Slipping carbon seatpost - anybody got a Specialized owner's manual?

[Globalti]

The carbon seatpost on my carbon framed Roubaix is slipping down slowly. The trouble is that I don't have an instruction manual for the bike. I have two questions:

I've found on the Specialized website that the collar bolt should be done up to 55 in-lbf or 6.2 Nm. I will borrow a friend's torque wrench but in the meantime, with a standard allen key how tight is this in finger/effort terms? Gently nipped up, firm, or eff-off tight?

The collar has a tiny arrow marked on it, pointing inwards, see the picture. Am I right in thinking that this arrow is supposed to align with the slot, as I have it here?

Thanks!

 

[Alun]

I have a carbon seatpost in a carbon frame and it has a supplementary collar in addition to the one in your photo, I haven't had any slipping problems. You can also get carbon assembly paste which might help. 55in/lbs is the same as about 14lbs on the end of a 4inch allen key so pretty tight but not silly, the torque wrench will be the best answer, but if the post slips, reset it and tighten it a little more than last time. I think the clamp is correctly aligned in the photo, I can't see where else the arrow should be pointing.

 

[HJ]

There is a special gripping paste which you should use with carbon seatposts, I had the same problem until I asked at my LBS and they put some on.

 

[Steve Austin]

Their is a lot of unwarranted mystery about carbon. Components need to be tight enough not to slip, and not too tight to crush the parts they are connected.
No need to be giving yourself a hernia to keep things, but if its slipping then it needs to be a bit tighter OR you need to use a carbon paste like the one below.
http://shop.18bikes.co.uk/products...._Carbon_Composite_Shield/Carbon_Grease_(80g)_

Sometimes you can stop posts slipping by wiping any trace of grease off them. but if there is no grease, and its still slipping it may be worth checking you have got the right size parts.