Why do you prefer Thomson Components?
 

Be it stems, seat post or seat clamps, whatever you have:

Why do you think Thomson Components are so good?

How does Thompson compare to Dura-Ace/Campy/etc lines that are in the same range?

Thomson seatposts are easiest to mount brake levers on.

:D

come on scrod. get over the brake~ back on topic. i want testimonial answers.

You know I'm only kidding, muckaroni salad.

I have no real opinion of Thomson stuff. Does it look nice? Yes. Is it made well? Sure. Does it cost a lot? Yup. Do I need it? Nope.

The only Thompson thing I have is a seatpost on my CX bike. That is the one component that I really don't want to ever break. After watching a guy at a race destroy a carbon post on a remount I decided that a Thompson was the answer.

So, to answer your question of why. Light, stiff and durable.

I love my thomson post but I'm starting to dislike the thomson elite stems (the more rectangular ones) I'd buy the road ones but I want to try a PRO Vibe stem, cause it looks pretty dope and is the same price practically though we get cheap thomsons here occasionally

I think the hype is really about the look and the fact Thomson claims their stuff is US-made.
There are plenty of components that are better in the weight category, like Ritchey and some others, but Thomson is decent.

I have a Thomson elite seatpost and so far and no complaints. It's definitely not a bad product, and an upgrade compared to those generic posts, but quite some better options out there in that price range for the weight.

I've owned the MTB stem (x4? that one that everyone has, not the road one) and it was solid, but not exactly lightweight. Sold that and bought me syntace stem to match my bars and a lot lighter.
(comparatively, even Thomson's road stem was still heavier than Syntace's)

They make nice stuff. It's designed well, has a nice finish, and you never have to worry about it failing. I'm not sure it's really worth the price, but I've got a Thomson stem and like the steerer clamp.

I've seen pics of broken thomson stems before.

I have an FSA that seems to be a knockoff of a Thomson.

I've seen pics of broken teeth before. That doesn't indicate that teeth are inherently weak. Under normal use, they don't break.

I run an Elite setback post on my mountain bike because I got it new for $40. I like the look and durable finish (especially on a mountain bike), and I like never worrying about it breaking. The infinite adjustability is nice, though it makes swapping saddles a pain. Would I spend $100 or whatever they go for retail? Probably not. But I like the one I have.

While I know they do break (every part breaks), I once heard a story from a local shop that had only ever seen one broken (and our mountain bike terrain is notorious for breaking everything from steel Niners to, well, Thomson posts apparently). When they called, Thomson didn't even give an RA number. They just sent the shop another. Hype is hype, but that to me sounds like a company that doesn't deal with many warrantied parts.

Considering the price you can get them for used... I'd say it's not too bad of an investment.

"Located in Macon, Georgia, Thomson has been involved in CNC Machining and Aerospace Machining and assembly for over 30 years. Clients include Boeing, Ford, Trane, Pitney Bowes along with many smaller companies."

"Parts and assemblies designed and produced for Boeing are in many cases flight critical. Thomson maintains near perfect records for quality and on-time delivery with some of America’s and the World’s toughest customers."

http://www.lhthomson.com/design_man.htm

Bicycle parts are a "pet project" for the company. This is like having Lockheed Martin design and build your brake levers using the same engineers and equipment that they use for fighter jets.


My personal Thomson story:
I'm sort of a big/strong guy. I cracked the face of a X2 (road) stem during a standing start a Masters Track Nationals. To get an idea of the forces involved, see the videos below. I'm not as strong as those guys, but you get the idea.

1st cool thing: Is that the 2-bolt stem didn't fail catastrophically. I didn't even notice the failure until I was unpacking the bike when I got home. It has a unique hinge system for that very reason.
2nd cool thing: Is that it's so unheard of, that when I took it to my shop they couldn't believe it. They had never seen anything like that happen. Sometimes when I go in, they introduce me to other customers as the guy who broke a Thomson stem.
3rd cool thing: Thomson replaced the stem face no questions asked.

I'm still a fan. I have since switched to the X4 MTB stem (Unless you are doing really tough standing starts, the X2 is fine for road use). I have Thomson stems and seatposts on both my road and new track bike.



This video got so popular that they loaded the front with ads, sorry.

Can I point out that the guy that built the fork for my tandem has supplied over 10,000 parts to NASA? And that stuff went to Mars.

I saw that just around the time I started thinking about racing (road for now) and it sends chills down my spine to see the close ups

Yeah, it gets me hyped, too. I watch it whenever I get exhausted (read: whiney) from training and want to flake out on training sessions.

I hit the gym this morning. Now it's time for over an hour of work on the rollers...

The segments with him squatting and starting a race take me back to when I was body building. It just reminds me of how I felt loading the leg press, getting under it, seeing a mass of 45 lb plates over me. Then, just feeling everything contracting to get that initial lift, and if any doubt crossed my mind the lift was lost.

No Joke! It's such a mind freak!

If my head isn't in there, I can't even get the bar off of the squat rack. I'm still working on techniques to clear my mind before big lifts.

45lb! thats just over 20kg! in a leg press! hahahahahahaha! sorry, but that is not impressive. I do 20kg per dumbbell freeweights, and i don't think i am strong...

to answer the question, it's not about US built, I think the whole idea of buying US made stuff is BS. But I am not a Yank, and don't live there.

But Thomson make the best seat posts for sure, It's what I use on my DH bike, strong, light and stiff!

By mass of 45lb plates, he meant that was the size of plates he used, of which there were several, presumably.
Not a total mass of 45lb.
Correct.

oh, a mass of 45lb plates over him, not a mass of 45lb plates over him...

that makes all the difference.

You've never been to a gym, have you?

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/602/origin...SPZWORZQJB.jpgNo Brian, I have never been to the gym....

in the US, What the fook are lbs??? give me kilos you biatches! you need to double the numbers to make you feel stronger???

you yanks, with your girly assed american football, with all your girly pads! ohhhh I will get hurt
! play some ****ing rugby! and we won't fall asleep during the game! Damn, American football is the most boring sport i have ever seen in person! run run! fall down!!! stop!!! change zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

stupid sport! hahaha!

Ok, this machine has a mass of 20kg plates...

http://www.nebula-fitness.com/assets...0209032843.jpg

The most I've done is 20 plates. That picture makes me look like a wimp :cry:

So, like, I can't even get my own body off the floor?

i feel sorry for you...

don't give up on life, you can still be happy dispite your crippling disability

my guads, what happened to my beautiful guads?