Thomson seatposts are overrated?

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Thomson seatposts are overrated?

46 posts & 38 voices | Started 1 year ago by willy | Latest reply from _tom_

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willy - Member

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!

Posted 1 year ago #
jedi - Member

eh??? they rock and last

Posted 1 year ago #
Jamie - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
mboy - Member

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!

Posted 1 year ago #
RealMan - Member

What saddle for...

Posted 1 year ago #
4ndy B - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
davidtaylforth - Member

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?

Posted 1 year ago #
kiwijohn - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
GNARGNAR - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
willy - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
ratherbeintobago - Member

It was Thomson & Thompson in Tintin

A. Pedant

Posted 1 year ago #
Sponging-Machine - Member

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'?

Posted 1 year ago #
P20 - Member

Never had any problems with any of my Thomson posts.

Willy - have you sent that tyre yet?

Posted 1 year ago #
ScottChegg - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
ChunkyMTB - Member

You don't have to take the clamp apart on a thomson to get the saddle on...

Posted 1 year ago #
cynic-al - Member

OMG Thomson is being questioned...

OP be prepared for complete ostracisationerising

Posted 1 year ago #
igm - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
joolsburger - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
rudedog - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
Mental Mickey - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
esher shore - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
nickegg - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
sheldona - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
Macavity - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
cynic-al - Member

The Audi of the component world.

Posted 1 year ago #
seanodav - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
Elfinsafety - Member

I bought a Masterpiece one off WCA for forty pounds.

Off WCA; what could possibly go wrong?

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
simon_g - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
momo - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
njee20 - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
elaine anne - Member

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

Posted 1 year ago #
bigyinn - Member

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??

Posted 1 year ago #