MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB

NOLA LENDING
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President:
 Jay Scheib

Vice President:
Charlie Davis

Web Site:
Jason Miller

Product Reviews:

Tacx Carbon Assembly Compound Review - Jason Miller
In the 2008 district road race, Russ Walker from Team LaS’port was leading a four man break that I had been able to catch on with during the first lap.  The pace was a killer for me and I was fighting to hold on.  Pedaling seemed harder and harder as the race went on and it seemed like I was loosing a lot of power in my pedal stroke.  I realized that my seat post was slipping lower.  It would end up dropping all the way down to the top tube before I lost the break away group and stopped in a feedzone for Ed Novak to provide a quick adjustment.

Why after three years of no problems does a seat post suddenly start to slip?  Following this race, the seat post started to drop to some degree during almost every ride.  I have a carbon seat post and a carbon bike.  I definitely tightened the clamp bolt beyond recommended torque values after it started slipping which did nothing to resolve the problem.  Of course like any good cyclist, I fixed the symptom by purchasing a new road bike.

I still ride my old bike and needed to resolve this slipping seat issue.  After a little research online, I found a product called Carbon Assembly Compound from Tacx.  My local bike shops didn’t carry it so I purchased an 80g jar online for $16 from Colorado Cyclist.  I think there are other size options as well. 

I imaged something like Loctite that you would need to reapply after you did any seat adjustments.  This was not the case.  The compound looks like a heavy grease but had a consistency more like a hand cream with a gritty texture.  The jar list the product as  “slightly toxic” to discourage the adventurous from tasting.  The product claims to contain particles to increase surface friction when clamped.  Although I only used it on my carbon parts, it also claims to work for aluminum and steel as well.

I just applied it to my seat post with my finger and torqued the clamp bolt to the recommended setting.  Just like that, the problem was gone.  I pulled the seat tube out a few weeks after applying it to make sure there wasn’t any issues and it slid right out.  I pulled the post again when I wrote this which was six months later and still no problems.

I probably use a little more of this per application than I would for chap stick.  You can see from the picture that the 80g jar will no doubt last me forever.  I don’t use this stuff as a preventive measure but you can bet at the first sign of slipping, this stuff will go on the seat post.  I just hope the first time I encounter the problem on a new bike isn’t during the middle of a race.