Is it me or the clamp on the seat post a stupid design? I'm on the last stages of finishing my SLC-SL bike but I can't for the hell in me figure out how to level off the seat. This clamp has what it appears to be a thumb screw in the front and seems you can only tighten it with your thumb up to a point. Oh and by the way once the seat is on you can't get your thumb to loosen or tighten up this bolt. And if you tighten it up before you put on the seat, there isn't sufficient play in between the top and bottom clamp to slide in the seat on. Dumb!

In the back of the clamp is a bolt that uses a 5mm allen tool and seems to be the only one you can really tighten. The problem is that when you tighten up this bolt, the seat raises up from the front so it does not sit level how I would want it to be. It raises up because you can't tighten up the thumb bolt because if you do like I mentioned you can't slide in the seat. Any ideas? In the meantime I'll keep messing with it. Even if it's me it's still a dumb design.

Yes, it is a difficult design.  The front thumb screw adjusts the pitch, and the rear allen bolt tightens everything up.  It'll take a lot of playing with to get it right, but once it's done, it's done.  Loosen the rear allen bolt to the point that the front thumb screw turns easily.  Tightneing the thumb screw brings the nose down, loosening it, vice-versa. You need to fiind a middle ground starting point.  So maybe turn the thumb screw about half-way down or a little past that.  Torque up the rear allen bolt to spec and see where the saddle sits as far as level.  (Note, when you tighten the rear allen bolt, the seat will pitch up.  Just stop at the 7.5 Nm torque spec).  It's a pain, and sometimes it can take a dozen tries to get it right, each time you have to completely loosen the rear bolt adjust the front thumb screw, and then re-torque the rear allen bolt to spec.  When you're getting close, a little turn on the thumb screw goes a long way, and it's easy to over-do it and go the other way.  I use a digital level to make sure mine is plumb level. 

1. loosen the rear screw a hell of a lot. tighten up the thumb screw until the nose of the saddle is pointing down considerably. tighten rear screw.

2. if the saddle is still pointing down, loosen rear screw, then loosen thumb screw half a turn. tighten rear screw.

if the saddle is still not at the desired pitch (level, or maybe pointing down (some people like their saddle pointing down)), repeat step 2 until your problem is solved. this ain't rocket science :)

 I know it's not rocket science but you know it can be a lot easier to do. Okay I think I know what I need to do. Thanks to all.

 Suggested this before, but what Cervelo should do as an update, short of replacing the whole clamp, is to have an allen key indentation in the thumb screw bolt so that at least if you have a cut out saddle, it would be easier to play with and not require a long and double-jointed thumb and forefinger.

 Nielsamd, you hit it right on the nose. Who was the genius who thought of this huh? Imagine if you went through all this ordeal then knowing that you need to readjust it, you'll have to go through it again. I wonder if the "Cervelos" read this forum to get ideas and to read the complaints.

you do not need to keep re-tightening the bolt to see if it is level and re-doing it multiple times.

just loosen the rear bolt as much as possible, then turn the front thumb screw, then take your hands and force the front of the seat up with one hand, and force the rear of the seat down with the other hand to see if it is level, re-adjust the thumb screw until it comes out level, no need to keep tightening the rear bolt.

When this post was designed along with others like it on the market, saddles had a higher profile and it was easier to get under the saddle to do things, now saddles have a lower profile making it harder to work on.

 Okay, I know the jist of how it's supposed to be done but I can't get my thumb and forefinger to loosen or tighten the front bolt. Also it seems that the front bolt does not go down past a certain point. If it does then I definitely can't do it with my fingers. Tried a needle nose pliers but it slips.

If you are finding it difficult to move the thumb-screw there are a couple of simple things to check.  Take the saddle off and disassemble the clamp.  Re-insert the the thumb-screw to make sure that it rolls all the way in smoothly.  We occasionally run into a few posts that the threads need to be tapped to allow the screw to turn all the way in.  Tapping is something best left to someone experienced as you don't want to strip the threads out.  The other thing to check is the top clamp.  Since these are cast parts,again occasionally, ther can be a bit of extra material at the "seam".  The tolerance between the thumb-screw and clamp can be tight so a little attention with a file on the clamp can help.  These thing should help but if not your local Cervelo dealer should be able to help.

Cheers 

Just to eliminate side-factors: can we establish that the clamp sections/bolts etc. that we are talking about are identical in alu vs. carbon  and dual position/multi position Soloist posts?

Yes, the clamp/bolts are the same between the posts.

 Screw this clamp. I can't believe that I didn't have any problems putting together my bike but I did with this stupid clamp. Had to take it to the bike shop, I just couldn't get my fingers to vice grip the thumb bolt to tighten it up. Even my LBS said it was dumb. All I got to do now is cut up my steerer and I'll be stylin with my first ever Cervelo. Riding it around the parking lot test riding it I must say I think I'm gonna like it better then my SL2 S-Works.

 Frank, wish I can help but I was stumped by this dumb design. Good luck.