Seatpost tightening

SamuelRemings
SamuelRemings Posts: 76
edited April 2011 in Workshop
Damn, worried poster. Went out on new bike today - a Ribble with a superleggera seatpost and it seemed to slip a cm or so between the beginning and end of the ride. To begin with the seatpost dropped almost immediately as I got on the bike. Tonight I've tightened it up as far as I can but fear I may have done the wrong thing. I've loosened it up a bit but fear I may have damaged the frame or seatpost by tightening too hard?

Have used a small hex key...guess it's a case of how long is the piece of string in my pocket? What constitutes tightening and overtightening?

:|

Comments

  • Dmak
    Dmak Posts: 445
    Like you say, piece of string. Take the guess work out of it and consider investing in a couple of torque wrenches.

    http://www.parktool.com/category/torque-wrenches-accessories
  • bruce225
    bruce225 Posts: 129
    Get some Ritchey Liquid Torque as well..Worked a treat on my bike allowed a lot less force to be needed.
  • JohnnyAllez
    JohnnyAllez Posts: 785
    What Bruce said, CRC sell it in small sachets if you want to try it out.
    Jens says "Shut up legs !! "

    Specialized S-Works SaxoBank SL4 Tarmac Di2
  • BillyMansell
    BillyMansell Posts: 817
    It's always a worry with a seat clamp as to whether over-tightening will cause damage to frame or seat post but I've never managed to damage either despite once over-tightening a seat bolt until it snapped !

    As well as the suggestions above, you could try either a two bolt seat clamp (one bolt clamps to the frame and the other to the seat post) like an Exotic or a Thomson seat clamp which provides very good grip at a relatively low torque.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Ritchey Torqkey is all you need for £12 - pre-set to 5Nm and designed for seatpost clamps, bars and stems etc - small enough to slip in your pocket.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • SamuelRemings
    SamuelRemings Posts: 76
    Thanks for all the replies. Have now ordered a torque wrench so thanks for the recommendations.

    Also, took the bike to LBS and asked them to tighten up the seatpost to 5nm, the minimum range given for the collar. When I got back home I tried the same allen key as last night when I started freaking out and couldn't get any more currency, so I figure with a range between 5-7, however hard I tightened the post last night, it couldn't have gone beyond 7nm.

    Life is sometimes just too short for this kind of bullshit but thanks for bearing with me folks...

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