MC053 Carbon Seat Post Conversion - Saved 111g

[lo5707]

Recently bought a Chinese carbon frame MC053 (Scott Foil Replica) which has an irregular aero seat post like the Foil. The seat clamp is a Bontrager type with clamping ears, thus the seat post has a heavy alloy reinforced head area. So i had the idea of converting it to a Schmolke type seat clap with carbon cradle rocker.

Just in case it all went wrong......I ordered a second seat post from China for a whopping £35

It arrived yesterday so off i went down into the man-cave!

Start weight with Bont seat clamp - 249g
Finished weight with Schmolke type seat clamp - 138g
A saving of 111g

Enjoy................

Starting weight with Bont Clamp


Bont Clamp


Seat Post less clamp


Phase 1 - Cutting the head off


Head


Post less head


Phase 2 - Cradle groove, finished off with a hand file


Cradle Groove finished


Dremel'ing the holes


Holes finished




Post complete


Clamp with carbon rail cradle


Post & Clamp combined weight


Fitted






First impressions are that it feels nice and solid. The post carbon walls are quite thick so i am hoping that there will be no cracks.....a few rides will tell. But in any case i this was only a second seat post so i still have the original in case anything does go wrong.

[NGMN]

weight weenism at its best. Nicely done.

[prendrefeu]

Great work, lo5707!!!

Really well done!

[jipperd]

Great posting and superb work. I love what you did! Do you have a full side shot picture and specs. of your bike. Any ride review of the bike?

Makes me want to tune my own Scott Foil.

[lo5707]

Do you have a full side shot picture and specs. of your bike. Any ride review of the bike?

Makes me want to tune my own Scott Foil.

I have not quite finished the build yet so full specs and dedicated thread are still a work in progress for now, but here is a groupset teaser..................
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=110609"

[DamoRider]

Do you think this would work with the Cervelo SLC SL seatpost? I have been thinking of ways to lighten my bike and the seatpost is rather heavy so this might be an option but I think the aero shape of the SLC post might be an issue.

[lo5707]

Do you think this would work with the Cervelo SLC SL seatpost? I have been thinking of ways to lighten my bike and the seatpost is rather heavy so this might be an option but I think the aero shape of the SLC post might be an issue.

I dont think so as the limiting factor is the length of the rod that goes through the post. I have only seen them of a certain length and i purchased the longest one i could find which only just fits my post and the SLC SL post looks much wider than mine. Of course you could try to create your own longer rod out of some 10mm Delrin rod or anything you can find and create your own set up. Thats what i was going to do if the one i purchased wasn't long enough. Luckily it was though.

[Werdna]

Great weight savings!

Weight Weenies could use more threads like this.

[KLabs]

Start weight with Bont seat clamp - 249g
Finished weight with Schmolke type seat clamp - 138g
A saving of 111g

Hi lo5707, excellent, and how do you find the seat clamp now that it is 0 setback where you previous seat post had some setback ...

It is very Deda Drittissimo looking, but lighter ... http://www.dedaelementi.com/index.php?p ... 91&lang=en

Schmolke certainly have an interesting method of setback and are probably very light

[lo5707]

Hi lo5707, excellent, and how do you find the seat clamp now that it is 0 setback where you previous seat post had some setback ...

I have not yet done a full ride on the bike to compare as the build is not finished yet, at a guess the ride should feel quite a bit harsher, but this seat position is now closer to my normal ride position than when i had the setback. Only time will tell, and i always have the other spare post to go back to.

It is very Deda Drittissimo looking, but lighter

The clamp set up is actually from a spare eXotic Carbon Titanium Seatpost that go for about £40 new on ebay. http://www.carboncycles.cc/?p=797&"

[nigel379]

Nice work. Impressive weight loss. How do you like the frame? Considering getting one.

[NiFTY]

That is fantastic work. Looks much better than the stock clamp too.

[maxxevv]

You need to shorten that front bolt another 5-7mm else its going to poke the saddle when you get on.

Otherwise ... Great stuff!!!

*Edit*

Looking at it again, seems that you should swap the 2 bolts. The longer one should be at the back and the shorter one in front.

[bura]

Very nice job lo5707.
BTW,happy with your Chinese saddle on longer rides? I bought the same saddle but have not done enough long rides to judge.

[lyot]

Great job ! That's also a great looking saddle. Where did you get that one ?