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Reviews
USE Alien carbon seatpost
By John Stevenson
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In the last few years component development has been marked by two quests: the Quest for Aero and the Quest for Light Weight. The guys at British component manufacturer USE are on both quests at the same time and one of the results is the Alien seatpost. At least one significant pro thinks they're doing thing right, too - Laurent Jalabert rode a USE Alien post to the mountains jersey in last year's Tour.
Named for the shape of its distinctive clamp, the Alien is available with aluminium, titanium and carbon fibre shafts, and there are two versions of the carbon model, with round or aero cross-section. I rode the round version in 350mm MTB length, though the pics here are of the Aero because it's still clean and both have the same clamp.
Both carbon posts are startlingly light. The aero model in 300mm length and 27.2mm diameter comes in at just 169g, 66g lighter than a stock Giant carbon aero post as supplied with the TCR we tested a few months ago. The regular version is also feathery at just 193g for a 25.0mm/350mm model, though you have to add 23g of shim if you're planning to slide it into a 27.2mm frame. Even so, that's still low enough to get lightweight fans drooling.
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USE achieves these low weights by using an unusual, minimal clamp design. A weakness with many lightweight posts is that they use expensive materials to save weight in the shaft, only to fritter it away with a big lump of aluminium at the top to hold the seat rails. USE avoids this pitfall with a design that sits the clamp on a curved mount and holds everything together with a pair of 3mm bolts that sit horizontally through the clamp.
Lightweight posts often achieve low weight by using a two-bolt clamp that sits right in line with the shaft, giving a position that's too far forward for most riders. The Alien also avoids this pitfall; the clamp has some setback, putting the centre of the clamp a couple of centimetres behind the centreline of the post. However, it's not as much as some – if you want to get right back on the bike, this may not be the post for you.
Fitting a saddle into the Alien clamp is a shade fiddly because the clamp is not permanently attached to the post so you have to hold the post and the middle of the clamp in one hand while wiggling the saddle in with the other. Doable, but slightly awkward, and you definitely need to read the instructions. You adjust saddle angle by simply sliding the clamp along the curve of the cradle mount. Securing the saddle is then a matter of tightening the two bolts.
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Since the clamp components sit on a curved rail, it looks as though saddle slippage might be a problem, but the twin-bolt clamp is actually very firm and stayed put despite my best efforts to bounce around on it while riding off-road. This is a solid, secure clamp. In fact, it's almost too secure. After it's been ridden for a while, loosening the clamp to move the saddle is difficult and requires you to completely remove the bolts.
However, everyone I rode with commented on the flexibility of the carbon shaft of the round, MTB model. In practice that's not necessarily a bad thing - the flexibility provides a handy bit of bump absorption. But it certainly looks disconcerting. It probably didn't help that I had the post right at (but not beyond) maximum extension to make an-almost-too-small bike fit me properly. The aero shape and shorter extension of the road post make it a less flexible critter, at least in the fore-aft direction.
To sum up, this is a post that's definitely worth your consideration if light weight is a priority. Initial setup of the clamp is a bit fiddly, and the flex of the shaft will probably worry your riding buddies, but the unusual clamp design works fine and correctly designed carbon fiber can take a lot more flex than, say, aluminium. If carbon worries you (and I don't mind admitting that after breaking a carbon post and carbon MTB bar back in the early 90s, I'm still wary of the stuff) USE's titanium post offers almost the same weight saving, with USE claiming just a 6g weight disadvantage for titanium.
Price guide: MTB: US$130/Aus$215
Price guide: Aero: US$160/Aus$275(S&M)/Aus$295(L&XL)
Sizes: Round: 270mm x 27.2mm/27.0mm/26.8mm/25.0mm; 350mm x 25.0mm/27.2mm.
Aero: 27.2mm, S, M, L, XL lengths
Pro: Light, very secure clamp, shock-damping flex
Con: Fiddly clamp, friend-worrying flex, not cheap
More information: USE's
website
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