USE Sumu Ti v. USE Alien Carbon

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sawyer
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Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

My second bike needs a new seatpost and what the hell, i want a light one! but cheap, hence USE.

size is 27.2/270

has anyone here experience of both these posts? Ti is 10g or so heavier but presumably a bit more robust. my main question is how they compare comfort wise?

thanks for any comment!

(have searched already!)

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bobbyOCR
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Location: Western Australia

by bobbyOCR

Unless you need the extra setback, I recommend the KCNC TI Pro Lite. If you need the setback there is always the scandium pro lite.

How much do you weigh?
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sawyer
Posts: 4485
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Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

I'm 73kg.

was thinking that the Ti version would be more robust, and also curious as i've never ridden Ti anything.

seatpost on best bike is EC90 CNT zero and would want zero setback on this too.

how does the comfort of the Ti USE post rate???

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legs 11
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by legs 11

I have used both the carbon and ti alien and to be honest, felt very little difference in performance, I prefered the ti as its practically indestructable and looked really nice on the bike.
Watch the Sumo clamp though, as when its mounted on a saddle with ti rails I have heard 2 seperate reports of saddle slipping, less of a problem with a manganese rail I suppose, they have supplied another clamp though which seems to have cured the problem. :wink:

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synchronicity
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by synchronicity

I have 2 alien posts.

5 years ago or whenever they were released (carbon), they were the lightest thing on the market, so I had to have one. It worked, it was light and not outrageously expensive, so I quickly bought another (alloy)

They work, they're light, but a big pain in the butt to adjust.

A seatpost's job is only to hold a saddle securely. It does that very well, yes. Mine has never slipped. But like I said, it's REALLY difficult to change your saddle position [even slightly]. Maybe it's better since they got rid of the two bolt clamp... I dunno.

The problem is the design itself. The rail clamps don't bolt down directly perpendicular to the rails but PARALLEL to them. :x

Even changing the fore-aft position is more difficult than it should be; you have to release clamp pressure, which in so doing, sometimes affects the tilt.

But the real problem comes when adjusting or fine tuning the saddle tilt itself. Theoretically, it should provide infiinite adjustment. The reality is somewhat different. You have to totally back off the clamp pressure, which in so doing changes the angle of the saddle dramatically. So you have to start with the saddle in a very arbitrary nose down position, then tighten the clamp, which brings it up more or less level. It's a completely trial and error experience. Because the bolt has such a fine thread, it takes a few minutes to make one adjustment, so if you've done it wrong, you have to spend more time undoing it. But then the clamp sticks in place. How do you release the clamp? By banging the bolt heads sharply with a small hammer. But that stuffs up the most recent position. Even if you had it close, it'll be way off now!!! So you quickly get weary of making these continual ball-park adjustments.

I recently found that if you grease the hole clamp head, get the saddle level, then maintain downwards pressure on the nose of the saddle as your're tightening the rail clamps, it stays more or less in the same position.

Needless to say, I'm selling my alloy alien post (as part of a bike).
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colinmack
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:59 pm
Location: UK

by colinmack

Don't get a USE Alien seatpost. I've got the Carbon Cyclops version with the single, tiny bolt. They are a pain to adjust and I've found that the saddle does slip unless you have the bolt done up monster tight, much more than recommended. I was warned in my LBS that this would happen but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. They're too much hassle, so I've since changed to a KCNC Ti Pro Lite, which are lighter and cheaper.

Cheers

colinmack :)

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lincoln
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by lincoln

They are a lesson in frustration, I've just pulled it off my 'dale, but am debating what to do with it as I may just keep it and sell it with the bike when I move onto the next bike. Do yourself a favour and get a Thomson Elite.

big steve
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Location: Stirling, Scotland

by big steve

Thomson Elite is light enough and plenty strong. Looks good too.

outnumbered
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Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:59 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by outnumbered

I also hate the clamp on my Cyclops post for the reasons others have described... It's just a lousy design imo.

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bcheung
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Location: Herndon, VA

by bcheung

I, on the other hand, have had no issues or frustrations with my USE carbon cyclops; in fact, I like it better than my Thomson Elite because there's only one bolt to adjust. I got my saddle exactly where I wanted it on the first attempt when I first received the Cyclops seatpost. I guess the resounding message is: YMMV.

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bobbyOCR
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by bobbyOCR

colinmack wrote: so I've since changed to a KCNC Ti Pro Lite, which are lighter and cheaper.



and much, much easier to adjust
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synchronicity
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by synchronicity

bcheung wrote:I, on the other hand, have had no issues or frustrations with my USE carbon cyclops; in fact, I like it better than my Thomson Elite because there's only one bolt to adjust. I got my saddle exactly where I wanted it on the first attempt when I first received the Cyclops seatpost. I guess the resounding message is: YMMV.


You got lucky. Just wait until you have to adjust the saddle tilt one day when you buy a new saddle or put that post in a frame with a different STA.
vertebrae | Precision braking and shifting.
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bcheung
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by bcheung

synchronicity wrote:
bcheung wrote:I, on the other hand, have had no issues or frustrations with my USE carbon cyclops; in fact, I like it better than my Thomson Elite because there's only one bolt to adjust. I got my saddle exactly where I wanted it on the first attempt when I first received the Cyclops seatpost. I guess the resounding message is: YMMV.


You got lucky. Just wait until you have to adjust the saddle tilt one day when you buy a new saddle or put that post in a frame with a different STA.


That's fine, I'll take lucky over frustrated any day :wink:

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bbtheory
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Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 12:09 am

by bbtheory

I tried a USE alien carbon post once.... stayed on the bike for one ride. The saddle slipped and the way the clamp is designed makes the post a PITA anyway. Not worth the time or effort, I would like others have suggested look at KCNC, Extralite, or Thomson Elite/Masterpiece.

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palbin
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by palbin

Another very (!) light but not very expensive 27.2 mm post with little setback is
Extralite - 100 or so grams - 100 or so eurs! palbin

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