USE’s Sumo Carbon seatpost looks great with a smart carbon fibre weave post. USE’s own neat one-bolt clamp holds the saddle securely and doesn’t slip or creak.

The Sumo one-bolt clamp gives the seatpost its name. The head and clamp pieces are forged and CNC-machined from 7075 aluminium and take 7mm rails. Clamps are also available for fatter rails. Angle adjustments are laser etched on the clamp.

USE fits a 4mm Allen bolt so you need to be careful when tightening the clamp. We’d recommend using a torque wrench to avoid over-tightening it.

The head is bonded to a full carbon shaft with smart printed decals. Its 400mm length is generous and should mean it will fit a raft of bikes including very compact frames that need a lot of post to get the right saddle height. It’s available in the most common sizes 27.2, 30.9, 31.6 and 34.9mm.

There’s 10mm of layback but it’s a shame USE don’t offer an inline option for those that might not need that much layback.

We’ve been battering the seatpost through hundreds of miles including several long distance marathon races and the post has stood up just fine. The clamp has proved solid and reliable with no saddle slippage or readjustment necessary throughout the test period.

Thanks to the flex that you can build in with a carbon fibre shaft, t’s a comfortable post for long distance riding as well. That’s a unique advantage of carbon posts: try and make an aluminium post this flexible and it’ll fatigue to death in no time.

It’s a good looking seatpost too which matters for an item that is on such prominent show.

Weight is good at 232g for our 30.8mm sample, which isn’t far off the claimed weight. It’s far from the troubling the lightest sub-200g posts but its durability and comfort won us over.

Verdict

A light, strong and comfortable British-designed seatpost.

Pros

Strong
Light
Easy clamp setup
Looks great

Pros

There are cheaper carbon seatposts

Price (for 30.8mm): £89.99

More information: USE Sumo Carbon Seat Post

What USE says about the Sumo Carbon seat post

The SUMO seat post is engineered to take a pounding and go the distance. The highly acclaimed, quick fitting, simple to adjust clamp design ensures the perfect saddle position. The SUMO is equally at home in Marathon events, TransMtn, Freeride (lite), as it is pounding out the cobbles in the heart of Europe. The SUMO is the first choice for riders who need a lightweight dependable seat post.

The SUMO Carbon is used by World-class athletes through to amateurs in Multiple MTB World Cup events, developed for fastest, toughest riders on the planet.