When you buy a $250 product, nothing in that price tells you that it will last. This is a fallacy bike consumers often go through in their minds. Is high price = safety & quality? Not necessarily.
This $250 "Ergopost 4" didn't last 10 minutes, according to a reader who emailed me his disappointing story. What's more, this is the second seat post he's broken in exactly the same location. The first one was a Look Ergopost 2Ti which lasted him an unsatisfactory 2 years. For appeasement and warranty honor, he received the "10 minute" Ergopost 4 from Look USA.
The product, by design, appears to be a monocoque setback post with weight of 170 grams and allowing 60 mm of fore-aft adjustability. I haven't seen this in person but Richard Feltner from Florida (the user) told me that while shining a light onto the post, he made out what appeared to be a two piece design with an upper "casting" or "forging" of CF joined to a tube section.
The catastrophic failure happened a little below the setback curve and internally, this is where Richard spotted an intersection or joint between two sub-assemblies that make up the post.
When he had initially received the Ergopost 4 from Look, he had made sure there were no scratches, cuts or deformations as stress risers before installation. He had then installed the post in neutral setback, adjusted it and torqued it to specs using the same OEM collar clamp that Look specially recommended.
Setting his 170 lb self on the bike, he went for a ride on the back streets of his residence. To his utter dismay, within 10 minutes, he heard the distinct crack. The saddle started rocking. The instantaneous cadence increase it brought along confirmed to him that the post had broken. He had to ride home standing on his pedals.
Richard contacted Look immediately who promised him, say what, a third post of the same variety! Apparently, Look has had him in the clutches of their word, assuring him that this is the most bulletproof item they manufacture. He doubts it after two unsafe experiences.
Check out the pics of the strong breakages. Meanwhile, if any of you readers have the same seat post, please fill us in with your honest experience of the product. If others have had similar issues, feel free to tell me about it through a comment. This will be helpful to Richard and a lot of other users. No one wants a seat post forcefully stuck into the rear end.
To Look Cycle : It's time to start "looking" into this issue.
Look Ergopost 2Ti (Richard's first seatpost)
Look Ergopost 4 (Richard's replacement under warranty)
ADDITIONAL READING :
Thomas Masterpiece Seatpost Failure + Mechanics Of A Seatpost Clamp
AX-Lightness Daedalus Seatpost Failure
Breaking Look KEO Pedals
Inspection Of Dave's Carbon Fiber Road Bike
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