By staff writer: Robb Gibson

Have you ever had one of those components on your bike that transcends time and technology? The one component that you make sure to keep from previous bikes so that you can put it on your current one. Something that is both so aesthetically and technically pleasing that you can not conceive of replacing it, even if lighter or “better” versions of that component exist?

For me, that component is a Syncros titanium seatpost. I am not referring to the modern iteration of Syncros, the one that was, when Canadian Syncros folded, bought by GT, then bought by Schwinn, then bought by Pacific Cycles. I am talking about the original, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Syncros. Definitely considered “back-in-the-day”, when owning a Syncros product was akin to having carbon fiber on your bike today.

The seatpost(s) I have are so original that, before I steel-wooled them off, the logotype ran vertically stacked along the pillar. I am lucky enough to have 2 of them, one for my mountain bike and one for my road bike. The one on my mountain bike was purchased in 1998 and has been on 5 bikes since (a Litespeed, a Cannondale, 2 Giants and a Santa Cruz). However, I have run Syncros’ posts on most of my bikes dating back to 1993, when I first graced my GT Zaskar with an aluminum model.

The second titanium post I purchased used, for $50, from a friend, when she found it in a box of old cycling stuff. I about tackled her for it because I wanted/needed one for my road bike(s). Especially when Syncros Ti posts are going for over a hundred bucks on ebay. In total, I have had some form of a Syncros’ seatpost on 7 mountain bikes and 2 road bikes, with my aforementioned two titanium posts accounting for 6 of them).

I don’t know what it is about these posts that does it for me. Whether it is because it embodies Louis Sullivan’s philosophy of “form following function”. Or the mystique that, at the time, owning a Syncros product gave you immediate dirt-cred? If you are into making your bicycle look good, then from an aesthetic point-of-view, it righteously tops of a bicycle. It doesn’t have any awkward protrusions or obtuse angles. Everything looks and functions like it should. It’s fairly light at 185 grams (claimed), although actual weight is probably closer to 200 grams. If you want a solid seatpost that you can set and forget; my using of 2 posts on 7 bikes, over 10 years, should be even more of a rousing endorsement of that facet. As far as the vibration dampening qualities of titanium versus an aluminum post? On the road, an aluminum post feels as though it transmits shockwaves directly into your colon. The titanium feels like it deadens those shockwaves. They are still there, just not as sharp or direct. On the dirt, everything is pretty bumpy and my rear shock pretty handily absorbs the off-road vibrations.

Can Syncros be credited with the invention of the 2 bolt micro-adjust seat clamp that so many of today’s manufacturer’s employ (Thomson, Easton, FSA, etc.)? In my opinion, yes. The company began in 1986. I didn’t see my first Syncros post until the early 90’s. The first iterations of the seat clamp had a flat upper clamp (without the rotary bolts) before moving to the now ubiquitous round upper clamp that most everyone knows and still used in the modern versions of the post. The early/mid 90’s was a mountain bike component manufacturing boom town. Everyone was influenced by everyone else’s designs. If Syncros can not be credited with the actual invention of 2 bolt clamp, then they went miles into perfecting it, exploiting it and making it the face of their brand.

The post was not without it’s weaknesses. The clamp had a directional specific-facing that some people found confusing. If you saw a Syncros post mounted backwards…you knew it, it was downright unsightly. Also, the machined brass rotary bolt receivers could be stripped easily, should you decide to get brawny and over torque the bolts.

So what’s the big deal? A post is a post, right? As long as it holds the saddle where it should and does not slide into the seat tube, who cares who makes it? Sure, fair enough. But, the Syncros did it with an admirable blue-collar ethic and an under-stated panache that reflected it’s Canadian roots. The fact that I am still using one, 10 years later is a testament to their mission of providing a strong, high-quality product. Some of those newer posts might be “better” but no one has done it better than (the original)Syncros.

It presently resides here, in the summer of 2007, on a Santa Cruz Superlight.

Cannondale has a new proto-type bike being tested by Gord Fraser and Mike Sayers. Scott from Cannondale gave us the lowdown on the new ride.

Actually, it was originally a video interview with Skiles talking with Scott, but someone accidentally opened up the aperture setting on their DV camera and, well, it was pretty overexposed, but don’t let that stop you from hearing the latest on the new Cannondale Series 6 Prototype