Creaking seatpost

[maxice]

I've just started getting an annoying creak in the seatpost, I've taken it out and given it a good clean but it still creaks (though not as bad as before)

There was no grease in there, so should I add some as read varying reports as to yes or no!?

Frame is a Cervelo S1 so its a carbon post into an Aluminium frame.

It only started creaking now after about 200 - 300 miles since the bike was last serviced?

[kdawg]

You don’t want grease but you want carbon assembly paste - a gritty substance made specially for this purpose. Prevents them corroding together and provides friction so less force needed on clamp.

[robertbb]

Take a set of vernier calipers to it.

I had 2 ENVE seatposts that came in under spec (meant to be 27.2, came in at under 27) which caused the thing to creak and knock inside the seat tube.

Both went straight back for a refund and I swore never to buy an ENVE product again - if they can't get a seatpost right...

[maxice]

You don’t want grease but you want carbon assembly paste - a gritty substance made specially for this purpose. Prevents them corroding together and provides friction so less force needed on clamp.

Yes sorry thats what I meant, carbon paste. Is it recommended as on various other google searches there doesnt seem to be any clear consensus?

[maxice]

Take a set of vernier calipers to it.

I had 2 ENVE seatposts that came in under spec (meant to be 27.2, came in at under 27) which caused the thing to creak and knock inside the seat tube.

Both went straight back for a refund and I swore never to buy an ENVE product again - if they can't get a seatpost right...

The bike is c10 years old, its the original Cervelo seatpost so imagine it would be the correct size/fit....especially since its only started creaking?

[kdawg]

I always use it. Grease is incredibly unlikely to damage your seat post and you need something in there to prevent corrosion. Using special carbon stuff makes sense and it does seem to help things not move even with less torque. I’ve put a little on my stem clamp area and under brake levers which moved too.

[AJS914]

FWIW, I'm pretty sure most carbon pastes contain some kind of grease with something gritty inside.

I always used to use grease on my Litespeed's seatpost. This was in the 90s before I had ever heard of carbon paste. It worked just fine and prevented galvanic corrosion. These days though I'd use carbon paste. If there is any risk of the seat post slipping you'd definitely want a gritty paste.