Velo Orange Grand Cru Seat Post

Reasonably priced, long setback seat post fills the bill

I have never been able to use a Brooks leather saddle with comfort. The fault wasn’t in the saddle, although Brooks saddle rails don’t allow much fore-and-aft adjustment, but rather in the seat posts available. None that I tried allowed me to slide the saddle back far enough. I always felt like I was sitting on the back of the Brooks, perched painfully on its steel cradle rather than in the middle on comfy leather.

My existing seat post with the most setback was a Dura-Ace alloy model from the mid-’90s. But even on a bike with a slack, 72-degree seat tube angle, my Brooks Pro was unusable and sat gathering dust in the closet.

I needed a post with more setback, but the ones available were too expensive. An example is the Paul Tall and Handsome post with 26mm of setback. A beautiful chunk of aluminum, but at $112 I Wasn’t tempted.

Right features, right price

Then I discovered the Velo Orange Grand Cru post with 30.2 mm of setback at only $48. Now I could get my saddle back significantly farther than with the old Dura-Ace (well over a centimeter) and suddenly my Brooks Pro was back in action.

The Grand Cru post is fairly light for a non-carbon component — only 254 grams. For a small weight penalty, you get great durability, especially since the head is integral with the post rather than pressed on. The inside of the shaft is fluted to further reduce weight.

I like the easy saddle mounting of the two-bolt design. The rear bolt fits in a notch, so to mount a saddle you simply loosen the bolt, slide it rearward out of the notch, slip the saddle rails in place, replace the bolt and tighten. No more jamming saddle rails sideways into small grooves.

Dialing in the saddle angle is easy

Saddle angle is crucial to comfort, and the Grand Cru’s two-bolt design makes it easy to dial in the exact saddle angle you want. In contrast, my old Dura-Ace post had discrete notches, meaning that my ideal saddle angle was inevitably in between the small detents. The Grand Cru held firmly, never allowing my saddle to tilt.

Precise saddle angle is especially important with Brooks saddles. The wider rear of the saddle, where your sit bones should go, is angled slightly up. So in order to avoid sliding forward, the nose of the saddle needs to be angled up a few degrees above horizontal. The correct angle is easy to achieve with the Grand Cru post.

The silver finish looks great with any bike but goes especially well with the sort of steed that a Brooks saddle complements — a traditional steel frame and fork with alloy components like cranks and stems. 

I did notice a bit of slippage when the post was mounted in a steel frame. I attributed this to the hard finish. Tightening the seat post bolt slightly more than I usually do held the post firmly in place.

The bottom line

Not a leather saddle fan? This seat post is useful even if you use a contemporary plastic-base saddle. Many current high-end bikes have steep seat tube angles — 74 or even 75 degrees. If your fit requirements necessitate moving your modern saddle back, the Grand Cru could be the ticket.

October 2012

Coach Fred Matheny is an RBR co-founder who has four decades of road cycling and coaching experience. He has written 14 eBooks and eArticles on cycling training, available in RBR’s eBookstore at Coach Fred Matheny, including the classic Complete Book of Road Bike Training, which includes 4 eBooks comprising 250 pages of timeless, detailed advice and training plans. The Complete Book is one of the many perks of an RBR Premium Membership. Click to read Fred’s full bio.