# 481 seat tube - a cautionary tale...



## peterpen (May 5, 2004)

OK, so this is probably 10% my bad and 90% poor design and/or finishing on Look's part.
I've had an 05 481SL for around 30 days now and finally got in the 25.0 mm Thomson seatpost I wanted to use. Now, I have a proportionally very long torso and end up showing only a few inches of post. So there's a fair amount of post that goes down the seat tube (which I usually end up chopping off once everything is dialed in.)

You can probably feel where this is going: I put the post in, went to slide it down to the proper height, and heard a rather disturbing crack. Looked at the outside of the seat tube approximately where the end of the post would be and the paint was cracked in two places, indicating to me that the seat tube had cracked from the inside.

You can imagine my reaction.

So it appears that either the seat tube tapers in from 25mm or the inside of the seat tube was not finished enough and the post caught on an edge of carbon. I've since heard from people who've seen tubing samples from Look that the insides "look like cornflakes." 

So my frame is on it's way to Veltec for the warranty action and I've built my steel Colnago back up. Probably give me a comfier ride for Copperoplis anyway, but it sure feels like a tank now. However you slice it, I'm bummed. 

So yeah - be careful putting too much seatpost into your 481.


----------



## CHT (Mar 1, 2001)

Sorry to hear your experience. Same w/the 381i. When I first bought the frame and tried to insert my U.S.E. Alien seatpost, it would not go down all the way. At first I thought there was some sort of obstruction. By looking outside at the seat tube and inside with a flashlight I realized that LOOK does not give you much insertion room before the seat tube tapers. I have a reasonable amount of seatpost showing (not extreme), but still had to cut my seatpost to fit. I've never had an issue with any other frame of equivalent size.


----------



## peterpen (May 5, 2004)

*happy ending!*

Very happy ending to my tale of stupidity (my part) meeting poor design (Look's part.)

Veltec is honoring my warranty.

so I thought, what the hell? I'll pull a Francois! And for a mere $300 surcharge, my replacement frame will be a 585.

hee hee. Hello, my name is Peter, and I'm a upgrade-holic.

Big props to Veltec for being so cool and my LBS for sorting it all out.


----------



## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

Happy Ending? Segue to a Happier Beginning!

So you'll exchange the cursed 25mm seatpost for a 27.2 post too?

Philosophical Q: So is it really an 'upgrade' if you never threw a leg over the 481?


----------



## peterpen (May 5, 2004)

Bixe said:


> Philosophical Q: So is it really an 'upgrade' if you never threw a leg over the 481?
> QUOTE]
> 
> Well, I actually rode the 481 for around a month, 800 miles including a race or two. It was fantastic, but I reckon the 585 can only be *more* fantastic. The 481 was suprisingly similar to my steel Colnago, just lighter and with a much stiffer front end. I'm expecting the 585 will also bring a stiffer rear triangle, and a little more snap going uphill and in sprints - that was my impression on the test ride I did back in December.
> ...


----------



## CHT (Mar 1, 2001)

peterpen said:


> Very happy ending to my tale of stupidity (my part) meeting poor design (Look's part.)
> 
> Veltec is honoring my warranty.
> 
> ...


Congrats on the upgrade! Although what happened sucks, I do envy you. PM me if you are looking to get rid of your 25.0 mm seatpost. I might be interested since I'm nervous about racing w/my U.S.E. Alien seatpost given the mileage put on it. Thanks.


----------

