Techie Tuesday - Easton Seatpost Fix

As is well-documented on the web, the Easton EC70 seatposts have a problem - they keep sliding down. I tried the cheap alternative to carbon paste, toothpaste, and  that was an utter failure. In fact, it seemed to make it slide much faster. (I'm still a little concerned about the catastrophic failures resulting in groin injuries)

Frustrated, and thoroughly pissed that a good name like Easton would make such a crap piece of gear, I decided to try something a little more aggressive. I cut a strip of 1500 Wet or Dry sanding paper about 20mm wide, long enough to cover all but the front 7mm of the stem, completely wrapping the retarded, flat, RAD back of the post. (on my bike the hole-relieved slot on the seat tube is in back, and the clamp slot is in front)

I turned the paper so the gritty side was to the post, NOT wanting to risk damage to the frame. I had to work the post gently back and forth a bit to relax the seat tube and open  the slot in the frame. You might also just try removing the seat and clamp and leaving it unclamped overnight.

I cleaned both the post and frame with 99% rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth before wrapping the strip around the back and sides and then holding it very tight around the post while I slipped it down inside the seat tube.

I admit, there is was no particular reason to choose 1500 grit paper. I just happen to have some. Something as fine as 2000 might work, or as coarse as 600, but Wet or Dry paper has a very tough back, so I was careful to choose Wet or Dry. (it's actually a cloth back)

I was a little surprise at how easily the paper fit. I had no problems at all getting the paper-wrapped post to slide down inside the seat tube, and the edges of the paper did NOT hang up on the frame. (if they hang up on yours, try trimming the bottom edges at an angle) In fact, I have the definite impression that the post is a little under-sized, and the paper actually makes a perfect, and necessary, compressible shim. The frame doesn't seem noticeably pinched at the top now, like it did before.

I went for a 32 mile ride last night, up to Old Folsom on the bike trail. Up and back on the west side of Lake Natoma because I spent 15 minutes trying to find my HR strap before giving up and riding naked. I just didn't have the daylight to burn going through the lights in Folsom, so I just turned around at the base of the footbridge and came back on the west side.

I ended up riding with a woman on a beautiful Cervelo.  She was real easy to look at too, and kept looking back over her shoulder to encourage this brick to catch up with her after she dropped me on the one good hill on that stretch. Good thing the HR strap was at home! :D

I caught her a half mile later, and we rocked the ARPT back to Hazel Ave, where she turned around to head back to Folsom on the east side of the lake. She was wearing the same Tifosi Vogel sunglasses as I. She likes the auto-darkening feature. I like that too, but love the face seal it gives me at high speeds.

I got passed by the strongest tandem team I've ever encountered, taking a couple of long pulls off my waterbottle just past Hazel Ave. I jumped on it and bridged up to catch their wheel. They were riding a sleek, blue Santana, and were really flying! We averaged ~ 25mph, and peaked at ~ 35 going down a short 500 meter hill. After the hill they stopped trying to drop me, and things got a lot more fun. I could hear them talking, and their communication was excellent.

I really liked their very aggressive use of "LEFT", which left nothing to chance. I'm normally barking "LEFT" or "SIDE" early and loud to make very sure people know they're being closed on. The stoker had her bark timed almost perfectly with mine. On every occasion when I drew in an extra deep breath to bark, her's would ring in my ears. Awesome!

I returned home and checked the 3mm gap I'd left between the seatpost clamp and my Profile Designs seatpost mounted water bottle rack. It was completely intact. Very encouraging.

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I had some time to do some research over the weekend, as I had to abandon an 85 mile ride - returning home with a bout of IBS after just 20 miles. If this seatpost fix ends up failing, I'll go with the Syntace Carbon P6  post.

The quality of my Syntace aerobars is just immaculate, so I trust their quality, and also love the way it supports a wide range of adjustment, but still provides almost twice the support for the seat rails as conventional posts.

The people at Syntace just seem to be more clever in design, and more determined in their quality control processes. In short, they just seem to be doing it better. Too bad their English documents suck so bad.

I hope this fix holds up, because the Easton seatposts are going for HUGE discounts online, so this simple fix may make for some great bargains, but if not, Syntace is getting my next chunk of money.

Gone in 60 Seconds

I was trying to beat the sunset home from a cool climbing ride up in the Eldorado Hills last night. Coming back over the Cash Bridge and down the ARPT, I ran into a short section of twisty and buckled parkway trail. Unfortunately, a split second before I could put my hand over them, my sunglasses fell off their precarious perch resting atop my aerobars, and I ran over them with the back wheel!

The sun was low enough I needed all the light I could get, and decided to rest them on the aerobars after discovering they stayed put there nicely while climbing and sweating too much to wear. Unfortunately, at higher speeds and with poor surface, they just didn't hang on quite well enough. They do hang onto my head well, as the thick rubber-coated wire core stalks can be bent radically to stick like glue.

I bought these about a year ago at REI, and they had an excellent selection. I have eye sockets that are hard to fit, so tried on a lot of glasses that day. These were almost air-tight against my face and were rimless across the top where a rim would not allow me to look over the tops of the glasses in low light. A good face seal is critical to prevent tearing at high speeds. Short of goggles, these are about as good as it gets. The sticky nose-bridge rubber mount compensates for the tight seal by allowing you to wear them pushed down on your nose.

I wear these most of the time slid down on my nose, looking over the top, because they can be a bit warm otherwise, but without anything to block my view this works very well. I just got tired of pushing them up and down for gnats last night, so I got lazy and paid the price. It is usually possible to wrinkle your nose and push them up nearly all the way without the use of your hands. I need this because of the high-speed descents I often do.



As you can see from the photos, these Tifosi glasses took quite a beating, were bent almost in half judging from the stretch marks across the horizontal plane, heavily gouged near the logo, and had the left stalk ripped off. I was disgusted enough that after going back for the glasses I didn't pick up the left stalk, but upon closer inspection, I see I could have reattached it if I had those tools with me. As is often the case near dark, the gnats were ferocious, so I would have liked to have had the use of them. In more hazardous road conditions this could save you from a serious eye injury.



I see they are now available in Extreme Contrast Grey, so I think I will try a new, lighter color this time. These (T-V420) are high-speed red, and darken in bright light, but looking down at the road, too much light isn't really a problem for me. The EC lenses are made in Italy and IMHO are every bit as good as my Serengeti Nuvola at 3X the price. I feel like I've lost an old friend, so will replace these quickly. Live and learn.



UPDATE: I received an email from Tifosi in response to a query regarding the above T-V435 lens characteristics, as their website was unclear about this. To quote "the lens on the T-V435 does have an EC Fototec lens with light transmission of 56-17%". That should be about perfect!