Vintage seat post lengths?

[dirttorpedo]

Hi there:

Last year I bought an 80's vintage Bianchi. Unfortunately, the stock seat post is a bit too short for me. I would like to replace it with a longer vintage seat post, but from what I've been seeing on eBay and CraigsList most vintage seatposts seem to be pretty short. Heck, even the one that came on my 82 Diamondback is quite short (although a bit longer than the road one). I'm pretty fortunate though - the bike takes a 27.2 so finding the right diameter shouldn't be a big deal.

So my question is what lengths did seatposts typically come in back in the day?

 

[Midlife]

Not long is the answer, BITD the amount if seat post showing would be about 2-3 inches at most. I would have been riding a 25 inch frame.

Shaun

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

Not long is the answer, BITD the amount if seat post showing would be about 2-3 inches at most. I would have been riding a 25 inch frame.

Shaun

That was my worry. :cry:

I guess I'll have to find something vintage looking or try the laprade that came on my old mountain bike. I suppose I could polish it up to make it look decent.

 

[Nob]

Re:

The vintage Laprade seatpins were the longest I came across back in the day.

Campag Nuovo Record were also quite long but still shorter than the above.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

The vintage Laprade seatpins were the longest I came across back in the day.

Campag Nuovo Record were also quite long but still shorter than the above.

Thanks - I'll keep my eye open for one. In the meantime I have a kallaloy brand laprade style in black that I'm going to use to get the bike set up.

 

[Midlife]

As an aside we used to chop them even shorter BITD to save weight, every now and again one apears on Ebay looking very sorry for itself..............

Shaun

 

[glpinxit]

As a long legged person this annoyed me BITD - and still does. In 1982 I bought a new bike (Carlton Criterium) and couldn't get the seat high enough. My LBS (Shorter Rochford) couldn't help - "it is an odd size, sir, and can't be got in longer lengths". Most recently my compromise when building my Team Pro has been a retro, but looks appropriate, MTB post (Campagnolo Centaur). The longest, road, period post I found was 28cm (Selcof aero) which is around 1cm too short for me in a 58.5cm frame. The Centaur is 35cm IIRC.

FWIW I am 5' 10" with 33" inside leg. The problem seems to be exacerbated by liking my pedal cleats a long way forward. On top of which I'm more flexible than many who are half my age which means I prefer a low stem and bum in the air for a, nice and aero, flat back.

 

[dirttorpedo]

I saw a centaur on eBay, but they said it was cromolly. I don't want a cromolly seat post.

 

[glpinxit]

Don't knock the steel Campag posts until you've seen them - they look similar to the Record titanium for many £ less and provide the length you need. http://www.velobase.com/ViewComponent.a ... &AbsPos=27