carbon stem/seatpost on old alu mtb

thrope

Hello,

I've been commuting for a couple of years on my old ('94 vintage) cannondale m500 which I've taken good care of and still seems as good as new.

I find it very responsive and good for bashing up and down curbs without any problem, carrying a lot of gear etc.

A while ago I bought a beat up old Raleigh pro race road bike from these forums - but felt like I got a bit of a raw deal because it was in pretty poor condition, not really as described. Anyway I cleaned it up and it seems ok apart from the brakes being a bit scary. I haven't ridden it much though since without a rack I thought it wasn't any good for commuting (also thought road wheels weren't up to the bumpy streets).

Anyway I have been changing the bb on my cannondale - the last moving part that hasn't been serviced/changed - and while I've been waiting for the new one to arrive I've been commuting on the raleigh. The main thing is I'm amazed how much more comfortable the ride is - even with 120psi 23's vs 60psi 1.75 (travel contacts) on the mountain bike. It's a lot smoother and I don't feel every bump/crease in the road like I do with the mtb. (it has been really bad since this icey winter - all the roads in manchester are completely f**ked)

So I guess it is down to the cannondale being aluminium - but I have to say I was really surprised at the difference... I would like to keep it for wet weather commuting etc. but I'm not sure I can go back to the bumpy ness...

Finally the question: is there anything I can do to make the ride smoother? I heard carbon seatpost/stem might provide some cushioning and make things smoother - is this likely to be noticeable. How much can I get reasnobly budget versions for? How long to they last for (don't want to spend alot of money for something that will only last a few thousand miles - don't want to spend a lot of money at all really).

Thanks!

will3

Carbon seatpost: what size is your current seatpost? A replacement would need to be the exact same size (measured to 0.1mm) and on an old frame you may have a non-standard size. Carbon posts are less available in non-standard sizes than alloy ones.

FWIW, the size may be stamped on the seatpost, or you'll have to get some digital or vernier calipers to measure it correctly.

thrope

Hi,

Thanks... I don't think the frame is that old to be really nonstandard - the only trouble I've had in the past is with the 1" steerer which seems to have been replaced these days with 1 1/8".

Anyway I don't have any calipers so the best I could do was measuring the circumfrence with a piece of dental floss - which came to 86mm or a diameter of 27.3mm which is perhaps close enough to 27.2 which seems to be a standard size so I suspect its that.

I can always take it into a shop though to confirm before I order anything. I was more interested in finding out if it would be likely to make much difference to the ride (same with the stem). Also any cheaper options - I'm not concerned with weight, just taking some of the harshness out of the aluminium frame.

The cheapest I can find is something like this:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38628

Is it likely to be a worthwhile upgrade? Would it be long lasting or need replacing in less than a few years?

supersonic

I'd double check that size - 27.0 and 26.8 was very common too. I wouldn't trust dental floss to measure that accurately lol.

That post is pretty heavy for carbon - for a few extra quid have a look at this:

http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=0&c=47&p=797&

I use one, top quality.

thrope

OK point taken about the size - I will try to find out for sure thanks.

For the length - do you know how much you need to leave in the frame usually? At the moment I have about 21cm showing on my current one - so I'm worried a 30cm post will only have 9cm in the tube - is that enough or would I need a longer one?

Cheers

thrope

Just found this... according to Sheldon all cannondales are 27.2:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/seatpost-sizes.html

Still be keen to hear if its likely to improve the quality of the ride enough to justify the expense.

Also the relative merits of seatpost vs stem

desweller

Can't say I really noticed any difference when I went from the stock aluminium unit on my roadie to a FSA carbon jobbie (I changed to reduce the setback and PlanetX had them on offer). Looks snazzy though!

supersonic

thrope wrote:

OK point taken about the size - I will try to find out for sure thanks.

For the length - do you know how much you need to leave in the frame usually? At the moment I have about 21cm showing on my current one - so I'm worried a 30cm post will only have 9cm in the tube - is that enough or would I need a longer one?

Cheers

They do a 350mm too, which is the one I'd get.