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I have the seatpost shown in the pictures below. It came on a 2010 Specialized Tricross. It looks like Carbon fibre on the outside, but when you look at the open end of the tubing, it actually looks more like a thin layer of Carbon over a normal Aluminum tube.

Outside of Seatpost

Inside of Seatpost

I have two questions:

  1. Am I correct that this tube is mostly aluminum with just a bit of carbon outside? If so, why would they even bother adding the Carbon? Just for show?

  2. If it is mostly Aluminum, would it be acceptable for a long bike tour? From a durability perspective, that is. The reason I ask is I just got a new bike that came with a pretty basic metal tube with a hard to adjust seat clamp and less offset than this Carbon-wrapped one. I would prefer to use the Carbon seatpost from my Tricross since it has the offset I'm used to and a nicer seat clamp that's a bit easier to adjust fore/aft position and tilt separately.

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1) It's for show, just like the carbon fiber insert on my Leatherman Skeletool CX. See this question.

2) It's fine for touring provided its in good condition. However, you may still want to get a different seatpost depending on the adjustments available on this one.

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  • It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like it may actually be a very thin inner layer of metal that used as a framework for the composite. FSA makes carbon stems the same way. The carbon is actually the majority structural component, the metal just provides a framework for a cheaper manufacturing process. Looking at the line on that picture, the metal may make up less than a third of the width of the tube. At that point the composite is hardly "for show".
    – Deleted User
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 21:38
  • It's an artifact of the angle of the picture.
    – Batman
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 21:53
  • Looks like it, The spec sheet for that model / year lists it as "carbon wrapped".
    – Deleted User
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 22:00
  • Agreed. It's like the carbon fiber stickers that can be bought to adorn just about anything and make it look "custom" and/or "high tech": google.com/…
    – CQH
    Commented Jun 6, 2015 at 1:37
  • Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll stick with this seatpost for my tour. I like the adjustments of the saddle mount on this one.
    – SSilk
    Commented Jun 6, 2015 at 14:30

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