Carbon Seatpost Issue
Discussion
I've never had this issue, but I saw a post regarding some Factor Ostro owners having this issue, I read that a couple of them have been putting a piece of sandpaper around the sea tpost where it meets the wedge and apparently this is enough to properly 'fill' the gap and stop it slipping.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
He means to put the shim between the seat post and the clamp, thus making the seat post slightly thicker which may resolve the slipping issue, similar to the sandpaper method I read about. I have a TCR and a Tarmac with this type of seat post / clamp combo and have not had issues with either slipping when torqued correctly. I am wondering if this is a design flaw - have you googled the issue to see if anyone else with one of these bikes has bought it up? (Or checked the owners Facebook group if you're on there).
I've only got boring bikes with circular seat posts so don't know much about these types.
It's an expanding wedge? Does the bolt and sections of the wedge move freely without the seatpost in place? I guess you want to be careful where you get the paste as it could mess with the clamping force.
It's an expanding wedge? Does the bolt and sections of the wedge move freely without the seatpost in place? I guess you want to be careful where you get the paste as it could mess with the clamping force.
You need to take the wedge out, the sliding parts need to be cleaned and greased carefully, so the wedge can move, then put the grip paste around the contact areas between the frame and seatpost and outside of the wedge.
remove the middle part that moves out, grease the sliding surfaces,inside surface only, then refit and use the grip paste.
remove the middle part that moves out, grease the sliding surfaces,inside surface only, then refit and use the grip paste.
neilr said:
Why not use the LBS and see if they can sort it ? Why do you think its 'unethical' to ask them to fix a bike bought elsewhere? You're not asking them to do it for free are you. Or are their staff there as result of modern slavery? now that would be unethical.
I took my 2 month old giant tcr to a local bike shop to repair the freehub. They did the job, I paid and they wrote me up a short report of what the issue was and that they had to fit a new freehub. They told me to send this to the store I got the bike from to make a warranty claim with giant. I did this and got the £40 or so refunded within a week to two by the store I purchased the bike from. Your last post says you sent the email to the Merida distributor, have you contacted Tredz from where you purchased the bike from?
Your contract of sale is with Tredz, not the UK distributor nor Merida themselves.
If the distributor has any sense they will point you back to the point of purchase.
If you have contacted Tredz, what have they suggested in terms of resolving the issue.
IMHO you would be better off returning the bike and requesting a replacement or a refund.
The risk is, if you or the LBS bugger about and damage the frame / seat post / clamp, they will use this a a wiggle out of the warranty.
The clamp works in the same way as any other wedge style clamp. As you tighten the bolt, the clamp expands due to the ramp profile.
Your contract of sale is with Tredz, not the UK distributor nor Merida themselves.
If the distributor has any sense they will point you back to the point of purchase.
If you have contacted Tredz, what have they suggested in terms of resolving the issue.
IMHO you would be better off returning the bike and requesting a replacement or a refund.
The risk is, if you or the LBS bugger about and damage the frame / seat post / clamp, they will use this a a wiggle out of the warranty.
The clamp works in the same way as any other wedge style clamp. As you tighten the bolt, the clamp expands due to the ramp profile.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
That looks like it's jamming between the two parts under the R on the upper part.It looks like it wants the bolt slackening, rotate the lower part anticlockwise a bit so the two parts slide and the bolt is more parallel to the seat post axis.
The V-shaped gap at lower right should be parallel.
Maybe rotate the lower part, tighten the bolt a little so it has to be correct when it's in the tube?
Failing that, a small adjustment with a file ....
Beware or carbon/alloy corrosion, it can be fierce.
I weigh 90kg and had the same design seat post clamp on a Merida Reacto 5000 I had for a couple of years (until it was stolen). I bought it through Tredz and they were great to deal with, they actually replaced the whole bike after one of the chainrings broke and ruined the frame. I never had any problems with the seat dropping.
Disassemble and clean everything, lube the bits that should slide, apply carbon grip paste to the bits that shouldn’t slide and torque it up. If that doesn’t work tell Tredz.
Disassemble and clean everything, lube the bits that should slide, apply carbon grip paste to the bits that shouldn’t slide and torque it up. If that doesn’t work tell Tredz.
OP - I hope you get it sorted. I read this thread with some trepidation as coincidentally I just bought myself a Tarmac SL7 (actually in October but was waiting for drier weather before riding it) and had planned to do first test ride today to bed in brakes.
It has the same ‘wedge’ set up as your bike but I needed to swap out the seat post to a shorter one which I did on Friday evening and used gripper grease per instructions (my first carbon bike).
Read this thread last night (!), first ride today and it seems fine but was a short one.
Nothing more frustrating than the sort of thing you’ve experience so hope it’s fixed soon.
It has the same ‘wedge’ set up as your bike but I needed to swap out the seat post to a shorter one which I did on Friday evening and used gripper grease per instructions (my first carbon bike).
Read this thread last night (!), first ride today and it seems fine but was a short one.
Nothing more frustrating than the sort of thing you’ve experience so hope it’s fixed soon.
It does look designed to jam and fail.
But how hard can it be? two parts that work as a wedge, plus a drawbolt.
The newest bike I have, I bought slightly secondhand. I think the seatpost was slathered in some kind of grease normally associated with the word 'dockyard'. The post has worn so the clamp screw needs a fair bit of adjustment when lowering the seat for Mrs O'Shed.
A mate of mine bought a nice carbon frame with an utterly seized ali seatpost in it.
Removed by chemistry in the end.
I suspect a thin layer of insulting tape would pack the wedge in the tube, ensure the parts stay in alignment during assembly, and provide some grip.
(We bodge for Britain here!)
But how hard can it be? two parts that work as a wedge, plus a drawbolt.
The newest bike I have, I bought slightly secondhand. I think the seatpost was slathered in some kind of grease normally associated with the word 'dockyard'. The post has worn so the clamp screw needs a fair bit of adjustment when lowering the seat for Mrs O'Shed.
A mate of mine bought a nice carbon frame with an utterly seized ali seatpost in it.
Removed by chemistry in the end.
I suspect a thin layer of insulting tape would pack the wedge in the tube, ensure the parts stay in alignment during assembly, and provide some grip.
(We bodge for Britain here!)
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