Seatpost for Serotta - titanium or carbon?

[dpughe]

I have a custome Ottrot SE (Carbon and Titanium) and am after your learned views on whether it is better to have a titanium seatpost or a carbon one? This bike is mainly used for Alpine cyclosportives (Etapedu Tour, Marmotte, etc.)

[flickwet]

Ottrots have Carbon main tubes and Titanium lugs/junctions, from an aesthetic standpoint only, I would think that all things being equal a carbon seatpost with a Ti seat clamp kind of maintains the whole theme of the bike and is what I would do if I were blessed with such a fine piece of work, however if the frame is painted instead maybe my thoughts would be different. Lastly, thanks so much for posting about a Serotta bicycle in the Serotta forum it seems to be an all too rare rare event these days, oh look the Sun's out.

[93legendti]

I have a custome Ottrot SE (Carbon and Titanium) and am after your learned views on whether it is better to have a titanium seatpost or a carbon one? This bike is mainly used for Alpine cyclosportives (Etapedu Tour, Marmotte, etc.)
I talked to Kelly Bedford in '07 about a post for my Ottrott and he preferred carbon over ti....ti was more likely to slip, iirc.

[giordana93]

get whatever has the least likely chance of getting stuck in the frame--not a joke. you will trash the frame if that happens and some materials get along better than others. if kelly bedford recommended carbon, I would go with that. (or something else that one of the true serotta experts suggested). maybe even alloy.

[Blue Jays]

I imagine a titanium bike, with titanium seatpost, with titanium saddle rails would look pretty spiffy. I wonder if anti-seize building compound smeared on the post would do the trick?
Otherwise, carbon fiber posts look great coupled with titanium bikes, too.

[Ahneida Ride]

I imagine a titanium bike, with titanium seatpost, with titanium saddle rails would look pretty spiffy. I wonder if anti-seize building compound smeared on the post would do the trick?
Otherwise, carbon fiber posts look great coupled with titanium bikes, too.

How about just removing and cleaning the post and sleeve every
once and awhile ... ?

[Blue Jays]

A.R., the post still needs something to ensure problem-free operation.
In the case of aluminum seatposts inserted into steel, grease works perfectly in my experience.
In the case of carbon fiber posts inserted into titanium frames, a good choice has been CF dynamic assembly paste.
Regardless of material, posts should be removed if bicycles are ridden in wet conditions. This is the perfect time for drying and to reapply appropriate lubricant.

[happycampyer]

I agree with flickwet. For me, the choice is purely aesthetic. If I had an Ottrott with clear-coated carbon tubes, I would use a carbon post, or maybe a black Thomson post, because it fits the IT scheme. When I repainted my Ottrott, I had the ti matte finished, so I installed a ti seatpost (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=600832&postcount=48)
to match the finish.

There is no issue with slippage, and I have ti seatopsts (Moots) on all of my Moots, and they don't slip either. You do need to use ti prep/anti-seize or some other grease to prevent galling and cold-welding. I use ti-prep and have never had a problem removing a ti seatpost from a ti frame.