Plus they come in, like, a gazillion different diameters 😉

They are internally ovalised so more material is placed in line with the main bending forces / less material is used where strength is not needed. The same as Ritchey seat post in around 1991 but for some reason no-one else seems to use the idea.

they are very prudy

i wish they made bars too, nice wiiiide ones.

“They are internally ovalised so more material is placed in line with the main bending forces / less material is used where strength is not needed. The same as Ritchey seat post in around 1991 but for some reason no-one else seems to use the idea”

The Marin OEM seatposts used to be internally ovalised, maybe they still are – Ovation I think they’re called

I wish they made bars too, nice wiiiide ones.

I’ve always wished they’d make cranks.

they ought to make bars, really – the tooling can’t be any harder if as hard as their stems and posts.

Thing is their products are machined. How many handlebars are machined?

Zero I think?

ah yes, this is true.

HTF do people break seatposts
I’m 100 kilos and never bust any post no matter the quality. Do you have iron butts or something? Please explain!!

Lol i am 90kg and used to use the flimsy use alien with no issues!

I too don’t get how people break ’em

Forgot to mention (and nobody else has mentioned this yet either!), but one thing that Thomson seatposts (and to a lesser extent their stems) have over the competition, is that very elusive phoenomenon (sp?) in Mountain Biking called “resale value”…

Now I’m not one to let a few quid come in the way of having fun on a bike, but it always gives me a warm feeling inside when I know that some bits I can buy for my bike I will get most of what I paid for said item back in however long a time. Thomson seatposts epitomise this. Never paid more than £40 for one, even brand new, and never sold one for less than £35!

They’re priced so consistently even 2nd hand that they’re like mountain bike currency. Certainly, if anyone wanted to buy something I was selling for £200 and he said “i’ll give you 5 new Thomson seatposts for that”, I’d not hesitate to swap, as selling a Thomson is the easiest thing in the world!

Geoffj:
Good question, one i was thinking of asking too!
‘ cos they match your stem….’ hmmmm.
Just bought a Hope stem because I liked in in preference to Thompson, so as I’m in no hurry to change my cheap and cheerful seatpost, I’ll wait til the Hope one is produced and then see.
I’ve seen the Hope version on the STW site’s preview of one of the trade shows in October-ish, and emailed Hope. Apparently it is on it’s way, but no details yet.
Might be worth the wait ( or not! ) if you’re not in a hurry or want another alternative?
cheers
Q

I too don’t get how people break ’em

Jumps and drops, if you are a wheels on the ground rider, and don’t have a mile of seatpost sticking out then I guess the cheaper ones should be fine.

jackthedog, Thomson cranks would be sooooooo nice!!!!!

if they did an adjustable one, that would be worth talking about.

I find them very adjustable, set it at any height you want, can’t get more adjustable than that… 😉

Depends how far back you run your saddle too. Further back = more strain on the post, and more likely to bend.

Because people love logos and don’t want a Nuke Proof post that looks the very same.

The Smica posts are ovalised as well

MBoy is spot on.

Earl – Member

MBoy is spot on.

Awwwww shucks! 😳

😉

Strangely the only posts i tend to find sized accurately are Thomson and Raceface XY;s – even the new deus seem to be not quite the size they should be. I’ve broken 2 posts and I am a 72kg XC whippet. I have never worked out how.

I got one second hand and it does look very well made with a nice mounting for the seat – lightish as well but I would never pay full price for one.

There isn’t much else out there in a 27.0mm.

richc – Member

I too don’t get how people break ’em

Jumps and drops, if you are a wheels on the ground rider, and don’t have a mile of seatpost sticking out then I guess the cheaper ones should be fine.

Surely if your jumping or dropping and you’re landing with you arse anywhere near the saddle you are doing something very very wrong.

I understand the possibility of breaking one in a crash, but surely bad technique would lead to breaking one while tackling a drop off.

I’ve never broken a seatpost, everything else but never a seatpost, I’m a heavyweight but have always either had Race Face XO – sadly not made anymore 🙁 as loved the head on that one or Thomson.

I have appalling technique and can only guess that from all the comments above, the only reason i haven’t been skewered by a snapped piece of metal is because I’ve been buying decent seatposts

they’re really well made and they are light by design, not by using silly materials or really thin wall sections. nice simple clamp and good use of material

basically anyone who says otherwise doesn’t appreciate a well engineered product and is clearly a sucker for ‘stuff with flames on’ or other such gimmicks

that said i don’t like using a QR seat clamp with one, but i don’t feel the need to move my seat that often

Good question OP. For me, its more like its the ‘done thing’. Don’t know why but always bought Thomson unlike the Chris King arguement which is a no-brainer/winner everytime on quality/finish and aesthetics. Discreet is how I’d describe Thomson.

Because Thomson don’t use a clamp assembly which is bonded into the tube like most manufacturers. The bonded interface of most is the most likely point of failure, even if they don’t de-bond, they often end up creaking. Thomson is a good design, once you get over the initial fiddley set up. I’ve never owned a Tommy, but I do think they’re good.