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review

Ritchey Classic 2 Bolt Seatpost

8
£55.88

VERDICT:

8
10
A beautifully finished seatpost with classic looks whose beauty isn't only skin deep
Weight: 
260g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The Ritchey Classic 2 Bolt seatpost is exactly that, a simple, well-made design that with its polished silver finish looks excellent on metal frames, especially if you're refurbishing a retro race frame from a bygone era.

  • Pros: Beautiful polished finish, easy to use clamp design
  • Cons: Not as light as carbon if that bothers you

Ritchey really fills a gap with the Classic. A few years ago I bought myself a steel Italian frame with lovely slender tubes and a narrow 1in steerer. With a set of handbuilt, silver wheels and hubs, all it needed was some corresponding finishing kit but choices were very limited.

> Find your nearest dealer here

To get everything to match – stem, handlebar and seatpost – the Classic range was pretty much the only option. Thankfully, while it was pretty much the only choice, it was a very good one.

This seatpost is forged from 2014 series aluminium alloy which gives a strong component without too much weight: 260g for this 27.2 x 350mm option on the road.cc Scales of Truth, against the claimed 245g on Ritchey's website.

The outside is beautifully smooth thanks to the polished finish, and has been kept to a tight tolerance to fit in the seat tube without slippage. Internally, the walls of the tube are oval, being thicker front and rear to cope with the loads applied from your pedalling and hitting bumps in the road.

ritchey_classic_2_bolt_bicycle_seatpost_3.jpg

It's made more noticeable by the chamfered bottom edge of the post. Structurally the chamfer doesn't mean much, but it's an extra process that doesn't necessarily need to be done; it removes any burrs from the edge and shows a high attention to detail.

The Classic comes in three diameters, 27.2, 30.9 and 31.6mm, all in a single length of 350mm. Like most, Ritchey allows a minimum installation of 100mm of post into the frame so you get 250mm of usable height from seatclamp to the middle of the saddle rails: plenty on all but the most compact of frames.

The clamp, as the name suggests, uses a two-bolt setup, one either side of the neck of the post to clamp each rail.

ritchey_classic_2_bolt_bicycle_seatpost_4.jpg

You get an upper and lower plate which clamps the rails evenly as you adjust things. For angle tweaking, you get an arched head mated to serrated curved washers for each of the bolts, and when tightened to the recommended 12Nm torque I got no slippage at all.

Price-wise, you can pick up a cheap alloy post from around 15 quid so why spend nearly 60 on one?

Well, first up, you can save a few grams. I've got a £20 Cinelli seatpost here and it weighs 301g for the same size post with a similar clamping system.

The main difference though is the quality of the finish. The Ritchey's main post is forged in one piece as opposed to cheaper options which will have the head bonded into the aluminium tube. A one-piece structure adds strength without increasing weight.

ritchey_classic_2_bolt_bicycle_seatpost_2.jpg

At €63.95 (currently £55.88), the Classic isn't even that expensive really. Thomson's Elite (we tested the top flight Masterpiece option here) is £77.95, currently discounted to £58.46 on its website. It's a little lighter at a claimed 241g.

Fizik's Cyrano R3 seatpost is one that I've previously owned and it was a beauty, just as easy to set up as the Ritchey and of similar quality with a claimed weight of 240g, but its rrp is a cool £92.99.

Overall, the Classic seatpost is simply that: smooth lines with an excellent finish backed up with a quality construction which will suit many bikes old and new.

Verdict

A beautifully finished seatpost with classic looks whose beauty isn't only skin deep

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Ritchey Classic 2 Bolt Seatpost

Size tested: 350x27.2mm

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Ritchey says, "The proven 2-bolt design on this classic provides a class-leading balance between strength, weight and adjustability. The two-bolt design is easy to adjust and holds tight. Its low profile clamp reduces stress on lightweight rails and won't bottom out, and the bolts are oriented to the axis of the rails for greatest contact area with the saddle. The Classic also features Ritchey's 'Classic' high-polish silver finish."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From Ritchey:

3D Forged 2014

Available in 27.2, 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters

Length: 350mm

25mm offset

43x38mm cradle

Hi-polish silver finish

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Simple to set up and never felt harsh in use.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Easy adjustment.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

I like to see measurement markers on a post for adjustment on the fly, but I can see that it would affect the clean looks of the Classic.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Alloy seaposts can range from the cheap to the high end like Thomson's Masterpiece, but the Ritchey sits nicely in the middle which it easily justifies by its performance.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

The Ritchey is a decent quality seatpost from top to bottom that justifies its price tag. A great all-rounder if you want to get away from black or carbon.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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1 comments

Avatar
DaSy | 5 years ago
1 like

I used these posts a few times on steel bike builds. I built a De Rosa Neo Primato in Molteni Orange for a customer, with this post, an Athena silver groupset and Nitto alloy bars, it looked beautiful (and rode nicely too).

It's a really good quality post with great looks for a good price.

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