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anyone else had this at all? stock one was fine till bolt shearded - replaced with what i thought was quality but just keeps slipping which is doing my head in
done all the usual, full clean, carbon past etc etc, unless i tigthen it up ridiculously to the point the dropper makes a horrid sound it wont stay up
I've had bolted and QR Hope seatclamps and both now sit in the junk parts box - suprisingly ineffective clamps
The hope bolted clamp I have has a specific alloy bolt that is not a normal shape which goes into a specific shaped "nut". an ordinary bolt in that one would distort the shape of the clamp
its not great tho - seems to require a lot of torque to prevent slippage
I always reverse clamps so the bolt is opposite the slot rather than over the slot. Grip better that way.
Yeah, they're not all that great, even with the standard bolt.
Reversing it often works.
I have one on my Amazon because it's shiny and blue. There's a careful balance of it being torqued enough to work but also not so much as to damage my now-irreplaceable Specialized carbon seatpost.
BITD it was common to see them paired with a Thomson seatpost - another "name over substance" choice as they are notoriously under-sized - and see lots of complaints of slipping seatposts.
ahh ok seems its a pretty common thing with them then - pretty shite, should have asked this question before buying a waste of 20 odd quid
is a thomson seat collar still the go to for fit and forget?
Just to go against the grain, I can;t say I've ever had a problem with a hope seat clamp QR or bolt up...
I can;t say I’ve ever had a problem with a hope seat clamp QR or bolt up…
+1 never had an issue with Hopes.
Bolt up on Thomson post on my commuter - removed/replaced a couple of times a year for cleaning.
QR on fs & hardtail on Syntace posts - removed/ replaced at least once a month to fit bike in to car.
I wouldn't say the Hope clamps don't work, just that there's much better options that clamp better for less lever force or bolt torque. The specific bolt they use sits further out from the post centre and it just doesn't seem to offer any more leverage, it just doesn't cinch evenly round the ST effectively, has more of a levered pinch-in effect.
On the same bike I found a Thomson clamp secure with less torque and both cheap OEM or Salsa QRs just easier and nicer to use. Less lever force needed, less binding etc with the Salsa compared whichever way round the Hope was fitted (fitted reversed to try to keep the cam from getting so sticky in the wet but I'd say it was worse that way round).
The final 'Bin It' for me with the Hope QR was how sharp the adjuster nut points were, trying to adjust it with summer mitts on one day was almost impossible, had enough of it and fitted a Salsa QR.
is a thomson seat collar still the go to for fit and forget?
It doesn't really do anything that a cheap clamp doesn't do but they are well made to a good fit.
Best QR I used was one of the XL versions Whyte fit as OE. I was using QRs still until recently, late to the dropper party on my XC bike.
I've had a few and never had an issue but the one on my current Solaris was rubbish, post constantly slipping down no matter how tight I did the bolt. Replaced with a Nukeproof one that after one ride, seems to be working.
awesome thanks folks - ill see if i can snag a thomson one cheap, if not ill grab a nukeproof one - cant be doing with this every ride, really does not help my knees
As a self confessed Hope Fanboi I’ll join the overwhelming experience of their seat clamps being utter bobbins.
Salsa ones for me now if I want a pretty colour. Surly stainless if I never want the seat post to move, ever.
Its not really the clamp that does the gripping but rather the top of the seat tube.
What about giving the inside of said tube a bit of a rub with sandpaper ?, maybe its too smooth.
No problem with my Hope one - same type as TJ describes, but the aluminium bolt always scares me that it will break at some inconvenient moment. But the grippage is mostly down to the quality of fit between post and frame (I made the frame and used an adjustable reamer to get the fit I wanted).
Nukeproof horizon have been flawless on every frame so far, never torqued over 3nm.
Best I ever had was on a manitou frame. The difference there was that the seat tube was slotted ever 60 degrees so it clamped up more evenly. Also, the clamp didn't have a lip to stop it going too deep over the seat tube, it had a seal instead which kept the crap out and deformed more evenly.
Finally, it was 31.8mm so only their post supplied with the frame would fit giving them control over both tolerances.
Doesn't help in your situation but I do agree, even as a hope fan boi, their seat clamps are below par.
Given how universally loved they are, has anyone got a 34.9 clamp in the bluey grey, think it's gunsmoke, that they want to move on?
I have one and it's no problem... but when I fit a new one I normally give it a squeeze with a pair of pliers to make sure it's tight before fitting the bolt.
My gut instinct is the issue may be the frame/seat post. I say this as you mention you sheared the bolt on the original seat collar. The fact you sheared the bolt would suggest that you'd used way too much force/torque on the bolt to get your post to hold.
Torque specifications are more often than not a value that will prevent damage to the corresponding component rather than the bolt, as as such you'd likely find that you'd have to torque a bolt over twice the recommended torque before it shears.
I'd suggest taking the bike into a decent bike shop and get them to try a few different posts in the frame to try and see if the its the post or frame thats under/over sized. This should be an easy task for a shop as they'll likely have a load of bikes in for repair that they can 'borrow' seat posts from to see if any are better fit (rather than expecting them to use new stock).
I've seen some shocking tolerance issues on frames over the years (way more than on posts).
Hope this helps
“The difference there was that the seat tube was slotted ever 60 degrees so it clamped up more evenly.”
The 34.9mm seat tube on my Levo has two slots, seems to work very well with the Specialized clamp it came with. I like these bigger seat tubes for dropper posts, they make a lot more sense.
@racereadysuspension - absolutely not over torqued, just lack of maintenance caused it, endless muddy rides, no grease, dry mud, repeat repeat repeat, and then i had to do something with my dropper so undid it - put it back together (again filthy covered in dry mud/grit and it snapped - ive done this before on various bikes over the years, nothing specific to tightening just eventually they all give way if you dont look after them as the bolts are epxosed to spray, and it had been on the frame over a year prior too with no issues