Dog leash attachment and CF seat post...

[iconoclasthero]

I ordered one of these http://www.thedogoutdoors.com/walkydog-dog-bike-leash.html yesterday from buy.com because it was on sale. I have an Orbea Aqua with a carbon fiber seat post and have been advised that using something like this or a luggage rack with a CF seat post is a bad idea. I would like advice/reccomendations for replacing the seat post with something that would be compatible (e.g. an Al seat post). At this point any benefits that a CF seat post offer are outweighed by the fact that my stays are carbon and my frame is Al, and that I prefer the stiffer feel of the aluminum frame over the carbon anyway. The lack of flexibility of purpose of the carbon has gotten me to the point that I really don't want that limitation. I would have no problem using the afore mentioned devices with CF if i didn't think that there would be a serious safety risk if the CF sheered off during use.thanks

thanks

 

[alienator]

IMHO, the three best seat posts going are: The Fizik Cyrano Aluminum:

The Syntace P6 Aluminum:

The Thompson Masterpiece/Elite Masterpiece:

I've ranked in order of my preference.

 

[iconoclasthero]

Thank you for the response. What would there be at the lower end of the price spectrum? And I mean this with all sincerity how much difference can a seat post really make?

 

[alienator]

Thank you for the response. What would there be at the lower end of the price spectrum? And I mean this with all sincerity how much difference can a seat post really make?

There are certainly less expensive seat posts. The biggest difference between seat posts, besides materials, is ease of adjustment and the range of adjustment they allow. The three I mentioned are about the best in terms of adjustment, but there others of course that will get the job done. Here are two examples from Performance Bike: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1034138_-1_1545502_1545500_400216 http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1114256_-1_1640019_1640018_400216 Both are aluminum but are of different lengths. You really need to know three things before you select a seat post:

1. The diameter of seat post that your bike frame is designed for
2. The length that you need a seat post to be
3. The amount of set back you need the seat post to have

You can get all three from your current seat post. Note the set back is the distance from the axis of the seat post to the center of the seat rail clamp. In the picture below, you'll see that for the post on the right, 'A' is the set back. The post on the left has a set back of 0.

 

[iconoclasthero]

I picked an Al seat post up at the local bike coop that should work as it looks like it has the same geometry, it is like an mm smaller in diameter though...

 

[alienator]

I picked an Al seat post up at the local bike coop that should work as it looks like it has the same geometry, it is like an mm smaller in diameter though...

If you bought an undersized seat post, you'll likely have issues with it sliding down. If you find that the case, you'll need to go to a bike shop to see about getting shims.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by iconoclasthero .

I would have no problem using the afore mentioned devices with CF if i didn't think that there would be a serious safety risk if the CF sheered off during use.thanks

Any force strong enough between leash and seatpost that could result in the shearing of a seatpost is likely to end up tragically for the dog and/or rider.

Hopefully you have a working dog. Last year witnessed a rider running/riding his bulldog up a local hill on such a setup on one of he hottest days of the summer. The dog was clearly suffering as the rider whistled blissfully away.

 

[iconoclasthero]

My dog and biking:

My 70-pound, four-year-old yellow lab and I have been biking before, but it has always been with a leash. He has pulled me over a few times because of where the center of gravity was vs. where he was pulling. He isn't a "working dog" in the sense that he works daily, but he is a working breed as opposed to a human-engineered freak of a breed like a bulldog. His stamina swimming is remarkable and I believe it is in no small part due to his raw diet. All of that said, when we first started riding together, one of the things I learned was that he would run faster than his paws could support on pavement...since labs don't feel pain when they're "working" I didn't find out until after I got home that, when running so fast particularly down hill, he'd sheered off the outer layer of the pads of his paws. Since then I've kept our speed to <15 mph regardless of how fast he wants to run, particularly down hill. When we go to the cinder track at the park (Bellevue State Park, Wilmington DE), I let him run as fast as he wants, especially when he is in the grass.

I put the dog leash thing on my beater bike tonight and he is going to have to get used to this new paradigm where he is no longer in the lead...but all in all, I think it will work.

My new dog thing and my Orbea:

I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to put my carbon fiber post back in my Orbea and will just use the 20 year old Raleigh I have... I swapped out the front gears in December and all in all it works for this purpose. I have taken my dog on a few long rides with my road bike but it seems like a lot of hassle at this point to change posts... what I am thinking about though is swapping the post and saddle out for an aluminum one at some later point if I really want to take him for a long run. The longest one was about 10 miles RT and that was about his limit in the summer...I've seen him break ice to get into the water in the middle of January though.

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it and learned a few things.

 

[danfoz]

Watching the leash taught with the dog up front is a lovely thing. And when the dog has the perfect vector I imagine that's what it would be like to sail a small boat, something for the bucket list.

I got one of them Thomson posts and you get everything and more that you paid for. With my seat jacked close to the hilt on the rails I get enough setback on the straight post, and the Thomson seatpost collar is a thing of pure beauty.

 

[iconoclasthero]

Watching the leash taught with the dog up front is a lovely thing. And when the dog has the perfect vector I imagine that's what it would be like to sail a small boat, something for the bucket list.

Funny you should mention that... In the summer, I put a harness on him and leash him to an inner tube connected to another inner tube and then throw the tennis ball down the Brandywine River... for about 4 miles.

I've had him in his harness and had him basically pulling me but I don't think I can do that with my new leash thing and my beater bike because the brake cable goes down the front of the head tube so putting it out front isn't going to work even if there was enough room. Ahh well.

 

[iconoclasthero]

here he is...