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. | Bicycle Mechanics - Guest Forum
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?
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?