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Sklar crafts new titanium seat posts in straight or bendy setback

Written by Zach Overholt
20 Comments
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There are a lot of titanium seat post fans out there. Thanks to titanium’s inherent ‘spring’, the material works well in an area where vibration absorption is important. Like a seat post. After building bikes out of the stuff for a little over a year now, Sklar decided it was time to add a few titanium seat post options to the mix as well.

Sklar crafts new titanium seat posts in straight or bendy setback Sklar crafts new titanium seat posts in straight or bendy setback

Available in either straight or setback, the two posts are hand made from high grade titanium in Sklar’s shop in Bozeman, MT. In order to get the 15 or 18mm setback numbers, the post uses a bendy curve that requires at least 110mm of seat post to be exposed from the frame (and have an 85mm minimum insertion). Max rider weight is 280lbs.

Currently, the 0, 15, and 18mm setback posts are available in only 27.2mm diameters and 310mm lengths. Built with ENVE saddle clamp guts, the posts are available for $279 for the straight post, or $299 for either setback version.

sklarbikes.com
Zach Overholt
5,722 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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BMX
BMX
6 years ago

Will these bond to the inside of a ti frame like an alloy post? I know copper anti seize and all, but UK winter salt wrecks alloy and ti interfaces.

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sklar
sklar
6 years ago
Reply to  BMX

Shouldn’t have any problems with these. Alloy + salt = glavanic corrosion. Titanium is far less conductive a material, so that means it is very hard to corrode. That said, always keep your seatposts well greased!

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Garrett
Bill B
Bill B
6 years ago
Reply to  Garrett

Look a lot like the Lynsey post – which has been out for a while, offers more setback, and is $54 to $74 less expensive.

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Bill B
Bill B
6 years ago
Reply to  Bill B

Meant, Looks a lot like the Lynskey…

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Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  Bill B

And it also looks like a lot of other Ti seat posts. Who knows who was first. I do know that Lynskey started business in 2006, and I had a Moots with a Ti layback seat post, much like the one above in 2005.

It’s not so much that there’s copying going on but rather that manufacturers have more limited design choices given the material.

While my Moots post was a thing of beauty, the seat clamp–similar to that above–was a PIA.

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contrarian
contrarian
6 years ago

I notice that a lot of titanium seatpost designs usually are not large diameter. Is this because most road and gravel bikes still use smaller diameter seat tubes, or are the benefits of titanium’s flex more pronounced in the smaller diameter? If that’s the case, I’m surprised that more 27.2″ post manufacturers aren’t offering a cheap shim to popular larger diameter seat tubes included in the outrageous cost of these posts.

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Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  contrarian

27.2mm diameter seat posts are pretty common, and according to Bill Holland, there’s more flex to be had in the seat post than in the rear triangle, and as such, a 27.2 mm post–as opposed to a larger diameter post–is a great place to add a bit of compliance to a bike.

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AngryBikeWrench
AngryBikeWrench
6 years ago
Reply to  contrarian

Robin’s right, but to add to his/her answer, there’s more flex in smaller diameter tubes regardless of material (assuming variables like wall thickness, butting, or layup are the same). It is a big design consideration in gravel bikes and hardtail MTBs, because it can add dramatically to the comfort of a bike. I’m sure seatpost manufacturers don’t worry about shims because there are already companies out there doing it inexpensively. Problem Solvers for one offers shims for any post/frame configuration you can imagine.

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Celest Greene
Celest Greene
6 years ago

Those look like photos of a Black Sheep Ti post before and after riding. #learningbydoing

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Tim
Tim
6 years ago

I can see this being useful for road bikes and such, but not so much on mountain bikes. For me, being able to drop the seat way down, all the way down, while going down steeps, is critical. And you can’t do that with a post with bent setback.

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Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
6 years ago

Genuine question for those with knowledge on this kind of stuff. Are ti posts in practice better (e.g. more compliant) than Carbon Seatpost offerings or is Ti more of an aesthetic/durable play? They look really pretty, and well made regardless and clearly high level Ti buyers have deep pockets.

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Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  Crash Bandicoot

Ti 3/2.5 does have an ever so slightly lower modulus of elasticity than aluminum alloys, but probably not low enough to make a sensable difference. Ti’s ultimate and yield strengths are much greater than aluminum alloys’. I suspect that aluminum seat posts have greater wall thickness, so that would put Al posts at a bigger compliance disadvantage. Assuming moduli are equal and the wall thickness of an aluminum post is twice the wall thickness of a Ti post, the aluminum post would be 15 times as stiff. Of course, I’m just assuming that about Al post wall thickness. Whether that drives sales or not, I can’t say.

I bought my Moots Ti layback post because of aesthetics and the fact that it didn’t cost much more to add it to the cost of the frame build. I loved the post, except for the seat rail clamp and angle adjustment. The latter wasn’t infinite, and the whole assembly was a bit of a PIA.

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Cheese
Cheese
6 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Umm, Ti modulus is ~115 GPa, Al is ~70 GPa.

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Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  Cheese

3/2.5 Ti has a modulus between 95-105 GPa . http://www.timet.com/assets/local/documents/datasheets/alphaandbetaalloys/3-2_5.pdf

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Cheese
Cheese
6 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Which is still higher than aluminum.

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RobertW
RobertW
6 years ago
Reply to  Cheese

50% higher = slightly lower.

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Cheese
Cheese
6 years ago
Reply to  RobertW

Up is down now?

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Volsung
Volsung
6 years ago
Reply to  Crash Bandicoot

I have an Eriksen sweetpost and can’t tell the difference between it and a cheap carbon post. They both feel more compliant than a Thomson Elite or a budget aluminum.

The Eriksen was just an expensive way to make my bike look better.

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Slappy
Slappy
6 years ago

Let’s not forget Eriksen, founder of Moots, has been offering a Sweet Ti Post for a while and the ride quality is noticeably smoother than the thomson for example. Ti for the win on anything that can get away without a dropper.

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