The description fits my experience. You do have to be careful when you wrap not to stretch it--the packaging tells you this multiple times. Works great; good vibration damping; good texture (not too tacky, not too slippery).
I've always liked Shimano SPD and these are no exception. Tight hold and the bolts have stayed tight on my shoes. I eventually wear them out from walking but takes a long time so the overall value to money is good. Excellent customer service from Western per usual.
Lots to like about this seatpost: (1) a simple attractive design which looks as though it should provide good compliance; (2) its saddle clamp accepts 7, 7x9, and 7x10 mm saddle rails without having to buy special parts; (3) the two bolt front/rear clamping system should eliminate the worries about slippage that you get with single bolt designs that rely on friction; (4) it�s reasonably light: the two 31.6 x 330mm ones I have weigh 195 and 197g (minus the neat rubber sealing ring, which adds 7g in case you wondered).
Setting the saddle angle is not as simple as shown in the wordless �pictograph� instructions enclosed. They indicate that one uses the front thumbscrew to set the angle and then locks the saddle in place by torquing the rear screw (both are titanium T25 Torx). If one is using a digital level (naturally the bike must be leveled axle-to-axle first), one quickly sees that tightening the rear screw raises the nose of the saddle by a degree or two. Which might not be visible without a level. The trick is to tighten the rear screw in steps, after each step using a T25 to tighten the front screw to bring the angle back a bit past the target value. Hopefully you will end up with the rear screw arriving at the final torque of 7nM before the front one does.
Take your time, being careful to fully seat the T25 driver into the screw heads before applying force. If you strip one of the heads, you won�t find a replacement at your local hardware store, and Fizik didn�t reply to emails. Using fresh T25 drivers may help: Crescent T25 1/4� drive sockets for your torque wrench cost only $3 on Amazon.
As other reviewers said, before you start it�s wise to disassemble it (one screw at a time, maybe taking photos as you go so as to get the spherical washers and pivots back the right way!) and lightly grease the screw threads and their pivots.
Also worth confirming that the multi-tool you bring along on rides includes a T25 driver!
