For the carbon seatpost experts

simon_masterson

Hi all,

Just being a bit paranoid. Bought this rather lovely Mike Burrows aero post for a great price. It has a small chip to the lacquer, and surface wear on the round section. I've always used alloy posts and know nothing about carbon - anything worth worrying about or safe to patch with nail varnish and use?

leeefm

Looks no worse than when I remove and then refit my post, and mine is fine. The only thing you have to worry about compared to an alloy post, is the clamp (if you didn't know already). If the clamp is removable from your frame, get a wider one to distribute the clamping force over a wider surface area. Also, check out the tightening torque for your seatpost from the manufacturer. You'll need carbon assembly paste too, otherwise it'll just slip like mad.

But the post looks ok to me from what I can see in the pics. If the chip is only in the laquer, then it won't compromise the structure. The wear on the round section looks like normal use from the abrasive assembly paste; so it's probably been fitted to another bike previously.

simon_masterson

Thanks a lot for this.

The frame I'm using is steel (753) with a bolt, so I can't change that, but I've read about using assembly paste - the Tacx one is supposed to be good?

In terms of the wear, the only spot that really concerns me is on the round section - it has a sort of porous appearance, could this be damage to the carbon itself? There's no cracking or anything like that.

First.Aspect

Its doomed. If you ride with it, splinters will get into your blood stream.

I lied. Its fine. What you are looking at is purely cosmetic damage to a purely cosmetic outer layer.

You don't need a new seat clamp. The carbon paste stuff might be useful, I suppose. But I recently removed a carbon post which had been lightly greased and sat securely in an aluminium frame in the same position for about 11 years. I didn't use a torque wrench or attend any carbon fibre usage courses.

I once even cut a carbon fibre steerer tube without supervision. I have yet to develop asbestosis.

simon_masterson

First Aspect wrote:

Its doomed. If you ride with it, splinters will get into your blood stream.

I lied. Its fine. What you are looking at is purely cosmetic damage to a purely cosmetic outer layer.

You don't need a new seat clamp. The carbon paste stuff might be useful, I suppose. But I recently removed a carbon post which had been lightly greased and sat securely in an aluminium frame in the same position for about 11 years. I didn't use a torque wrench or attend any carbon fibre usage courses.

I once even cut a carbon fibre steerer tube without supervision. I have yet to develop asbestosis.

Cheers. I'm not paranoid or anything.

I'm going to put some nail varnish on that little chip but is it worth doing the same on the clamp area?

leeefm

Yeah, First Aspect is right really. I was toeing the party line there somewhat. Just to correct myself, what I put are really best practice guidelines. I'm using my post (Specialized Pave) in an 853 steel frame, and it did slip like mad for me, so I really needed to put the paste on just to generate the friction. This paste does abrade the cosmetic finish to the post, and mine looks pretty similar to the pictures you have of yours. So give it a go without, and if you don't need the paste, you've saved yourself a bit of cash.

simon_masterson

Sounds good to me!

First.Aspect

Worth noting that steel is not the same a aluminium - so slippage could be more of an issue than steel. Worst case would be that you could scuff more of the post than you need to as it slips down.

As for the nail varnish on the lower part - I wouldn't bother. Its not going to improve the strength and you aren't going to see it. At worst its going to sit proud of the rest of the post and focus pressure and cause the seatpost to explode.

Sorry, I'm at it again.

daddy0

I've over tightened my seat post in the past and its fine. Carbon is very very strong.