I purchased a 2017 Specialized Roubaix Pro in November of 2016 and almost immediately experienced a creaking cracking sound coming from the seat post area. I went through 3 seat posts and 2 saddles and the sound persisted. I noticed that the frame had a flaw (hairline crack at the junction of seat tube and top tube), and Specialized replaced the frame on warranty. The new frame is even noisier than the first. I'm thinking this is a design flaw with the seat post clamp? Is anyone else experiencing this issue? It's so bad that it seriously detracts from the ride experience, and I would not expect this from a bike of this caliber.
Specialized Roubaix Pro 2017 Seat Clamp Problem
rdavids1
21 - 29 of 29 Posts
I'm having a similar, but would appear to be a different, problem with my 2017 S-Works Roubaix. I'm not noticing a creaking sound but my seatpost is twisting and slipping. Depending on road conditions, I generally can't go 100 miles without experiencing some slip in the seat post.
I've used carbon paste and torqued to spec carefully being mindful of the side to side gap. Nothing seems to help.
Being a DIY kind of guy I've yet to take the bike back to the dealer but I guess that is my next step. I've also found that contacting Specialized directly is pretty useless. They will just tell you to contact the dealer.
Louis
I've used carbon paste and torqued to spec carefully being mindful of the side to side gap. Nothing seems to help.
Being a DIY kind of guy I've yet to take the bike back to the dealer but I guess that is my next step. I've also found that contacting Specialized directly is pretty useless. They will just tell you to contact the dealer.
Louis
That's interesting. Sounds like you did what one would expect to fix it with the carbon paste and torque. That seat post clamp does seem to be a minimalist and finicky way to clamp the seat post, it's certainly given me my share of problems.
Having worked on my own bikes since the mid-seventies, I also like to understand and learn to work on a bike myself. Taking it to a dealer is always a crap shoot unless you know you have the right mechanic with the particular experience of working on your particular bike - a difficult find with the new Roubaix. And you're right about contacting Specialized directly - pretty useless, although I did get one nugget of useful info from them, the torque setting for the saddle clamp - I wasn't able to find that on any published material.
Good luck with figuring it out.
Having worked on my own bikes since the mid-seventies, I also like to understand and learn to work on a bike myself. Taking it to a dealer is always a crap shoot unless you know you have the right mechanic with the particular experience of working on your particular bike - a difficult find with the new Roubaix. And you're right about contacting Specialized directly - pretty useless, although I did get one nugget of useful info from them, the torque setting for the saddle clamp - I wasn't able to find that on any published material.
Good luck with figuring it out.
13.6Nm for a seatpost? Wow. I’m not doubting you at all. That’s just a lot of torque for a seatpost. I usually torque mine to about 45 inch lbs. and I’ve never had issues.
Related: I’m not on a Roubaix but I was having a similar seatpost creak sound (almost a reallly loud crack) and for me it was definitely an undertorqued saddle bolt.
Hi guys,
About 3 weeks ago I read here about this subject because I was having the same problem with my new Roubaix. It seems I solved the situation and I'd like to share my experience.
Basically, I followed the manual and noticed that:
(1) the torque in the saddle bolt was wrong (about 8Nm), but in my case the correct is 12.4Nm, as indicated on the seatpost (I had missed this information before).
(2) The seatpost clamp probably wasn't fixed symmetrically. So, before tighten the bolts (simultaneously) to 6Nm (my torque wrench doens't reach 6.2 exactly), I tightened the bolts a little bit so that the gaps on each side were perfecly the same.
(3) Before insert the seatpost I cleaned it and its hole on the bike and applied carbon paste (again).
Since then, I'm riding the bike frequently over bad pavement without any noise.
PS. I have an aluminum seatpost and use the heavy ISM saddle.
About 3 weeks ago I read here about this subject because I was having the same problem with my new Roubaix. It seems I solved the situation and I'd like to share my experience.
Basically, I followed the manual and noticed that:
(1) the torque in the saddle bolt was wrong (about 8Nm), but in my case the correct is 12.4Nm, as indicated on the seatpost (I had missed this information before).
(2) The seatpost clamp probably wasn't fixed symmetrically. So, before tighten the bolts (simultaneously) to 6Nm (my torque wrench doens't reach 6.2 exactly), I tightened the bolts a little bit so that the gaps on each side were perfecly the same.
(3) Before insert the seatpost I cleaned it and its hole on the bike and applied carbon paste (again).
Since then, I'm riding the bike frequently over bad pavement without any noise.
PS. I have an aluminum seatpost and use the heavy ISM saddle.
That can't be right. More like 6 nm
I finally eliminated the loud cracking noise from my Roubaix Expert. In my case it turned out to be both the saddle clamp and the seat post clamp making noise, with the seat post clamp being the worst offender. I had correctly torqued both the saddle clamp and seat post clamp but was still having the cracking sound.
The saddle was moving backwards in the clamp during rides so I took it apart and found the powder coating on the saddle rails was being rubbed off. I cleaned all parts thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and lightly sanded the rails to remove all the powder coating where it mates with the clamp. I torqued it to 13.5Nm as recommended. That stopped the saddle movement and much of the noise, so that left the seat post as the remaining culprit.
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I took the seat post out and found some dry film on both the post and in the seat tube. I cleaned that off with rubbing alcohol and then applied some carbon paste to both the seat post and inside the seat tube. After torquing to the recommended setting (6.2Nm) and doing several rides on rough gravel roads, I've not heard a single sound from the bike.
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Additionally, I was skeptical of how accurate my torque wrench was so I bought the two Specialized torque wrenches. They have handwritten notes of the three tests they do on each wrench so I know they are accurate.
![]()
My bike was put together without using any carbon paste on the seat post / seat tube interface and correcting that, in addition to removing the powder coating from the seat rails, fixed the problem for me.
The saddle was moving backwards in the clamp during rides so I took it apart and found the powder coating on the saddle rails was being rubbed off. I cleaned all parts thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and lightly sanded the rails to remove all the powder coating where it mates with the clamp. I torqued it to 13.5Nm as recommended. That stopped the saddle movement and much of the noise, so that left the seat post as the remaining culprit.
I took the seat post out and found some dry film on both the post and in the seat tube. I cleaned that off with rubbing alcohol and then applied some carbon paste to both the seat post and inside the seat tube. After torquing to the recommended setting (6.2Nm) and doing several rides on rough gravel roads, I've not heard a single sound from the bike.
Additionally, I was skeptical of how accurate my torque wrench was so I bought the two Specialized torque wrenches. They have handwritten notes of the three tests they do on each wrench so I know they are accurate.
My bike was put together without using any carbon paste on the seat post / seat tube interface and correcting that, in addition to removing the powder coating from the seat rails, fixed the problem for me.
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So basically, just follow the manual? 
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787 Posts
@toiletsiphon...lol, you are a one cruel dude (haha)
@chiski......am I seeing things right in your pic? The seat looks as far forward in the rails as it can go...is that right? Have never seen a road bike with a seat slammed that far forward? Do you time-trial on that Roubaix or what?
@chiski......am I seeing things right in your pic? The seat looks as far forward in the rails as it can go...is that right? Have never seen a road bike with a seat slammed that far forward? Do you time-trial on that Roubaix or what?
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