They are really expensive! even second hand!
and everyone on here seems to love them…

fair enough they look snazzy but their actual workings are crap! such a faff, to actually get your seat in you have to completely take off the top plate, whereas with a normal seatpost you just undo it a bit, swivel to top plate round put seat in swivel top plate back round and tighten. thompson requires you to completely take the top plate off then put it back on and try and line up the little bars that you screw the bolts into and there are two bolts! just hassle if you ask me, it frustrates me so much every time i have so change the saddle on that seatpost!

eh??? they rock and last

I feel you, and your sausage fingers, may be in the minority here OP.

If all I was bothered with a seatpost was how quick you could put a saddle on, I’d agree with you willy. They’re a bit of a faff.

But how often do you change your saddle?

I’ve bent quite a few seatposts in the past, Thomson posts are as good as unbreakable.

And when compared with similar quality products, I don’t think they are that expensive. And I’ve never paid more than £35 for an immaculate 2nd hand one either, which I don’t think is bad at all for a product of such high quality…

Their Ubiquity? Who cares! I’m not trying to make a statement, I just want bike kit that lasts and does its job well… Hence all my bikes run Thomson’s!

What saddle for…

You must be doing it wrong, I’ve never had to remove the top plate to get a saddle on a Thomson post.

Last Thomson I bought 2nd hand cost £40 in mint condition with the bag & stickers, not that expensive really

Bloody good seatpost, although I think I may be starting to prefer my Syntace post over the Thomson, as it’s a little less common.

Thankfully I have four fingers and a thumb on each hand and I’m able to control how I move them aswell. It makes task like assembling thompson seatposts easy.

Do you hands look like this?

😀 ^
I’ve only got one because a decent post in 27.0 is hard to find.
And they look great in silver.

Maybe having an inferior post shear and go up your ass might change your mind. I suggest you go for an sdg i beam in carbon next.

thankfully i own a fine set of hands with fingers and thumbs attatched and everything!
however it is most definately a major faff compared to a normal seatpost.
all you peolpe who desire a product that last etc… since when was ergonomics such an unconsidered factor when buying something? it seems there are plenty of seatposts that are of the normal kind that are just as good.

ive never once been bummed by a normal seatpost no matter how cheap its been, and i ride downhill, and i ride with the seatpost was past the max insert mark regularly (when not riding downhill)

couple of friends have carbon i-beams, theyve snapped the saddle a couple of times, but never the seatpost on dh bikes too.

It was Thomson & Thompson in Tintin

A. Pedant

Perhaps, rather than claiming they’re shite, you could express your thoughts as ‘Thomson seatposts are awfully strong and pretty but could really do with a revision of the head-design’?

Never had any problems with any of my Thomson posts.

Willy – have you sent that tyre yet?

Willy- that wasn’t you in My Left Foot was it?

Thomson make the best seatpost around. Only Ton and his enormous mass can make an impression on them. 😉

So basically, you’re a ham-fisted riding legend, willy?

Changing saddle is a fairly rare occasion so like most people it seems, I’d rather simply have a post that does its main job well even if that makes it a teeny bit more tricky to fit though ime it’s still an easy job and doesn’t take more than a couple of mins at most.

For the record, I’ve bent a lot of posts. I have slightly bent a Thomson in the past but the current ones are all standing up to me. Race Face XY also do the job well too and have the ergonomics you’re after but are getting rarer these days.

You don’t have to take the clamp apart on a thomson to get the saddle on…

OMG Thomson is being questioned…

OP be prepared for complete ostracisationerising

I’d always assumed the reason the head / saddle clamp is the design it is, is so that they could cold forge the post and lower half of the clamp in one piece avoiding a bond or weld that might introduce a weak or stressed point.

Overall the extra strength inherent in a forged design is probably worth the slightly harder fitting – and once the saddle is in the two bolt design is superb for playing with saddle angle.

The surface finish on Thomsons seems to be a lot better than other posts too they stay looking black for a hell of a lot longer especially if you remove the post for transport or drop it a couple of times a ride.

If you don’t buy a Thomson seatpost then don’t come crying on here when your bike explodes and the world is plunged in to eternal night.

Every rider will be judged by their post, without a Thomson, you are nothing. Bwahahahahaha

Thomson?

best seatpost ever made

I’ve bent / snapped Easton, Race Face (Diablous), USE, Truvativ, Titec and Kore seatposts and never damaged a Thomson

if you are regularly needing to chance your saddle? buy another Thomson seatpost and have your second saddle setup on that…

I would never use anything but Thomson seatposts and stems, have them on all 3 of my bikes 😉

I used to think Thomson components were just over-priced bling…but then i started working in a bike shop and was introduced to the world of trade pricing.

I don’t have to take the clamp off to fit my saddles?
However I know where you’re coming from, it’s not the easiest of clamps to work with but one of the strongest ime.

Everybody has their own opinion,
http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009/03/thomson-elite-seatpost-failure.html

The Audi of the component world.

If you dont buy a thomson post it wont match your stem? 🙄

I’ve questioned them on here before as well. Loads of people love them and they are well made, but I can’t see what the fuss is about. £25 FSA does the same job, and is about the same weight. I had one (Secondhand, I needed a silver post) and I too thought the clamp was fiddly. It worked fine but was a bit too stiff for me. I like some more flex in my posts. Good value secondhand, but I wouldn’t but a new one. Mostly hype IMO.

I bought a Masterpiece one off WCA for forty pounds.

Off WCA; what could possibly go wrong?

Thing is PP, I don’t think that the FSA you mention does/would do – I haven’t tried them specifically I’ll admit but having bent a lot of posts, I’ve found out which ones are particularly strong. As I’ve said, the Thomson and RF XY are the readily available ones I know of.

I’ve had the same saddle on a Thomson seatpost for years now. Minor adjustments (esp where I’ve changed frame) is the only adjustment that’s been needed.

Bought it secondhand, it’s probably worth the same now. Cheaper ones do the job, but I like the engineering and the elliptical bore amuses me, whether it makes it stronger or not.

Much like Hope, I like companies that design and make everything in house, not just knock up a design and send it off to the cheapest bidder in Taiwan to produce.

I’ve had the same Thomson post for over 10 years now, now on it’s second bike. Admittedly I’ve only had to change my saddle once in that time after I snapped a rail on the old one.

If you think the clamps are fiddly, try New Ultimate/KCNC/Extralite etc, they’re really fiddly!

Thomson posts are good if you break a lot of posts, wouldn’t bother otherwise.

my son has a thomson seatpost and its fine…. i have Ragley seatpost which i quite like….

Perhaps they overrated for lighter riders, but I bought mine for one reason, they last without breaking!
I’ve broken or bent many seatposts over the years. The only ones that I havent killed were one of the original Syncros (when they were still independant) and Thomson.
Im not a hard rider, but being 6’5″ and approx 17st tends to put more stress on certain components.
And yes the clamps are a bit fiddly, but how often do you change your saddle REALLY??

I have squashed one some how where it clamps up making it slip half an inch. Had to sell it on to someone who would be clamping it in a different position for whom it was perfect. Don’t quite know how it happened but I still use them on all my bikes. Classy products IMO.

Still using mine – originally fitted to my 1997 Klein – I have ridden it hard on 3 bikes now and have 2 other bikes all with Thomson – it works forever so why bother with anything else? Your £20 saving will be forgotten when your cheap post snaps miles from home or you’re replacing your cheap one every 6 months.

Thomson posts are good if you break a lot of posts, wouldn’t bother otherwise.

Or you don’t want to break one in the first place…

The other thing about Thomson posts is they are as good as currency as money is. They don’t change in value really. Worst you could do would be to scratch it a bit over a period of years, and it would be worth maybe £10 less than when you bought it.

They are a “guilt free” component to me, cos I don’t have to justify the expense at all. A set of carbon bars? Only if I could get hold of them very cheap brand new (wouldn’t trust 2nd hand), and even then they’ll be worth less when selling on, so there’s a need to justify the price, and some guilt creeps in. Thomson posts, well I always buy 2nd hand (there’s always a ready supply) and never lose money when selling on… Simple really!

Thing is PP, I don’t think that the FSA you mention does/would do – I haven’t tried them specifically I’ll admit but having bent a lot of posts,

For me, FSA and the like are fine. I’ve never bent one, not even close. And I’m no lightweight. There’s plenty of metal in them.

I’ve got a Control Tech that cost about £40 a few years ago and it flexes like a mad thing with me on it, but that too is spot on. It’s lighter than Thopmson too.

I have no doubt that Thompson are good quality, but for me, I just don’t see the hype. That’s all really. 🙂

EDUT
The stems are a pain in the arrrrse. That expander clamp thingy is cack. What a pallava. What’s wrong with a 2 bolt clamp FFS? K.I.S.S. 🙂

I agree – for people who don’t bend posts, they’re not really any better but since that’s not me….

Fancy lending me your FSA to try? 🙂