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My uncle told me to always grease the seatpost, even on carbon frames. I ignored him for years until a customer brought in a seized Ritchey.
He was a mechanic in the 80s and swore by it. I figured modern pastes were enough, and carbon paste was for grip, not anti-seize. This Ritchey Logic was completely frozen. Took a heat gun, a bench vise, and a cheater bar on the seatpost to get it out. The carbon tube was fine, but the aluminum post was a mess. Cost the guy a new post and two hours of labor. Now I put a thin coat of grease under the carbon paste on every build. Anyone else do this, or is it overkill?
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hunt.taylor3mo ago
So you're telling me I should actually listen to the old guys? I mean, I've definitely learned this lesson the hard way too.
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charles_price1mo ago
Old guys been right about everything from frames to relationships in my experience.
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gavinh261mo ago
Is it just me or have we all had to learn that lesson the hard way with our own builds?
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grant.jade3mo ago
Wait, but how often does this actually happen? I've built up plenty of carbon frames with just a good quality paste and never had one stick. That Ritchey story sounds like a worst-case scenario, maybe from a bad paste job or the wrong torque. I get what @hunt.taylor is saying about listening to old advice, but adding grease under the paste seems like it could mess with the grip. Are we fixing a super rare problem and maybe causing a new one?
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