The Lighten-ing: Seatpost

I recently described the upgrade to the set of wheels on my Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier v2, a low-trail, 650b bike. Not that you care, but you can read it here: https://mondoblahblah.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-lighten-ing-wheels.html

There are a few other upgrades I've been meaning to make, foremost among them, a new seat post. There was nothing inherently wrong with the Kalloy seatpost that came with the Velo Routier DIY package. It is a simple, classic-looking seatpost that fits this bike perfectly. But there was a minor (hopefully just cosmetic) manufacturing defect that has always bugged me a bit. At the rear of the post there was a tiny "dot" of adhesive foil stuck on for no apparent reason. One day I mindlessly started picking at it, as one might a scab, and once pealed off, it revealed a hole in the post, an obvious defect in from the casting of the aluminum. What have we here?! I exclaimed.

Kalloy seat post with foil concealing the manufacturing defect

Kalloy seat post from Cycles Toussaint

Too lazy to make a fuss over a $19 seatpost, and presuming the defect doesn't constitute a high risk of failure, I left it. If that's the bike's biggest problem, I'm certainly happy to live with it. And did. For a long time. But then the binder bolt on the Managing Partner's fancy-schmancy carbon fibre Specialized seatpost snapped off. 

Well, as you may imagine, while purchasing a new seat post for her, I couldn't resist the temptation to slip an extra into the ol' René Herse Cycles shopping basket. So it is that the Vélo Routier has come to sport what I think is one of the nicest looking seatposts available, the S65.

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - profile view

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - saddle cut-out view!

Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost - box

Now I am plum jiggered if I know why it's called "Crystal Fellow". Sounds like a sex toy. But as the box says, it is forged alloy pillar seatpost made in Tokyo, Japan. The Managing Partner's bike is a teeny-tiny "compact" frame, so she needed the 300mm version, while my Vélo Routier shows only the traditional "fist-full of post" so I got the 250mm. It's the same length as the original Kalloy post. So, of course I had to weigh them!

The Kalloy seatpost weighs 261 grams

The Nitto S65 "Crystal Fellow" seatpost in 250 saves 10 grams!

In addition to being marginally lighter (c'mon, ten grams?!) the Nitto is forged, which I presume means it is stronger than the obviously cast (K)alloy post. I suspect this makes the point about weight: saving that 10 grams cost me about $86 with shipping. So, you know, about $9 per gram. Cheap by bicycle standards but given there was nothing functionally wrong with the original, a bit of an unnecessary extravagance to be sure. Nevertheless, I love Nitto products, want to encourage the company to keep making them, think the "Crystal Fellow" looks just a bit nicer and hey, 10 grams is ten grams, am I right?