MC053 Carbon Seat Post Conversion - Saved 111g

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lo5707
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:03 pm

by 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 :beerchug:

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 :lol:

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

Starting weight with Bont Clamp
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Bont Clamp
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Seat Post less clamp
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Phase 1 - Cutting the head off
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Head
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Post less head
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Phase 2 - Cradle groove, finished off with a hand file
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Cradle Groove finished
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Dremel'ing the holes
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Holes finished
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Post complete
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Clamp with carbon rail cradle
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Post & Clamp combined weight
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Fitted
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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.

by Weenie


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NGMN
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 7:13 am

by NGMN

weight weenism at its best. Nicely done.

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

Great work, lo5707!!!

Really well done!
Exp001 || Other projects in the works.

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jipperd
Posts: 1217
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:44 am
Location: Holland

by jipperd

:up: 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
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:03 pm

by lo5707

jipperd wrote: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"
Last edited by lo5707 on Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:21 am, edited 2 times in total.

DamoRider
Posts: 154
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:27 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

by 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
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:03 pm

by lo5707

DamoRider wrote: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.
Last edited by lo5707 on Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Werdna
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 3:45 am

by Werdna

Great weight savings!

Weight Weenies could use more threads like this.

KLabs
Posts: 380
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:29 am

by KLabs

lo5707 wrote:Start weight with Bont seat clamp - 249g
Finished weight with Schmolke type seat clamp - 138g
A saving of 111g :lol:

Image

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
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:03 pm

by lo5707

KLabs wrote: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.

KLabs wrote: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
Posts: 117
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:23 am

by nigel379

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

NiFTY
Posts: 1493
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 11:26 pm

by NiFTY

That is fantastic work. Looks much better than the stock clamp too.
Evo 4.9kg SL3 6.64kg Slice RS 8.89kg viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110579" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

maxxevv
Posts: 2012
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:51 am

by 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!!! :thumbup: :beerchug:

*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. :wink:

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bura
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by bura

Very nice job lo5707. :thumbup:
BTW,happy with your Chinese saddle on longer rides? I bought the same saddle but have not done enough long rides to judge.
Kuota Kom Evo
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=111825&p=955235#p955235" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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lyot
Posts: 55
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:06 pm

by lyot

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

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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