Some dude on the Cervelo Forum was bitchin’ this morning about how he did a Du last weekend on his new P2C. Hit a couple of bumps out of transition and his seat post slipped down, down, down and basically he had to bag the race. He claimed this seat post slipping issue is common with Cervelo bikes. Bummer for him that he didn’t test his equipment in advance.
So is this seat post thing something to pay particular attention to? I’ve smeared my seat post on my P2C with Tacx compound and tightened it to the 4 Nm specification. Have ridden it about 160 miles on a couple of rides over varying bumps and terrain. No issues except my saddle tipped backwards on me because it wasn’t tight enough. Can/should I use the Tacx compound on the area where the saddle clamps to the post as well?
Slipping is common on carbon posts. The smooth clear coat causes the slipping. The paste is a good option. Other homebrew solutions include hairspray and scuffing the clear coat with fine sandpaper. Anything that improves the friction will help.
Dd the seapost slip down or did the saddle slip and tilt the angle? If it was the former, then Tacx carbon compound. If it was the latter, then he nees to get it looked at as mine did the same and was warranty replaced due to bad milling of the clamp.
First thing to do is contact Cervelo Customer service.
I really don’t understand how people are having problems with their post slipping on these bikes. I guess it is an issue since this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of it but I just can’t figure out how it’s happening. The binder for these posts really is a binder, and not a collar that they want to sound European by calling it a binder. The light blue aluminum part will ever so slightly bite into the post and should prevent any downward movement. Just torque to the specs.
I’ve had problems with a round carbon post slipping on a carbon bike and used Aqua-Net to hold it. It really works well as long as it stays dry. I finally just got a Thompson post and ended all that slippage, but that’s really not a solution for this bike.
without doubt buy the Dynamics friction paste…it will secure the seat post and anything else…its orange and comes labelled under different bike parts manufacturers like FSA, Tacx, Syntace…but its the same all the time…they are normally sold in plastic satchets but this is a big tub of it…
Tim @ Cervelo was very responsive this morning and gave me some tips on tightening up the saddle just right. I followed his instructions and found that the “teeth” on the inside of the collar were a bit worn or beat up. Not too bad but something to watch for sure.
Seat post slippage can occur in cases where proper torque on the head assembly bolt is not ensured. Here are some tips for making the post work as it was intended. Grease the head bolt before tightening. The proper torque for the bolt is 12Nm. A common oversight made by many first time users of this seat post is that the bolt must be tightened using two tools. The torque wrench with appropriate bit on one side and a 5mm hex key on the other. The bolt will spin if not held in place with the second tool.
