peugeot and puts in over 6000mi/yr on it.
For my brevet/commuter, after suitable engineering I admit that brand selection is the next consideration. There are plenty of less expensive components just as suitable for the task; but Dang, my bike looks pretty.

You should see the starting lineup at any of my club's 400 - 600k events; it looks like a NAHBS showcase lineup... Pereria, Boxer, Rodriguez, Davidson, Steve Rex, Thompson, Calfee, etc. Do riders need a $3000 custom frameset to finish the ride? Heck no. There's more people rolling on Trek, Specialized, Giant and Surly bikes. It's all about riding what makes you happy. Some days for me, that means hauling out the 80s beater singlespeed conversion. Other days it means the fancy bicycle.

The VO ... purty.

ahh, life was so simple when the choices were Campagnolo and everything else that was affordable and lighter.

OfCourse CliftonGK1.......Boys and their toys. I bought a powermac a few years ago to surf t'internet. It is the way of things and is just a facet of the 'human condition'.

This is the only reason I sometimes get the urge to buy a new seatpost. I still fight it off though. I don't know if it is practical or not, but it would be fun to show off because it's such a cool idea. (It's that pump built into the seatpost, if you don't like clicking links.)

The Nitto and Thomson parts are nice to look at, strong and light. These things are good. Maybe they don't matter to you, that's okay too. Buy a cheaper one. Maybe some of the cheaper ones are just as good, I dunno. I just buy the Thomsons and they always work, and that's good enough for me. Mind you I usually get them second hand.

Sheesh. It was a seatpost anyway, so stem...steam..pretty irrelevant :)

My bike has been rolling a $20 Weyless (old Supergo) post for three years -- it came with the Weyless bike I rode for three years before my Dakar. Nary a creak, not a budge.

Bling? No. Anyone noticed? If they have, they don't say. Do I care? As long as my biological seat doesn't take trauma, no.

The Crystal Fellow is very pretty, but $90 for a single-bolt post strikes me as being pretty outrageous. Yes, will be better than a Kalloy, but it retains a lot of the limitations of that design. You can get a good two-bolt post for that money.

Well, I replaced my Thomson Elite Seat Post with a Biologic Zorin Post Pump. It has the advantage of also being a tire pump and for $45 costs a lot less than most seat posts plus pump. It is a very good pump that will get your tire to pressure faster than the vaunted Topeak Morph and hit 160 psi no problem and is easier to use because you can use both hands to pump. As a one bolt seat post it is not as easy to adjust as the Thomson but this is no big deal because once you get the seat adjusted you usually don't have to mess with it again. For you weight weenies the combined weight of most seat posts plus a pump is more than the Zorin. It is also nice because stowing your pump in the seat tube is a much better solution than in your bike bag or on the frame. Ok, this is not going to impress your high end friends but some times function trumps status.

Spend $35 on a 2 bolt one for accurate and easy adjustment of seat angle.

Do you find that it's easy to re-set your saddle to the correct position after using the pump? That would be my biggest concern.

Because nothing else deserves to be on my Waterford. Mwahahaha! :D
http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/dat..._316_330mm.jpg

To heck with aluminum and carbon seat posts.

TITANIUM BABY!
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...t.aspx?sc=FRGL

The saddle angle and fore-aft adjustment is unaffected by using the pump. To get the proper saddle height I put a piece of tape around the pump right with the bottom of the tape right at the top of the seat tube when the saddle is at the correct height. This allows me to just insert the pump into the seat tube until it stops. The only other adjustment is to line the nose of the pump up with the top tube which is quite easy to do. If this proves difficult (it shouldn't) you could draw a line on the tape and the top of the seat tube when the seat nose is in the correct position and then just line up the line when you reinsert the post and you are ready to go.

That is pretty cool indeed. But they don't make a 26.8mm model :( Utilizing space inside the frame is a great idea.

I have found that with seat posts "you get what you pay for". I've worn out 2 cheap seat posts in less that a year of commuting duty. I may not put the $90 posts on all of my bikes, but there will be no more $20 posts on any of them.

How do you 'wear out' seatposts? Once the angle and position is fixed there's not much that you can do to a seatpost to wear it out. Now if the bolt isn't tightened properly you might 'wear out' the post but that's operator error not the fault of the post. Every post failure I've had (and I've not had many) have been because I did something dumb.

stormlight: No the Nitto isn't worth $95. Pretty generic post that's pretty but doesn't offer too much else. I'd suggest you look at a post that really offers something different. A Raceface Dues or Salsa Shaft offer clamping and tilt adjustments that are separate. Far better than a single bolt post like the Nitto...and both are about half the price.