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Microadjust Seatposts
Older-design seatposts were (and cheap ones still are) simple pieces of pipe, which a saddle clamp wrapped around. The part of the saddle clamp that wrapped around the post had a series of serrations or ridges which mated with a similar set of serrations on the parts that gripped the rails of the saddle. The saddle could be tilted up or down, but only in increments which would allow these sets of serrations to mesh.
When seatposts with built-in clamps came onto the market, one of the major advantages that they were touted for was that you had a continuous range of angle adjustments, achievable by loosening the front bolt and tightening the rear (or vice versa). The buzzword to describe this feature was "micro-adjustable". This term came to become a general synonym for a seatpost with a built-in clamp, as opposed to the older "pipe" style.
Most newer seatposts are single bolt designs, and rely on serrations to maintain the saddle angle (the serrations are finer-pitched than the old saddle clamps). Despite the fact that these seatposts do not provide a truly continuous adjustment, they are still commonly referred to as "microadjustable." Also see Laprade.
For more on seatposts, see my article on Saddles.
