Titanium seatpost – a critical titanium bike frame component

A titanium seatpost is one of those things that stays quiet and unimportant, and it is barely noticeable until something goes wrong with it. Then it becomes essential, critical and absolutely mind-blowing.

At least, for us people that don’t have a job that involves assembling custom titanium bike parts or riding the slopes for anything else than the pure rush of adrenaline.

Before I tell you about a titanium seatpost, I must assure that you know what a seat post is. You do, right? I mean, people tend to disregard things that have a direct relation to their bottoms, although they better not. Have you imagined living your life without a chair, for instance? Not without your leather king size executive armchair that you’re probably seated in right now, but without any kind of chair?

If you lack a bed, you probably could sleep on the floor, which also makes for a good wardrobe sometimes – bachelors should know what I speak of. A table is necessary, but even if the fast-food seems to be more and more “so last year” these days, it still is an acceptable alternative for ingesting nutrients, especially for busy people.

But how would you drive a car without a chair? How would you live your life without seating at all?

And how would you ride a bike? Yes, you also couldn’t ride a bike without a stem, but that’s not really the point.

So, a seat post is that long tube that has a saddle attached to it that gives your body a point of leverage in order to push those pedals. A titanium seat-post is something that makes this operation a lot easier, and also provides additional benefits.

A titanium seatpost's primary qualities are those related to the metal’s properties. It’s light and sturdy. It means you can rest assured that it won’t break when you try to put your entire weight on one wheel. And it means that it will keep the additional weight of the bicycle frame to a minimum. Less effort, more speed.

There are also more subtle, less obvious benefits. For instance, a titanium seatpost provides a great deal of vibration dampening. This means a far more comfortable ride, especially on a rugged terrain. This may not seem such a big deal, especially for you, young wolfs, but trust me, the stress on your body is adding up with time, and you’ll miss your knees when they began to fail.

A seat-post is usually designed with the possibility of adjustment. Not only the bikers are different, in size, shape or height, but also bicycles are prone to be borrowed, switched or simply passed along, especially in the case of titanium bikes which are virtually indestructible.

Adjustment means moving, moving spells trouble. You know, sometimes trouble may show it’s ugly had on one simple task as changing the batteries on the remote control. Yes, it’s not made out from titanium. Nor it should be. A TV remote failure would only result in you having to move from the couch to the TV to manually change the channels. Irritating, I know, but not extremely dangerous.

A seat-post malfunction could really lead to some grave injury, especially when it happens at great speeds or in wrong places, say, in a secluded and rocky area of a mountain bike tour. This is a situation when you would want the place you’re resting your entire weight to be made from some kind of an indestructible metal, say, titanium.

More ordinary, even if it doesn’t break, a seat-post can simply become stuck. Now, this won’t kill you, but it will certainly put some of your brain tissue to a great stress, and possible your relations to some of your relatives who are not used to hear you spell this kind of language.

There are many reasons why a seat–post gets stuck, but the most common one is corrosion. Metals deteriorate when in contact with the environment. Except titanium. Which will not corrode, hence a titanium seat – post will probably not get stuck. Well, not nearly as often as posts made from any other metal.

I think that’s enough for now. Paying some attention to things that you sit onto it’s a smart idea. But paying too much attention could be perceived as creepy, at least.

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