• Lynskey Performance Ti seatpost
• £149.99
• www.hotlines-uk.com

Lynskey Performance is well known for its titanium frames, both the ones it produces under its own name and those it manufactures to the designs of other people. It’s expanding its range beyond frames, though, with a titanium (what else?) seatpost first out of the blocks.

The general design is the standard in-line, two-bolt layout that’s been with us since sometime in the Paleolithic era, but the execution is particularly refined. The post is designed primarily to fit Lynskey’s own frames, and as such is currently only available in 31.6mm. That’s not an uncommon size, but if you need any other diameter you’ll have to go elsewhere. Ditto if you need (or want) a post with layback. The shaft is, of course, titanium, but at the top there are internal and external aluminium sleeves bonded in to support the saddle cradle and tension rod – the walls of the Ti shaft are something like 0.8mm thick, so some extra thickness up top to sit the carbon fibre cradle on is clearly a good idea.

There are a number of neat refinements to the Lynskey clamp. The tension rod that passes through the seatpost is stepped, which prevents the bolt from getting too close to the shaft. The bolt holes are tapered and the 6Al/4V titanium bolt heads are domed underneath to allow plenty of angular deflection without anything binding or bending. You get a ball-ended 4mm Allen key with the post, too. Adjustment is as simple as ever with this layout – loosen the rear bolt and tighten the front to tip the saddle nose-down, vice versa for the opposite.

It’s notable that that saddle cradle is unusually long front to back – there’s 60mm between front and back rail clamps, compared to 40mm on a Thomson, and many posts are around 30mm. That’s good for supporting a saddle with litle risk of bending rails, but bad for adjustment – you’re losing an inch of fore-aft saddle position options compared to many seatposts, and it’s not too hard to find saddles with rails short enough that you get hardly any adjustment at all. If you’re currently using an in-line post and have your seat clamped in the middle of the rails then this won’t be a deal-breaker, but it’s worth checking.

Lynskey claim a weight of 170g for the 350mm post and 190g for the 410mm option, and we got weights close enough to that on our scales. Despite the low weight, there’s no rider weight limit on the post and it comes with what Lynskey describes as a “no questions asked guarantee” – apparently you’re even covered if you damage the post driving into a low object with your bike on the roof.

In use we don’t ask much of seatposts – they need to hold the saddle in place, keep quiet doing it and not break. The Lynskey performs admirably on those metrics, although to be fair we haven’t gone out of our way to try and break it. Lynskey itself is clearly confident enough to stump up that warranty, though. As an added bonus, the thin-walled construction means that there’s a hint of useful give in the post despite its large diameter – it’s certainly noticeable coming off a typical 31.6mm aluminium post with 2-3mm wall thickness.

Positives: Light, should be durable, bit of give, liberally-minded warranty

Negatives: Expensive, only one diameter, no layback option, limited saddle adjustability

Verdict: Yes, Lynsey’s seatpost is a whole hill of money, and we suspect that a lot of people will find £150 well into diminishing returns territory. But it’s not unprecedentedly expensive – there are several carbon fibre posts that are similarly expensive but no lighter. And many riders find something reassuring about metal posts. If you’re looking for the finishing touch for a high-end build, and it fits your frame and riding position, the Lynskey post is well worth a look.

Performance: 4/5
Value: 3/5
Overall: 4/5