Thomsom is supposed to be reasonably light and bombproof. Beyond the you are best advised to pick according to:

Setback or no., Length needed, Ease of adjustment.

Comfort is a function of material and weight. All materials can be made comfortable. If you weight 120lbs I would go as; light as possible from a major manufacturer. At 160 lbs I would be a little conservative. Over 200 lbs stick with a normal weight post.

Styrrell

There is an article somewhere that concludes carbon seat posts aren't any more comfortable than aluminium ones. Something to do with compression properties not being any better. Of course I read that only after spending $$ replacing all my aluminium seat posts with carbon.

LP composites makes nice 0-setback posts. They are for mountain bikes, but you can chop them down. The clamping mechanism is first rate. I ride that on my road bike, which doesn't have carbon stays and it definitely helped smooth out the ride over my old AmClassic aluminum one. LP sells their cosmetic blemishes (a misoriented fiber in the outer layer) on eBay. They usually go for really cheap. I got mine for 50% of retail, and it carries the FULL LP compsites warranty.

The one potential downside is the mating of the clamp to the post, but the LP ones seem to do this well, especially being designed to take the abuse a MTB rider would shell out.

On my tribike, which has carbon stays, I ride a Thomson Masterpiece, which is also first rate. The clamping mechanism is really nice.

Seatposts are something you shouldn't ever notice, and that we don't usually think about, and as long as a seatpost holds tight, it is a good one in my book.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

if carbon or ti seatposts damp vibrations, they only do so on compact frames with a lot of post sticking out. I have a compact frame, but with my uber short legs, there isn't a whole lot of post sticking out. I'm not convinced. carbon is generally lighter and more bling.

Thomson is very strong and very reliable. their clamp design is probably the most secure I've ever used, and it's very easy to adjust. they now make a lighter version of their post, called the Masterpiece, rated only for road riding. I have one. very sexy.

I think one of the factors that puts a lot of confusion into this is the fact that all carbon posts are not created equal.

If you use a Dedacciai Black Stick all carbon post you will notice a more comfortable ride. It is a thin wall, all carbon round post that is very, very light. It pushes the limits of how thin you should go on the tubing. I used one on my cyclocross bike and it was excellent at vibration damping and cushioning the impact of re-mounts.

Now, other seatposts may just be a largely cosmetic carbon wrapped around thin wall aluminum. This won't have the same effect. I think that is where a lot of the confusion comes from. If a person rode one of those they would be accurate in saying they didn't notice any difference between their (faux) carbon post and an aluminum post- since they are really on an aluminum post.

-So, you have to sure of what you are buying.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

This is a subject that gets monthly mention around here. Search for the subject, we've had lengthy discussions about it. General concensus - you can't tell the difference. Personal experience - I can't tell the diff between my USE Alien carbon and my Thomson Masterpiece aluminum - BUT the clamping mechanism in the Thomson is leaps and bounds better than any other I've ever used. So I ride the Tommy.

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Elivis needs boats.

Thanks, all - I guess my feeling before posing the question was that I'd buy a carbon one because of the looks, that the Thompson sounds like the way to go for looks and function. So I guess I'll just find one or the other at the right price and go with it that way.

Cheers

Barry

Carbon seatpost does make some difference. But don't hold me liable if your not happy about it. :-))

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I was, now I will tri again!
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Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

I take full responsibility for everything I do - so I only have myself to blame whenever my life doesn't go according to plan :-)

OK, another question - why do I/do I not need 'setback' ? If I'm trying to stay forward on the seat, on a road geometry frame with aerobars, should I not go for zero setback? I was actually thinking of using my Profile forward bend post, but frankly, hate the way it looks (plus it's a bit of a boat anchor too). I've seen a Look (I think) post that has two positions on the top of the clamp, would that be zero and back, or zero and forward, if you know what I mean? Thanks, sorry to sound like a dumbass, but that's not unusual :-)

Barry

Whether or not to get a setback post depends on how far forward you want to be. Their is usually some overlap where both types may work. If thats the case I suggest whichever clamps the rails in the center. This way you have some fore/aft room for fine tuning and it doesn't stress the seat as much as all the way foreward.



Styrrell

I bought a carbon seatpost at the bike show in Toronto last March to use instead of my old alloy post which was about 1/2cm too short for my new frame. I notice absolutely no difference in ride quality but I got a really good deal on the post and it looks cool on my bike :)