Titanium seatpost

[pedalsheep]

Are there any noticeable practical benefits from fitting a titanium seatpost to a titanium bike? Apart from a minsculely lighter bike and a considerably lighter wallet would I notice any practical difference? Or put another way is the titanium seatpost upgrade on a Spa Elan worth going for?

[robgul]

I have a Ti seatpost on one of my bikes in part as it looks nice and in part as it was a low-ish cost add-on when I bought the bike. The weight difference is marginal - the upside, apart from appearance, is that it's not going to rust or corrode in any way.

Shameless plug - I have an as new Ti seatpost (complete with the drawtsring bag it came in) for sale - it's 27.2 x 340mm. It's in the "for sale" at £45 but I might haggle if it's going to a good home. I bought it for a project that I didn't continue with.

Rob

[mattsccm]

Straight or offset?
I sort of feel that mine is marginally more flexi/comfortable than an alloy one. Well my alloy ones.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
That's a silk bag with gold braid I assume

[bikesandboats]

I fitted a Ti seatpost (Kent Eriksen Sweetpost) for comfort, I do find that it helps smooth out bumps over an alloy one. It's also lighter and shouldn't corrode which is a plus.

[foxyrider]

I have 2 Ti posts, the 27.2 has been used on various bikes - its actually the post for my Airnimal, bought originally to save weight as i need to use a long post which in Al weighs a ton. The bonus is that the thin walled tube aids in the comfort stakes - a win all round. The other post, a 34.9 i think, is in my carbon bike - 2 reasons, i've seen broken carbon posts and i wanted something i could clamp stuff to - so Ti won over Carbon on both those points and over Al on weight again.

Think i paid @ £45 each via ebay which is less than i paid for an Al Campag Record some years ago so not exactly high priced in my tight pocketed Yorkshire mind!

[Mr Evil]

...it's not going to rust or corrode in any way...

The seatpost itself won't, but some titanium frames have aluminium inserts in the seat tube. The presence of a titanium seatpost against the aluminium in an area that may get quite wet can result in the aluminium corroding.

[slowster]

I cannot comment on the titanium seatpost upgrade, but I would suggest looking into the fork options, and maybe discussing them with Spa. Spa offer three different carbon forks with the Elan: carbon with alloy steerer, full carbon, and Kinesis Tripster full carbon with thru axle. Thru axles have both advantages and disadvantages for front forks on road bikes and bikes like the Elan. For now QR is more common, and Son for example do not yet make a 100mm OLN thru axle compatible dynamo hub, but I suspect thru axles will supercede front QRs for disc braked road/gravel bikes over the next 5-10 years.

[531colin]

Are there any noticeable practical benefits from fitting a titanium seatpost to a titanium bike? Apart from a minsculely lighter bike and a considerably lighter wallet would I notice any practical difference? Or put another way is the titanium seatpost upgrade on a Spa Elan worth going for?

Get a test ride on the bike; then you will know whether or not you need a post with a long layback. In my view, that's much more important than whether you have a Ti or alloy post. If you can't/don't want to get a test ride, then get a (cheap) alloy post and do the test riding on your own Elan to decide how much layback you need.

[ChrisF]

...it's not going to rust or corrode in any way...

The seatpost itself won't, but some titanium frames have aluminium inserts in the seat tube. The presence of a titanium seatpost against the aluminium in an area that may get quite wet can result in the aluminium corroding.

Yes, and an Al seatpost in a Ti frame can corrode and get stuck (mine did). So if you go for the Al post, make sure you use copper grease https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/9542/is-there-a-specific-grease-for-titanium-frames.

[pedalsheep]

Are there any noticeable practical benefits from fitting a titanium seatpost to a titanium bike? Apart from a minsculely lighter bike and a considerably lighter wallet would I notice any practical difference? Or put another way is the titanium seatpost upgrade on a Spa Elan worth going for?

Get a test ride on the bike; then you will know whether or not you need a post with a long layback. In my view, that's much more important than whether you have a Ti or alloy post. If you can't/don't want to get a test ride, then get a (cheap) alloy post and do the test riding on your own Elan to decide how much layback you need.

I had a test ride on the Elan a couple of weeks ago while visiting friends in York. I liked it so much my other half very kindly offered to buy me that very one at a good price as an ex demo model as I have a significant birthday looming! As we were going away on holiday straight after York and birthday isn't until February Spa are looking after it and will post it to me in mid Feb. I was just musing on any possible upgrades but will leave well alone for the moment.
I will see about getting some of that copper grease.

[roger]

I have a titanium pillar in a steel frame, with a ti frame Rolls saddle, the were 15+ years age better than the previous bits. Other bikes have Rolls TI on carbon pillars because the were handy. They too give no problems.
This is really a question for a metallurgist and or engineer.
The real is carbon posts designed for specific weight ranges to provide sensible flex and support. Shimano do wonders( amongst others) with fishing rods, perhapd they might do the same for us. Of course, that is another topic.

[pwa]

I reckon flexy saddle rails (eg Brooks Titanium Flite) will give ten times more springiness than a titanium seatpost. If you want springiness, that's where to put your money.

[dim]

get any seatpost but then get a Brooks C17 Cambium Carved saddle with 28+mm wide tyres on lower pressure .... that's what makes comfortable on any bike be it steel, aluminium, carbon or Ti

[pwa]

get any seatpost but then get a Brooks C17 Cambium Carved saddle with 28+mm wide tyres on lower pressure .... that's what makes comfortable on any bike be it steel, aluminium, carbon or Ti

I have a C17 Carved saddle but I reckon my previous Titanium Swift gave a softer ride.