Recently purchased a new frame (Soloist Team) with a carbon seatpost (muy, muy sexy). Love riding it, but had to travel with an Hex key, as the seat post kept slipping. Consulted with multiple shops, including the one that I bought it from…nothing worked (brass shim, lightly roughing the seatpost with sandpaper for more grip, etc.).
Cervelo Customer Service recommended “carbon paste”, which is basically a paste that “contains a suspension of tiny plastic beads that provide a claimed 30% increase in surface friction when clamped, which also translates into a concurrent reduction in clamping forces to achieve the same result without the compound. This is analogous to sprinkling sand in between parts but the plastic beads aren’t abrasive and, thus, won’t cause any damage (the beads simply compress under compressive load).” (Quote from cyclingnews.com).
Very few shops locally had heard of it, but a shop downtown (Duke’s) was kind enough to give me a sample of Tacx Dynamic Carbon Assembly Compound in a small baggy. Sure enough, the stuff worked like a charm. 3 hours on the bike, and the seat didn’t slip a millimeter.
Just another example of little things that can improve the bigger things.