🚀 go-pugleaf

Thomas H. Kunich writes:
>>Another really nice one is the Ritchey
>>Force Directional but it goes for around $65. 
>
>Richeys have been known to break since they are strengthened front to rear and
>not side to side.

I can partially confirm this - a friend had his Ritchey break.  He weighs
all of 135 lbs., so it's hardly surprising it collapsed under the strain.

However, he had one of the early ones; Ritchey claims that they had 
problems in the beginning (the posts are actually made by Nitto) and
that they've ironed out the bugs now.

His didn't break because of the "directional butting"; it broke off at the
junction between the seatpost and the clamp mechanism, where it's not
butted.  A classic fatigue failure - the break was oxidized about half way
through.  Given the number of "aero" seatposts out there (most of them
with their "advantage" negated by a saddle bag) I don't think side-to-side
strength is a particular problem in seat-posts.

The Ritchey is kind of over-priced though.
--
Chris Moll                       (510)486-7891
---
A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature
replaces it with.        -- Tenessee Williams