VeloNews seatpost test.

Good stuff: hard data showing my Thomson zero-setback, while being excellent in every other way, is more prone to transmitting vibration than other posts.

Carbon does better than Al in general but it's less difference than some would think.

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Interesting test.

The thing with the carbon posts is that the fibre type and orientation is primarily optimised for volume production, not damping, so not really taking full advantage of the material.

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Also they toss in the "conclusion" that carbon posts are good for lighter weight, but I've seen no evidence for that, especially since I'm fairly sure the lightest post in their test is the Thomson (which is what I use).

The issue is you need the post to be strong enough to handle compressive force from the clamp and that requires a lot of material.

The lightest posts out there are carbon (AX-Lightness, for example), but that's the boutique bleeding edge.

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The lightest post is the Ritchey Carbon, at 170 grams.

If anyone is having trouble reading the graphs, you can see them in original size:
http://velonews.competitor.com/files/20 ... ction2.jpg
http://velonews.competitor.com/files/20 ... ostbar.jpg

A shame the Canyon VCLS post wasn't included.

Or the Syntace P6 highflex... Not sure if that's placebo, but it turned my rain bike from a beater to a lounge chair...

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Thanks for posting the test! (minor editing to NGMN's quote)
But I disagree with you DJ - you don't have to go boutique-expensive or "bleeding edge" to go light. An OMNI seatpost, zero setback, is 116g, uncut.
Performance Bike Shops had a house brand "FORTE" "Precision Seatpost" which, even with setback, came in at 145g uncut, untuned. Still lighter than the Ritchey Carbon, all for $45US. Donald (currently with the lightest bike here) used the Forte Precision seatpost and with some minor tuning brought it down to 86g (ish?)... so... boutique? Hardly.

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Well, Donald's parts are literally bleeding edge: if he removed another 5 grams from that post he'd end up on the edge of the road, bleeding . He'd better watch what he eats because if he gains any weight he's going to push his bike over the limit... (I'm a Donald fan: his bike is amazing. I'm just teasing.)

I'm talking about commercially available parts. That said, I didn't realize the Forte (or whatever is behind it) came in that light.

My Thomson was 190.3 uncut, 180.6 cut, 137.4 after replacing beefy Thomson clamp with KCNC, 140.0 after adding metal tape to dissipate clamping pressure on carbon saddle.

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Interesting to say the least. But I believe a more clinical version of the test can be done if the human being was taken out of the equation in the testing.

Also, a 6mm or 1/4" deflection is kinda excessive for normal road riding. That's really rough roads !!

If you must, then there should be a variation in deflection levels, 2mm, 4mm, 6mm, 8mm and at different speeds too. 15km/h, 20km/h, 25km/h, 30km/h, 35km/h and 40km/h.

Only when you have all these nuances tabulated can you have a clearer and more useful picture of which is the best post for what kind of rides !

DJ, haven't seen the forte post, but I do have one that's straight 27.2 / 350mm. Comes in at ~165g uncut, untuned. Just changing the twin adjustor bolts to titanium ones will bring it down ~8-10g I believe.

Cool test, thanks for sharing.


Iirc, my 240mm Thomson masterpiece setback post came in under the 170 mark... I thought the Fizik post felt more comfortable though... Glad to see it wasn't placebo!

Is this an all American post test?
Just asking because I can not see brands from other than US based manufacturers.
Correct me if I am wrong.
I partly agree with prendrefeu because the Omni seat post is identical to the Token carbon post.
So where are 3T,Deda,ITM,KCNC,Token,Merek and many others?
Aren't above mentioned posts commercial available in the US?
WW know where to get light,reliable and not overpriced seat posts.Not so VeloNews.

Hi guys,

Here is another test with some more brands:

http://www.schmolke-carbon.de/carbon/ca ... imiert.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's obviously taken from the Schmolke site so you can guess who the winner is, but the data is still pretty interesting and shows how widely varied the flex
is between the posts. It should form an interesting point of comparison to the VeloNews test.
I also like that the test displays the data in industry standard Nmm instead of fractions of inches.
So the comfiest (Schmolke) 31.6 post has a deflection of 71Nmm whereas the stiffest (FSA) 31.6 is at 273Nmm.
Both these are carbon btwy.
You can also conclude that there is basically no significant relationship between comfort and price or for that matter comfort and weight.

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Great read.... I'm guessing. Me no speaky ze German

Don't completely understand the fine details of the description but I would discount the test methodology there.

Maximum deflection at low loads does not automatically equate to a good quality ride. The ability to attenuate for multitude of road buzz frequencies is far more crucial in real world riding. Its almost like saying the suspension fork with the softest spring settings is the best fork for MTBs !

The Velonews methodology is far more realistic though as I mentioned in a previous comment, its only really useful if they tested the posts at a variety of undulation heights and wheel spin speeds. And that the human subject is taken out of the context.