Cutting a carbon fibre seat post

[Future-pro]

Does anyone know the best way of cutting a carbon fibre seat post to reduce it's length recently i brought a new bike which came with a carbon fibre tear drop style seat tube (sorry if ive got the wrong defintion) which seems like its going to waste on a road bike when ive got a time trial bike worth £5 grand (didnt pay that much though only £1300) which is using the seat post from my road bike a steel one. The only problem is the seat post won't go all the way down into the bike (there is about a gap of 1 inch from where the teardrop begins so ive got to find some way of cutting the seat post down so i can get the seat post at the height which i need it to be

 

[boudreaux]

Does anyone know the best way of cutting a carbon fibre seat post to reduce it's length recently i brought a new bike which came with a carbon fibre tear drop style seat tube (sorry if ive got the wrong defintion) which seems like its going to waste on a road bike when ive got a time trial bike worth £5 grand (didnt pay that much though only £1300) which is using the seat post from my road bike a steel one. The only problem is the seat post won't go all the way down into the bike (there is about a gap of 1 inch from where the teardrop begins so ive got to find some way of cutting the seat post down so i can get the seat post at the height which i need it to be

hacksaw with a fine blade,masking tape to prevent splintering,and a light touch.

 

[Future-pro]

Ok thanks for the advice

 

[Chris Bryson]

If you have an archery shop near try them. They cut carbon arrows with a very high speed circular saw. They should also have a jig te ensure the cut is square

 

[boudreaux]

If you have an archery shop near try them. They cut carbon arrows with a very high speed circular saw. They should also have a jig te ensure the cut is square

A dremel tool with a cutoff wheel works the same,and square is a non issue.....unless one is really AR.

 

[bryanquinn]

hacksaw with a fine blade,masking tape to prevent splintering,and a light touch.

This is good advice. I've done this before.

 

[BikeyGuy]

Specs call for a minimum 28 tpi on that saw blade for carbon cuts.
I used a 32 on my carbon fork steer tube. Worked great.
Keep in mind it's a seat post, therefore a perfectly perpendicular cut is not all that important. It'll be hidden in the downtube.
Me ? I'd leave it as is. What you'll save in weight can't add up to all that much. Good luck.

 

[tfstrum]

Specs call for a minimum 28 tpi on that saw blade for carbon cuts.
I used a 32 on my carbon fork steer tube. Worked great.
Keep in mind it's a seat post, therefore a perfectly perpendicular cut is not all that important. It'll be hidden in the downtube.
Me ? I'd leave it as is. What you'll save in weight can't add up to all that much. Good luck.

I think he said he was cutting it because it was too long and bottomed out before he can get it to his seat height.

 

[2boysintow]

Specs call for a minimum 28 tpi on that saw blade for carbon cuts.
I used a 32 on my carbon fork steer tube. Worked great.
Keep in mind it's a seat post, therefore a perfectly perpendicular cut is not all that important. It'll be hidden in the downtube.
Me ? I'd leave it as is. What you'll save in weight can't add up to all that much. Good luck.

The info on cutting with the hacksaw is good. Just make sure that you leave 7 cm of material "in" the frame. This is spec for most all seatposts, alloy or carbon. Any more is extra weight. People pay big bucks to drop a few grams, and this is the fastest/cheapest way for "grammies" to drop wieght.

 

[Future-pro]

well the operation was a success i used a fine bladed hacksaw put masking tape on it then cut off as much as i needed to but the funny thing is was looking at how to setup a time trial bike properly which meant that cutting the seat post was near enough pointless as it was already at the height i needed still nice to know it will go down all the way now guess it'll be a bit lighter as well

 

[tfstrum]

I had a Magicstick seatpost that went bad (where the clamp glues to the post came loose) and my LBS lent me an aluminum post until the new FSA came in. I didn't realize how much quieter the carbon posts are until I pulled the aluminum one. Much better...