Many of us don't have enough seatpost showing to allow clamping the bike by the seatpost. If we did, we'd be riding kids' bikes. I clamp my bikes by the seattube all the time and, while I have smushed a decal or two, I've never damaged the metal underneath.
Steve "vertically challenged" Freides
Mark Poore wrote:
>
> Nice stem, but ouch on the seat tube. I bought a Mercian that had the
> seattube slightly pinched by a person that clamped the bike in the stand
> like the one pictured. The seatpost is much harder to damage!
>
> Mark, frost on the pumpkins this morning, Poore