Re:
oops forgot...as per earlier post, did USE really only start making rigid posts in 1991? In which case, who first used the seat clamp design which I now always associate with USE? Thomson?
https://www.merlincycles.com/blog/brand ... n-thomson/
apparently not...
https://patents.google.com/patent/US5649738A/en
And goodness some digging to find the history of USE - Ultimate Sports Engineering....
USE, full name Ultimate Sports Engineering, was founded by Richard Sparrow in 1990 and focuses primarily on aerodynamic products, it has carved a bit of a niche for itself with its aero handlebars and time trial extension bars. It also produces wheels, seatposts and handlebars. But the company’s smart move was getting into LED lights in 2001 when this technology was in its infancy, and since then Exposure Lights has been a runaway success story. Designed and manufactured in the UK, its high-powered LED lights are highly praised with their smart design (no cables or external batteries) functionality and durability.
So indeed it looks like Syncros were there first with the two bolt clamp, albeit with a single top piece rather than the two small 'bridge clamps' of the USE.
From WIKIPEDIA:
Among Syncros' most successful and well known products from their early Canadian period were the Cattleprod and Cattlehead stems, noted for their innovative used of shaped and machined aluminum and titanium at a time when most welded stems were made of steel, and the ProSeries seatpost, featuring an often-copied two-bolt micro-adjust system for saddle positioning. The seat post design, as copied by such companies as Thomson, remains popular today on high end bicycles.
Oh well, that kept my mind off whether to put the Syncros or the USE in the Marin Ti....I'll sleep on it....