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For DH, is a Thomson seatpost really necessary?

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,839
24,423
media blackout
pivotal seems be most bombproof, lightest and cheapest!

no need for fore/aft adjustment for FS bikes except trail, am
and DH. i've ridden 1 or two bikes over the years where the saddle need to move forward in order to clear the rear tire at full compression (other solution is raise the saddle, but that's not always an option). I'd suspect this may be more common with now that DH bikes are moving to larger wheels.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
I like having fore and aft adjustment for the seat on my downhill bike. Not for tire clearance, but for those times in a race run when I am completely gassed and actually want to sit down and pedal.

I run my seat pretty high on my DH bike, so I do like adjustment, and a seat post that is not going to stab me to death if it unexpectedly breaks.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,019
1,154
El Lay
thomsons are great.

i've still never broken a seatpost or seat in my life, but i'm not a clydesdale or a hucker. The one ibeam i had was impossible to keep tight without a 2-foot cheater, and the seat itself was the most uncomfortable i've ever owned (which seems inherent to the design, seeing as seat rails (aka suspension) have been dispensed with). The 1991 Flite that has no foam or leather left on it that I use on the city bike is considerably more comfortable. Yes I use my DH saddle in the lift line.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,913
647
They're necessary in much the same way a carbon frame and 27.5 inch wheels are necessary. If you don't have one you might as well not even be alive. No other company has ever made a basic aluminum 2 bolt seat post that could possibly ever work and not break.

Maybe I got carried away. What I meant to say was, i've seen a few issues with ibeams, but I don't know that I've ever seen a regular 2 bolt seatpost have any problems. But I don't do as much internet riding as some people, so maybe they can tell you about some friends of friends they heard broke them all and you will probably die if you don't ride a thomson.
 

big-ted

Danced with A, attacked by C, fired by D.
Sep 27, 2005
1,400
47
Vancouver, BC
So I can pay the premium for the high quality clamp of the Thomson, throw it away, then bolt on a clamp some dude made in his garage, & use it to mount the fragile i-beam seat whilst doing away with the comfort & suspension that saddle rails give me?!

Sign me up!
 
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