I’m considering picking one up from Nashbar to shave a few ounces off my already surprisingly light Olmo just because I can.
I know I need some kind of special grease that won’t eat away the epoxy holding the carbon weave together, but I don’t know what kind. Any help there would be awesome.
Also, what about the grease and framesaver that’s already in my seat tube? Will that fuck it up?
School me on this shit fellas!
LBS has some stuff just for carbon. its grease plus friction shit so the carbon wont slide down…
Hmm, so the regular grease in my tube won’t mess anything up?
I think it’ll be fine. But beware of clamping down to hard. That’s why they got the friction shit…
EDIT: Get more opinions though, I don’t really know what I;m talking about…
or writing about…
there’s acutally allen wrenches that are like tourqe wrenches where they only tighten to a certain ft/lb to not crush carbon seatpost.
Well I bought the damn thing so we’ll see what happens.
Framesaver is linseed oil with a catalyst/kicker that gasses off once it’s dry, so you’ll be OK there. Zinn recommends wiping out your seat tube to get rid of the grease, and it’s a good idea to take off your seat binder (if you have one) and file any burrs or sharp edges that could gouge the carbon. The grease poses two problems: some will eat the epoxy in the composite material, and the relative lack of friction might entice you to overtighten your seat binder.
Yes. No grease. At least that’s what we did at my shop. Makes sense.
A well-honed seat-tube is a necessity.
Also a 27.2x330mm Thomson Elite is 241 grams (250mm is 201g). You can have one off of ebay for around $50. This about the same weight, much more durable, and you don’t have to worry about getting carbon shards up your ass. Resale value will be better, if that matters. Also, I think Thomson parts are pretty and there’s really no reason other than bling to use carbon seatposts, stems, and handlebars. For uber-bling, the Masterpiece is 193g at 330mm.
Cheap carbon posts often weigh more than a similar alloy model. You may want to check the grams before you buy if knocking of weight is the primary concern.
I’ve been using regular grease (the green stuff from park I think… whatevers in the tub at the shops I’ve worked at) on carbon posts with a cannondale frame for at least 7 years. Properly torqued and have had ZERO problems. In fact, the 4th time I was hit by a car, the post spun in the frame so it didn’t crack or anything. I’m to understand the biggest diff between carbon grease and regular grease is just like sand or something for friction…
there are plenty of light alloy posts out there, but a good carbon post rides so much better. especially if your tall and on a compact frame.
what we do with carbon posts in the shop i work at:
file seat tube down smooth, check it with your finger.
clean out the seat tube with a rag and some solvent
insert seat post and tighten clamp
drink beer
[quote=FACE]
drink beer[/quote]
Now that I can get behind!
Is your fork’s steerer carbon? That’s a better place to save weight.
Also a much pricier and more unnerving (I think) way to save weight, though. I think he’s gotten all the information he needs though, and has already bought the seatpost.
Ti is the new carbon.
Fuck carbon and all its footprints
I trust a carbon steer tube over an alloy one.
cheap carbon posts are often just a carbon layer over aluminum. At least thats what they put on $700-$1100 bikes when they want them to look like they have carbon posts.
I got a carbon Ritchey post on my Concept… mechanically, I like Thomson’s better because of how you can micro-adjust the tilt on them vs. most other posts.
I mostly got the carbon post because I heard it dampens the ‘harsh’ ride some aluminum frames give. I have no idea if this is true or not. I haven’t tried any other posts on the Concept either… either way, it keeps me a little wary about cross-mounting the bike too much, and I don’t find the ride harsh at all.