Ken wants a new seat post for his Specialized Allez bike and wants some advice from us. This isn’t a difficult question. However, the problem is which actual seat post should he get to suit his pocket as there are lots of different priced seat posts on the market
Question: I am thinking about upgrading to a carbon seat post for my Specialized Allez (2001). Any recommendations or tips/advice?
Answer:
Hi Ken,
Carbon is our favorite, but titanium is also nice, very light and classy.
OK, sorry you wanted our advice on a carbon seat post.
Basically it comes down to the clamping system; the two bolt system is probably the most secure. The front and back two-bolt is strong but normally fiddly to adjust as you need a very small spanner to turn the front bolt, like the ITM. The single bolt system is also easy to adjust and fairly secure, but it’s only one bolt to hold your saddle on.
The best seat post we have seen has been the two-bolt with the side of the bolt by side like the Ritchy Pro Carbon Post found on our test Scott bike and the Ritchey WCS Carbon Post. It’s very easy to adjust and is strong, light and very secure.
We don’t really like the USE system of clamping, it’s very difficult to adjust perfectly, with very small bolts and it comes loose, so I’d give it a miss.
Does that help?