What's your favorite seatpost?
#51
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2 bolts for me. (If I have to carry the Campy wrench, not an issue.) I had a Laprade with teeth and indexing, I rode it for years on the Mooney set just right, between clicks. (I couldn't touch the adjustment because I knew once I loosened that bolt I would never see that tilt again.)
Two bolt posts allow me to change ti tilt for injuries and saddle sores, then go back to exactly where I started and I can do all of the adjustments on the road with no measuring equipment. (There is I believe a post with two bolts side-by-side. I don't get it.) 2 bolt posts I have used: Zeus (a copy of Campy), Advocet (which did what all the Avocet I have used did, it broke on a ride), SunTour and I have two custom ones from TiCycles (both 160mm setback) with Thompson clamps and ti posts. I'll second the OP's opinion on the Thompson clamp. Sweet! The SunTours are a little odd in that they require both a 4 and 5 mm wrench but since I have always carried both it isn't a big deal. (I don't see needing a 6 mm as a plus. A lot of my bikes only use 6's for adjustments that are rarely made on the road and even less often required.)
My Campy post, while one bolt is pretty darn sweet. Good for my city/rain/winter bike that is rarely far from home.
Ben
Two bolt posts allow me to change ti tilt for injuries and saddle sores, then go back to exactly where I started and I can do all of the adjustments on the road with no measuring equipment. (There is I believe a post with two bolts side-by-side. I don't get it.) 2 bolt posts I have used: Zeus (a copy of Campy), Advocet (which did what all the Avocet I have used did, it broke on a ride), SunTour and I have two custom ones from TiCycles (both 160mm setback) with Thompson clamps and ti posts. I'll second the OP's opinion on the Thompson clamp. Sweet! The SunTours are a little odd in that they require both a 4 and 5 mm wrench but since I have always carried both it isn't a big deal. (I don't see needing a 6 mm as a plus. A lot of my bikes only use 6's for adjustments that are rarely made on the road and even less often required.)
My Campy post, while one bolt is pretty darn sweet. Good for my city/rain/winter bike that is rarely far from home.
Ben
#52
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I like the looks of Campy NR two-bolt and use one of those flex head wrenches to tighten/loosen (with a Brooks saddle), so no problems. However, I do like American Classic posts as they're crazy light and often go for small money on eBay.
#54
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Nope, you're not the only one. I love these, and the knockoffs too. I love two bolt adjustable seatposts. They're almost always infinitely adjustable. Lets face it, we've ALL had that one bike where one notch was too far back, and the next one too far forward.,,,,BD
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to adjust a 2-bolt 1044 campy post, i tighten or loosen the front bolt by hand, treating it like the axle cone of a pedal.
then use a wrench on the rear bolt only, treating it like the pedal locknut.
then use a wrench on the rear bolt only, treating it like the pedal locknut.
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#62
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The two seat posts I have actually purchased were a Sugino SP-KC (the one with the measurements on it) and a SunTour XC Pro.
(Not my pix... I need to take some pix of these...)
(Not my pix... I need to take some pix of these...)
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#63
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This thread has been an education.
#64
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I have a 30 pound bin of vintage seatposts. No low or even mid-range stuff, all high-end product from the 70s and 80s.
Here are the highs and the lows:
- Worst: Campy C-Record with the 13mm hex bolt. This post has left me in big trouble more than once. As in sloping downwards at a 45 degree angle 20 miles from civilization in the pouring rain.
- Best: Suntour Superbe Pro or XC Pro 2-bolt. Lightweight, nice finish, quality hardware and easy to adjust. And absolutely bullet proof.
Honorable mention: old Campy Record 2 bolt. Once it is set up, it will never fail you.
Single bolt seatposts will always slip. Shops like them because they take 60 seconds less time per bike to set up.
Here are the highs and the lows:
- Worst: Campy C-Record with the 13mm hex bolt. This post has left me in big trouble more than once. As in sloping downwards at a 45 degree angle 20 miles from civilization in the pouring rain.
- Best: Suntour Superbe Pro or XC Pro 2-bolt. Lightweight, nice finish, quality hardware and easy to adjust. And absolutely bullet proof.
Honorable mention: old Campy Record 2 bolt. Once it is set up, it will never fail you.
Single bolt seatposts will always slip. Shops like them because they take 60 seconds less time per bike to set up.
#65
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That 2-bolt Campy is the worst. No advantage, requires special tools to use even remotely efficiently. Took one off of my Bianchi, it'll never go back on one of my bikes again. Replaced with a Dura-Ace 7400, which isn't anything special but is lovely as a very well executed functional design, which is something I really appreciate. As a guy who used Syncros' from back in the early 90's I never got Campy chose to orient things that way. 27.4 mm if anyone needs one.
American Classic: Love the looks, weight and design. Road bike use only though, the super narrow top half of the clamp resulted in many bent seat rails on my mountain bikes until I figured out what wha going on. Keeping that one, I'll have a bike it fits again sometime...
That Race Face was a good design. I rode a carbon one for years and it always worked and was easy to adjust and never broke. Unique but I bet more expensive to manufacture than a more standard 2-bolt design. It's a keeper too 'cause it's so nice, although there's probably no point as my mountain bikes get uppy-downy posts now.
I want a Miche Supertype one day, the slightly older one with silver clamps...
American Classic: Love the looks, weight and design. Road bike use only though, the super narrow top half of the clamp resulted in many bent seat rails on my mountain bikes until I figured out what wha going on. Keeping that one, I'll have a bike it fits again sometime...
That Race Face was a good design. I rode a carbon one for years and it always worked and was easy to adjust and never broke. Unique but I bet more expensive to manufacture than a more standard 2-bolt design. It's a keeper too 'cause it's so nice, although there's probably no point as my mountain bikes get uppy-downy posts now.
I want a Miche Supertype one day, the slightly older one with silver clamps...
#66
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Yes, they sucked for bike shops. But for racers and other who rode 10,000+ miles/year, seriously good posts. And, yes, there are better posts now. Good changes do happen. (Let's keep in mind that it came out in 1969.)
Ben
#67
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Yep, my perspective is from the last 25 years or so. The prevalence of 2 bolts that function the same way and one bolts that allow fine-tuning and don't slip and don't require special tools has me shaking my head at Campy. Perhaps that was all that was possible in the 60's, I dunno. Doesn't make it any less of a pain in the ass to use.
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Any of the forged aero top posts -- i like 'em all - I would like to score some generic posts or Nitto posts of this style though as they would not be gender specific --- I cant in good conscious use a Shimano AX post on an otherwise Campy bike and vice versa
For the modern stuff -- its all Thomson when i have a choice
For the modern stuff -- its all Thomson when i have a choice
#69
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I'm so grateful that my Dad saved that Campy offset wrench in his bike tool roll for nearly forty years so I have it today.
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The Sugino Mighty is very nice.
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give my method (in post 57) a try.
i used to try to get a wrench on the front bolt. i'd try to carefully lift the skirt of my brooks to get the wrench on there. yes, that was a frustrating effort.
but a different approach makes everything easier.
loosen the rear with a regular 10mm wrench. (use the closed end of the wrench.) then either tighten by hand the front bolt (if you want to move the saddle nose down), or loosen it by hand (if you want to move the saddle nose up).
i pretty much know by sight (looking at the saddle sideways from several feet away) where it needs to be. so before the rear bolt is fully tight, i view the saddle from the side. then add the finishing touches with the wrench on the rear bolt.
let's face it -- once it's done, it's done.
and the 1044 campy post is rather necessary when a '70s bike sports full campy.
i used to try to get a wrench on the front bolt. i'd try to carefully lift the skirt of my brooks to get the wrench on there. yes, that was a frustrating effort.
but a different approach makes everything easier.
loosen the rear with a regular 10mm wrench. (use the closed end of the wrench.) then either tighten by hand the front bolt (if you want to move the saddle nose down), or loosen it by hand (if you want to move the saddle nose up).
i pretty much know by sight (looking at the saddle sideways from several feet away) where it needs to be. so before the rear bolt is fully tight, i view the saddle from the side. then add the finishing touches with the wrench on the rear bolt.
let's face it -- once it's done, it's done.
and the 1044 campy post is rather necessary when a '70s bike sports full campy.
#72
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Another vote or these, I put SR Laprade posts on almost everything, easy to get and beautiful. I've never had one slip and I am not a small individual.
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yowza
their ridges also make them hard to polish.
but they're so ubiquitous, inexpensive, and lightweight, they make for perfect seatposts for mid-level flips.
i usually paint the flutes in black enamel.
but they're so ubiquitous, inexpensive, and lightweight, they make for perfect seatposts for mid-level flips.
i usually paint the flutes in black enamel.