Why do you need to grease a seatpost?

To the best of my recollection, I have never greased a seatpost. I would think that greasing the seat post would not be a good thing, which leads to the question, why do I keep hearing about folks greasing their seatposts?

You don't grease your seatposts and you live in Maine. Bad combination.

Greasing the seatpost essentially is only good for one thing... preventing bonding of the seatpost inside the frame. Without grease, water can get in there and permanently bind the seatpost.

Why do you think that putting grease on the seatpost is a bad thing?

I have a quick release binder. I think that grease might let the seatpost slip if it loosened up. I removed my seatpost, been there since '08, no sign of rust or corrosion.

If it loosened up, then the seatpost would slip. My shorts get caught on my quick release binder and the seatpost goes down. That can happen with even an ungreased seatpost.

Trust me, just grease it.

One of the most hated activities in restoring old bikes is freeing up (or trying to) binded components such as stems and seatpost, as well as bolts. Any metal to metal contact should have grease between them to prevent just that. Some people use bee's wax for the screws.

I ALWAYS grease seat posts and stems (the old style quill stems that is) the parts will weld/corrode themselves together. It does not take a massive amount of grease, just a light coating will do.

Aaron

i have had a few frames that i have had to get rid of because the seat post got stuck and i could not remove them. greasing or oiling the seat post is a wise idea.

One of my seatposts also tends to creak if it's too dry. You're also putting something of a seal in between the post and the tube that can help keep water out of the bottom bracket shell.

If you want to find out for yourself:

1) DOn't grease your seatpost
2) Wait 10 years
3) Try to remove your seatpost

i've had some seat post get rusted in over only 1 winter

you can use anti-sieze but grease is cheap.
Especially important for dissimilar metals (like alloy seatpost and steel frame)
Never grease a carbon frame.

I don't know how many bikes I have seen that I cannot get into a repair stand because the seatpost is stuck. Yes, grease the seatpost, grease the stem, grease the water bottle cage braze-ons, grease the rack braze-ons.

Greasing the seatpost won't make it slip. I recommend greasing the seat tube and steerer tube once a year.

Don't grease carbon fiber seatpost!

Why not?

Because it will degrade the carbon fibre

I had to hacksaw a nice looking seatpost out of an '88 Schwinn Traveler early this year due to the fact that no amount of heating or chemicals were able to loosen it even a bit.

Don't throw out your frames, just cut it off flush and then use a hacksaw blade to cut a notch into the remainder.

grease can effect the carbon resin and expand the carbon post, locking into the frame.
It also makes the glossy surface slippery- increasing torque to tighten- not a good thing on carbon, which has a specific tq spec so you don't crush it.

You can use carbon assembly paste, which is common now in putting together carbon bikes and parts.

since i remove my seat when i lock up in manhattan, how often should i regrease? this means i remove my seatpost several times a week right now.

is there some product known as 'clean' grease? i know it can't be clean, but the lightest type for this kind of light-duty usage, so when i carry it around it is the least messy.

If you remove your seatpost regularly, don't bother with grease -- it won't bond in such a short time. Just don't forget -- if you ever stop removing it, you'll need to grease.