Hope Technology Seat Collar (discontinued)

When it comes to my bikes, I like to keep things simple, a black frame with small pops of color is jam, and Hope makes parts in a crazy assortment of colors and styles perfect for those looking for small upgrades on the bike that stand out from the crowd. They are known for their quality, and nice aesthetics and this seatpost clamp does not disappoint. This clamp replaced my old black seatpost clamp, and while a touch heavier, it has much nicer machining and is larger than my previous clamp.

I got the blue color to match my chainring and my new Chromag saddle and the color matches up nicely. Anodized parts are usually slightly off from each other and I hate seeing bikes with a million shades of the same color. Hope seemed to do a good job though getting a nice blue color that is in the middle of the spectrum and matches my other parts well. Installation was easy (its a seatpost clamp for peats sake), but the aluminum bolt made me a bit nervous, I used to go a little crazy with tightening bolts and broke a few. I torqued the bolt to spec though and have not had any issues with creaking or moving, and the bolt has been fine.

If you are the rider that wants a little extra bling on your bike, and high-quality bling at that, Hope has you covered. The price is definitely a bit higher than some other companies offerings, but I think it is worth it. A seatpost clamp is definitely a fit and forget part for me (especially now that I leave my saddle height the same with my dropper) but that pop of blue on my bike looks sweet and definitely gives me the urge to upgrade a few other parts of my bike.

In my opinion an aluminium alloy is just the wrong material to use for a bolt in this application, the weight savings are just minuscule, it's just too weak, I stripped out the bolt with very minimal force, which is pretty disappointing from a manufacturer like Hope.

However the collar part of the product is well finished and nicely anodised and has lasted for years, after I switched out the bolt for a steel version. I also use the QR collar and have never had a problem, so I'd recommend buying that instead.

Whether you're building up a bike from the frame or swapping out the standardquick release clamp that comes with most complete bikes, a nice seat tube collar is in order.  I went with this one based upon brand reputation, the simple design and the reasonable price. 

Nothing fancy here, the clamp just plain works. This is one of those components that you really don't want to think about too often. I have had two of these now, a blue on for my bottlerocket years ago and now a black one for the dh rig.  I have moved it to a few different frames depending on which one has the dropper post on it and have had no problems with it working as expected.