Enve Carbon Post?

[FlashUNC]

I realize this is like going to the methadone clinic and asking what everyone thinks of going out to score some more dope, but I'll put this one before the peanut gallery.

New project coming soon-ish, and I've got a perfectly great Fizik seatpost in the parts bin for the build. Alloy, nice head on the post, looks good, whole nine yards. But now I'm getting a wild hair about putting an Enve carbon post on the build instead.

Thoughts on the Enve post? Good? Horrible? I'm typically one of those "carbon for a seatpost? Never!" camp but now I'm carbon-curious, I guess you might say.

Or should I stop the flights of fancy, pocket the cash and just use what I've got?

Come for the affirmation and enablement, stay for the tough love, all that jazz.

[sandyrs]

Now you're obliged to show/tell us about the project.

[R3awak3n]

I bought one here form the forum like a month ago and have it here uninstalled. I can't ride right now so I haven't put it on. I did read quite a bit after I bought it and did read about some saddle slip due to the 1 bolt setup.

there is a good thread on weight weenies about it. Some people have had to put some more torque on the bolt or some carbon paste in the wedge or even loctite the bolt :eek:

Enve is about to release a 2 bolt seatpost which might be a good thing to wait for. Lets be honest, if they switched to 2 bolt there has to be a reason.

I really hope that doesnt happen to mine, I had a thomson masterpiece before and it was a great seatpost.

[SoCalSteve]

ENVE stuff is really nice. Their seat post is light, strong and very industrial looking. The clamping mechanism is second only to Moots...

And, it's very expensive. But, top notch gear usually is.

Good luck on whatever you choose!!!

[SoCalSteve]

I bought one here form the forum like a month ago and have it here uninstalled. I can't ride right now so I haven't put it on. I did read quite a bit after I bought it and did read about some saddle slip due to the 1 bolt setup.

there is a good thread on weight weenies about it. Some people have had to put some more torque on the bolt or some carbon paste in the wedge or even loctite the bolt :eek:

Enve is about to release a 2 bolt seatpost which might be a good thing to wait for. Lets be honest, if they switched to 2 bolt there has to be a reason.

I really hope that doesnt happen to mine, I had a thomson masterpiece before and it was a great seatpost.

I'm a big guy. Never had the ENVE post have saddle slip on me. Not one time. And I have ridden them for many thousands of miles...Maybe it's user error???...:confused:

[Uncle Jam's Army]

There's a new one coming out with a new clamp design: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=131211

[kramnnim]

My Parlee came with a Fizik Cyrano. The head is quite heavy. Replaced it with a Ritchey Superlogic. Bought an Enve on a whim when it showed up cheap, but never got around to installing it. The Ritchey is lighter and has a lower MSRP...

[Kentf14]

I've got an ENVE head in a custom Ti post and have never had an issue with it slipping FWIW.
Try not to overthink it. If you like the way it looks, put one on. There are certainly enough people out there using them already without vocal complaints. If you end up not liking it... sell it on the forum.

[mktng]

Had one. Sold it.

At 190lbs on the bad days :P it slipped on me mid ride. Sometimes bumps cant be avoided, and it would slip. I had the clamping bolt tighter than it should. Anymore .. I feel like it would break.

The piece is beautiful. Love it. Got a moots post and never looked back.

I'd look into another one...maybe if and when I lose some weight..or they redesign the clamping mechanism.

[tigoat]

I probably have tested many if not all of the big name carbon fiber seatposts out there. ENVE seaposts are okay but far from great. ENVE has a narrow clamp mechanism and a finicky adjustment system. I would compare it against a Ritchey Superlogic since they both have a single bolt clamp design with a similar clamp wedging principle. I would pick the Superlogic over the ENVE for the fact that it is lighter, has a nicer appearance, and with a lot less street selling price. If you want an ENVE seatpost just because it is an ENVE then this conversation is kind of pointless.

One of my favorite carbon fiber seatposts is neither one mentioned. I really like the Thomson two-bolt clamp design for a solid and reliable setup. For this reason, I would pick an Easton EC90 SL carbon fiber seatpost over many others. The EC90 is probably the most underrated carbon seatpost out there with a very reasonable street selling price. The Zipp Speed SL is close to the same class but it has a much higher street selling price than the EC90. Both of these carbon seatposts have a carbon fiber clamp mechainsm and they will not mark up the carbon rails of the saddle, which is one of the big factors for my picking. The EC90 also has a flat back to avoid clamp pinching, which is a potential failure mode. There is also some tapering technology inside the tube of an EC90 seatpost that nobody will care to know about. Some people will think it is ugly but is it beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Did I mention these carbon seatposts are super comfortable to ride too? If weight is a big factor for you then you can probably forget about all these seatposts with a dual-bolt clamp system.

[bikerboy337]

I like my ENVE post... i used carbon paste in the clamp and torqued to spec with a torque wrench (i believe 12nm) and I've had no issues... i'm between 170-180 depending on time of year... in any event, i love the look of the matching fork and seatpost, and i blacked both out with a set of Kokies stickers...

I also run Thomson masterpiece setback, and would admit its better for adjusting saddle angle/position, but lets be honest, once I set it, I dont move it... I'd like an ENVE on that bike, but just couldnt justify the upcharge...

[JasonF]

The clamping mechanism is second only to Moots...



The Moots is truly is a great seatpost. I suffer from a little Princess and the Pea Syndrome when it comes to saddle angle and the Moots is perfect when it comes to adjusting angle on the fly. I never understood the love for the 2-bolt setup (e.g., Thomson) since it always involved a see-saw between loosening and tightening the bolts.

[FlashUNC]

This is why I come to you guys.

I've got a Ritchey WCS one-bolt and like it a lot. Only slipping issue I had was due to me not torquing it up properly. But I don't think I'd want a clamping mechanism that was worse than what Ritchey has put together. And that was a pretty light alloy post to boot.

The two-bolt looks promising, but if Enve had trouble getting one-bolt right...

[R3awak3n]

well, they had problem getting 1 bolt right and now doing 2 bolt, its their solution and I think its a good one.


Someone had mentioned user error, there were tons of people complaining on the weight weenies thread so I don't think that is the case. At the same time there are tons of people that are happy with it and never had a problem.

I think it might be due to where you have your saddle. Right in the middle not a problem, if its too forward or too backward then you put more weight on one side and it slips. I could be wrong but sounds to me like that.

I am still going to try mine and see how it goes. I got it here on the forum for a good price. Its a good looking seatpost (I got a black decal from kookies, not because I don't like the enve branding but because I got the 3T stealth stem and wanted something different).

If the seatpost slips (I am going to go ahead and put carbon past on the clamp right away and not wait for it to slip mid ride) then I will look into something else. I had the masterpiece and I loved it but did not like the look of the setback post. I don't know what I would get instead.

[FlashUNC]

I've got an alloy Fizik Cyrano in the parts bin that worked great and looks really good, along with that Ritchey one-bolt that's a bit more beat up but totally serviceable.

But that urge for new parts with a new bike leads to not always sensible decisions.

Now that I'm thinking about it, the frame will be sloping, so the Cyrano may not be long enough. I'll have to do some measuring...

[kgreene10]

My Enve 27.2 in a carbon frame with a bit of paste has been perfect. Set and forget.

I swapped out a Thomson Masterpiece and ti railed saddle for the Enve post and the same saddle with carbon rails. I can't tell which bit is doing more of the work, but the ride is noticeably nicer.

[EA120711]

Same experience for me . A little carbon paste and torqued to spec ,the post never slipped . In fact the only reason I sold mine was because I HAD to get a matching Moots post and stem ! My Enve 27.2 in a carbon frame with a bit of paste has been perfect. Set and forget.

I swapped out a Thomson Masterpiece and ti railed saddle for the Enve post and the same saddle with carbon rails. I can't tell which bit is doing more of the work, but the ride is noticeably nicer.