Cheap Carbon Seaposts - are they worth it..?

HattoriHanzo

The ride on my Spesh Allez is super smooth on a smooth tarmac but harsh has nails on the crap roads round my way. I’ve smoothed things a little by swapping to 25 tyres, but my arse and back are sore after 3-4 hours in the saddle.

I’m thinking of replacing the alloy seatpost with a cheap carbon post. I figure a carbon post will have some give and take out the road vibration..?

Is my thinking right, and is a cheap seatpost upto the job. I weigh 80k (185cm tall) if weight makes a difference.?

Or should I just save my money and suck it up..?

Berk Bonebonce

I don't think you will notice much difference if you change the seatpost.

It might sound obvious, but have you tried running at lower pressures? And there are fatter tyres than 25mm. Or try a saddle with more padding.

Bar Shaker

You may be better off with some of the new gel impregnated shorts. Decathalon and Endura make good ones. I doubt you would notice a difference from a carbon seat post, it's just not a big enough part to soak up the harmonic vibration that causes muscle fatigue.

scruffyduncan

I replaced an alloy easton post with a cheap carbon one (probikekit own brand I think) and it made a noticable difference.

giant_man

They're probably not because the cheaper ones are carbon-wrapped posts and not pure carbon.

Buckled_Rims

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

I don't think you will notice much difference if you change the seatpost.

It might sound obvious, but have you tried running at lower pressures? And there are fatter tyres than 25mm. Or try a saddle with more padding.

+1

Try experimenting with lower tyre pressures.

mcrdave

They do take out the buzz from rough tarmac. Only reason I noticed was I went from a cheap carbon post to an alloy one and started getting lower back pain after a ride. Took quite a few week to get used to it. The reason I swapped was the cheap carbon post cracked - so I'll settle for a slightly harsher ride and not having to ride out the saddle all the way back, until I can afford a decent carbon post again.

HattoriHanzo

Cheers for advice, I've tried lower tyre pressure - 90psi - is that low enough or should I go lower still..?

StanwaySteve62

I'm pretty sure the ride on my spesh improved when I swapped over to Michelin Krlon carbon tyes.

Zachariah

I bought a cheap seatpost from PBK, one of the old 3T branded ones. It is full carbon (apart from the clamp ofc).

I did notice a slight increase in comfort, but with no scientific guages to record the difference I could just be fooling myself.

I would hesitate to lower tyre pressure, as the difference in comfort would be more than likely offset by making it harder in general to maintain speed.

sungod

HattoriHanzo wrote:

Cheers for advice, I've tried lower tyre pressure - 90psi - is that low enough or should I go lower still..?

you ought to stay within the tyre maker's recommended range, it should be printed/embossed on the sidewall of the tyre

bear in mind that you'll be more likely to get pinch flats at lower pressure, especially on the rear tyre

Chris James

It might not be something you want to do, but suspended leather saddles - e.g. Brooks - take out a lot of road buzz, certainly much more than a rigid seat post would manage.

The effect is especially noticeable when the saddle is well broken in.

HattoriHanzo

Opted for new shorts – Altura Pro Gel. Tested them today on 80k ride – so far so good.