Quality needn’t cost the earth and the proof of this is the Race Face Ride XC 6061 alloy seatpost. Its twin-bolt cradle design provides rock-solid saddle clamping performance that you get on posts costing two, three or four times as much.
Granted there are a few extra grams of material in there, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be making much of a weight saving if that’s the reason for your upgrade. Weight alone, though, is missing the point of the Ride XC seatpost – you’re really buying the confidence that comes with buying from a brand who place durability higher on the must-have list than chopping grams.
Even taking the extra fat into consideration the ride quality of the post isn’t harmed too badly. The bigger seatpost diameters suffer more as the structure is inherently stiffer, but in 27.2mm there’s just enough feel in the structure to help soften the worst of the bumps. You’ll still want a saddle with some reasonable padding to make the best of the ride though.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.