# My carbon seatpost is getting badly scratched by tube. help!



## paleh0rse (Jun 20, 2011)

I recently installed a carbon seatpost. After just a few weeks, the post has gotten scratched up really bad -- from adjusting it up and down. I have cleaned up the inside of the seatpost tube several times, and there does not appear to be any more sand or dirt in there; however, the scratches persist and are getting worse and worse every day. I think it's the aluminum walls of the tube itself, and finer sand/dirt/imperfections I cant see, that are causing the scratches. (My shiny new carbon seatpost is now a scratched up mess!) 

Note: I need to lower/remove the seat frequently in order to fit it in my storage room's bike rack (near the ceiling), and I can't lower the rack.

Is there any protection that I could buy, or any old-school trick I could use, to protect the seatpost from these scratches caused by the tube?

Thanks ahead of time!


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## CrazyCanuck (Mar 14, 2008)

I'd check for any burs in the seat tube, if there are, clean em up with a file. Also, if after riding, you have to lower your seat, raise it, wipe it off, then lower it. That should remove any sand and whatnot that might have accumulated on a ride.


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## ricky916 (Jun 7, 2011)

Get some fine steel wool and clean up the seat tube as far as you can just enough to be smooth and that should do it.

Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk


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## paleh0rse (Jun 20, 2011)

Files and steel wool... great ideas, thank you!


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

a flex hone (ball hone) is another way to go if you like specialized tools. That plus a drill and you can smooth it out quickly and easily. It's hard to file down a tube without creating more scratches and burrs, the flex hone gets in there and gets it done quickly.


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## paleh0rse (Jun 20, 2011)

zebrahum said:


> a flex hone (ball hone) is another way to go if you like specialized tools. That plus a drill and you can smooth it out quickly and easily. It's hard to file down a tube without creating more scratches and burrs, the flex hone gets in there and gets it done quickly.


hmm... I imagine the best idea would be one that is only slightly larger, correct? Interesting idea...

Any idea what grit I should use? 80/120/240/320 seem to be the most common. Here's one I'm looking at, and it comes in any of those grits:

*1 1/4" 32mm Engine Cylinder Flex-Hone Flexhone 80 grit*
http://compare.ebay.com/like/230599324128?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

paleh0rse said:


> hmm... I imagine the best idea would be one that is only slightly larger, correct? Interesting idea...
> 
> Any idea what grit I should use? 80/120/240/320 seem to be the most common. Here's one I'm looking at, and it comes in any of those grits:
> 
> ...


That would probably be fine. You could also get an undersized one and sort of lean it against the outside of the tube as you run the hone. I would probably err on the side of undersized rather than get one that is difficult to fit in the tube.


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## indyducati (Aug 16, 2010)

A poor-boy, me, might make a hone. Get a length of 1/4" to 1/2" wooden dowel rod. Cut a 1" slot in one end. Chuck the other end in your drill. Cut a piece of sandpaper 1" x 3" and fold it in half. Side the sandpaper into the slot on your dowel rod and start power sanding the ID of your seattube. Quick, cheap, adjustable for diameter and grit.


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## paleh0rse (Jun 20, 2011)

indyducati said:


> A poor-boy, me, might make a hone. Get a length of 1/4" to 1/2" wooden dowel rod. Cut a 1" slot in one end. Chuck the other end in your drill. Cut a piece of sandpaper 1" x 3" and fold it in half. Side the sandpaper into the slot on your dowel rod and start power sanding the ID of your seattube. Quick, cheap, adjustable for diameter and grit.


Hmm, that's not a bad idea... how should the slot be cut? That part isn't clear to me.


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## indyducati (Aug 16, 2010)

Palehorse, use a hacksaw, handsaw or Dremel and make your slot . Clamp the dowel in your vise, pointing up and down...carefully make your cut down, lengthwise through the dowel. The is not a precision tool  Like you're cutting down, through the graphite of pencil....


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## indyducati (Aug 16, 2010)

Here we go !

http://www.easttexaswoodturners.org/woodezin - Sand Inside a Turned Vessel.htm


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

Unsupported sandpaper won't be abrasive enough to dig in and actually clear out what is causing the burr. It might smooth it a small amount but you won't get rid of it with sandpaper on a dowel.


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

paleh0rse said:


> I recently installed a carbon seatpost. After just a few weeks, the post has gotten scratched up really bad


If clear coated, you can polish out many scratches with toothpaste and a wet rag, working from the bottom up to see how it works. Use silicon spray in seat tube (away from brakes), not paste, to avoid scratches.


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