Tifosi Carbon seat post

At first glance there’s nothing particularly remarkable about Tifosi’s carbon post. In keeping with most in this price bracket, it’s actually a carbon and glass fibre composite with a bonded alloy head but frankly, build quality and attention to detail are considerably better than I’ve come to expect and a bargain so long as your bike’s seat tube diameter measures either 27.2 or 31.6mm.

Three hundred millimetres long should be enough for most road applications except perhaps for taller riders on smaller compact frames in the interests of a stiffer, lighter machine. I’ve even fitted the Tifosi to my late 70s pure race crosser for a bit of green lane action. Detailing is good under the protective high lustre gloss lacquer accentuating the 3Kcarbon wave’s beauty, while clear limit and height markers ensure quick, easy adjustments.

It comes complete with a lightweight collar – which is a nice touch, although in practice I’ve experienced no problems with a traditional lugged steel seat collar. Tackling the typically potholed lanes of my test circuit or thundering through rutted woodland trails seated turned road bumps and trail buzz into ripples without feeling overly whippy, devoid of unnerving squeaks. And while 255g is nothing to write home about (longer 7000 series aluminium posts were tipping the scales some thirty grams lighter a good decade back) there’s a lot to be said in favour of reliability. Trimming too much fat from a budget model raises alarm bells with me.

The nicely finished alloy clamp gives thirty-degree setback and despite high polish does look slightly low rent, although you’d never notice-even with it sporting a minimalist perch and crucially it’s not going to break, nor the threads strip anytime soon.

The only drawback is one common to many brands, namely a lack of sizes-27.2 and 31.6mm might be two common diameters, keeping production and ultimately consumer prices low, offering more diameters would extend the appeal of an otherwise very good post.

Verdict

Good budget carbon post spoilt only by narrow range of sizes.

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