Pro Vibe Seatpost 27.2 Layback

The Pro Vibe is a very comfortable seatpost with easy adjustment of the saddle angle. It's strong, too, but you can go quite a bit lighter for the same money.

• Pros: Easy saddle angle adjustment, very strong, comfortable on rough terrain
• Cons: There are lighter options at this price point

Seatposts are not the most glamorous of components, but a good one can improve your ride and make maintenance much easier. I found this Pro Vibe post to be very strong and comfortable both on and off road.

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I used this seatpost on both my road and cyclo-cross bikes. Both times, it was easy to set my saddle height and get the saddle nice and flat. Out on the road, I experienced no slips in height or angle at a torque of 5Nm.

Swapping over from an inline post, you can certainly feel the benefit of the 20mm layback. The post kills road buzz really nicely. That means you could run slightly higher tyre pressures for the same comfort, but I was pretty happy with how the bike felt at 80psi.

After swapping this over onto my cross bike, I was happy to find the post continuing to hold the saddle firmly in position, even after a few heavy landings during remounts. The post performed very well in a crash that saw the bike bouncing down the CX course. No movement of the saddle – although I wouldn't recommend testing it yourself!

Weight is often a key reason for changing your seatpost and at 250g, the Pro Vibe is good, but not the best. Thomson's Elite seatpost (£79.99) comes in at 228g in the 16mm layback option. Personally, I find that the best way to lose weight from this component is to cut it down. After all, you only need the minimum insertion length to ensure the post's safety.

Whereas the Pro uses a single bolt in the saddle rail clamp, the Thomson uses a two-bolt system. Both are easy to use, though you might find the Thomson better for very fine saddle tilt adjustments.

You could also turn to carbon posts, but then you're looking north of £100 for a negligible weight saving. The carbon version of this post, for example, is £199 and weighs 214g.

> 9 ways to make your bike more comfortable

Pro doesn't advertise this post as being Di2 compatible, but you can easily fit a bung, or even more easily, wrap the battery in bar tape and wedge it in. I've done this for a few seasons now and it works perfectly.

This is a very good post that offers a decent weight and very clean aesthetics. You can go lighter, though.

Verdict

Comfortable, easy to adjust, strong and looks great, but there are lighter posts out there