Full Suspension Vs. Seatpost Suspension...which is best?

[The duke]

Ok ladies and gentlemen, hoping to get a little feedback from people who've had their shapely butts on both a full suspension bike and a hardtail with a good (kinekt or Thudbuster) seatpost suspension.

I've loved my first mountain bike. I bought a hardtail BH Atom X, not quite sure what my riding would evolve into and what type of surfaces I'd spend the most time in. After 6 months, I now know I've got no stomach for rough trails or extreme riding. I also know that in sunny SoCal, life can be cut short on busy roads with inattentive drivers, so I avoid those too.

I've found myself 50% on poorly maintained, potholed backstreets, 30% on fire roads and gravel roads and 20% busy highways. My average speed is high. I enjoy almost always staying at 20+mph (30kph) and will always adjust motor support up to keep me going fast with medium effort.

My butt is getting sore after hour long rides and I'm trying to decide what to do. I've never ridden full suspension or seatpost suspension, but have heard great things about both. Should I be thinking about buying a whole new bike for my type of riding or will the benefits be lost on me.

My neighborhood riding is mostly through gated communities. I pass 3, low vehicle swing gates on my ride and have to lift my bike over each.


Joggers and dog walkers regularly duck under or hop over these and neighbors and security have never objected to my passing thru. My 45lb bike is really a struggle to get up and over, and I don't think I could handle lifting anything heavier.

I've tried a few saddles and have one that I'm comfortable with, but would like to make my rides as comfortable on my butt and back as possible. I've let most of the air out of my plus tires and invested in good padded riding shorts. Overall, I'm happy, but am excited to take comfort to the next level!

Should I start saving for a full suspension or will putting a $250 new spring seatpost be enough for my usage? Thanks everyone!

 

[steve mercier]

You could try a seatpost first on your current bike and sell it if you decide to get the heavier FS bike, or even make a deal with your LBS to return it for full credit if you buy a FS bike ftom them.

 

[Feliz]

In my opinion there's no comparison it's apples to oranges but why don't you do what Steve suggested and try a seat post. Maybe borrow one from a friend or your LBS. Watch some Enduro or Downhill videos on utube and you'll see the difference,

 

[PDoz]

You mention back as well as butt?

Do you have a feel for if the back pain is coming from impacts through the bars or seat? Eg are you getting jolts through the bars even when up on the pedals ? If so, go full suspension.

If not, then consider the disadvantages of fs before investing - more complexity / moving parts to wear out, eg all the bushes / linkages , extra strain on the chain as the suspension moves through it's travel , shock servicing etc. Then go and ride the best quality fs bike you can demo and learn how to bunny hop over those gates ( that's a joke)

 

[Feliz]

You mention back as well as butt?

Do you have a feel for if the back pain is coming from impacts through the bars or seat? Eg are you getting jolts through the bars even when up on the pedals ? If so, go full suspension.

If not, then consider the disadvantages of fs before investing - more complexity / moving parts to wear out, eg all the bushes / linkages , extra strain on the chain as the suspension moves through it's travel , shock servicing etc. Then go and ride the best quality fs bike you can demo and learn how to bunny hop over those gates ( that's a joke)

ha ha ha ha ha

And the FS is probably at least 5 pounds heavier, not a small consideration.

 

[bob armani]

I ride both, however, they have their place. I was in the same predicament with a sore backside after riding less than an hour with no rear suspension. I experimented with different seats and found the Serfas Dual Density Gel seat was my answer combined with gel padded bike underware. I then purchased another bike with full suspension, changed out the stock seat to another Serfas DD seat and no longer needed any additional padding. I would also take Steve's suggestion as well if you need a place to start. For an added bonus, the Serfas seats come with a 90 day comfort guarantee.

 

[Feliz]

Bob, I took your advice on another thread and purchased the Serfas DD seat and it's the most comfortable seat I have. Thanks for providing the link.

I have suspension posts on my pavement bikes but I don't think they work so well off-road, I have never seen a mountain biker with a suspension seat post although I'm sure there are those that do. I have an Easy Motion Rebel Lynx 5.5 FS and I can ride off-road all day without butt or back problems.

 

[The duke]

You could try a seatpost first on your current bike and sell it if you decide to get the heavier FS bike, or even make a deal with your LBS to return it for full credit if you buy a FS bike ftom them.

I was hoping to get feedback on the experiences of y'all! If I bought the suspension seatpost, I can imagine it would be worlds better than my hardtail, but I still wouldn't really know how it compared to full suspension!

 

[The duke]

In my opinion there's no comparison it's apples to oranges but why don't you do what Steve suggested and try a seat post. Maybe borrow one from a friend or your LBS. Watch some Enduro or Downhill videos on utube and you'll see the difference,

That TV stuff is exactly what I don't do. I can see how amazing full suspension is for that application, but what about for gravel and marginally maintained backroads? How would the two suspension options stack up under those real world situations?

 

[The duke]

You mention back as well as butt?

Do you have a feel for if the back pain is coming from impacts through the bars or seat? Eg are you getting jolts through the bars even when up on the pedals ? If so, go full suspension.

If not, then consider the disadvantages of fs before investing - more complexity / moving parts to wear out, eg all the bushes / linkages , extra strain on the chain as the suspension moves through it's travel , shock servicing etc. Then go and ride the best quality fs bike you can demo and learn how to bunny hop over those gates ( that's a joke)

Nah, the low back pain was pretty existing and it should properly be described as tightness. It's just uncomfortable to jar it around for an hour or two and I was hoping for a more 'plush' experience when I ride.

 

[PDoz]

ha ha ha ha ha

And the FS is probably at least 5 pounds heavier, not a small consideration.

It gets harder to compare brands of apples between brands of oranges because moving between hard tail and full suspension you're shifting both price bracket and intended spectrum of usage - so a decent full suspension is likely to have lighter but stronger components because it's pitched at a more serious market- at least up until the point where you get into serious down hill bikes like a spec kenevo

Merida is probably the easiest to make these comparisons with because they list bke weight

Eg

Fs - Merida e160 900 e is 21.8 kg (48 lb) - that's with 160 mm of quality suspension front and back AND a dropper post ( which weighs more than the difference here)

Hard tail - Merida ebig nine 400 is 21.6 kg (47.6 lb) with a puny 100 mm front suspension ( all those cheap parts add up)


Only a 30% price jump.....

 

[PDoz]

Nah, the low back pain was pretty existing and it should properly be described as tightness. It's just uncomfortable to jar it around for an hour or two and I was hoping for a more 'plush' experience when I ride.

Your seat / bar / peg triangle is going to be floating along on a cloud with a decent full suspension rather than having it's dimensions stretched with a suspension post - so " tightness" might justify fs

 

[steve mercier]

Nah, the low back pain was pretty existing and it should properly be described as tightness. It's just uncomfortable to jar it around for an hour or two and I was hoping for a more 'plush' experience when I ride.

If it was only lower back pain problem I would say you might consider raising the bars to get a slightly more upright position. Other changes such as the grips with horns will allow you to alternate postions. Or you may find the bars are too wide for you and if so you can cut an inch from each end. I find that even a small adjustment makes a big difference on back pain so before you do any of that , maybe check if your seat is in the optimal positions. Small fore and aft adjustments ,seat height and inclination make a huge diff. I have an air front fork, a good Selle Royale Respiro saddle and a Thudbuster sd seatpost. While I would never go back to a pure hardtail , the ride is not what I would call "plush" as you say. I feel it is worth buying a good suspension seatpost for sure but it will only diminish the larger bumps instead of complete elimination.

 

[33red]

Personaly i like my HT 27+ with a padded saddle. For a bit more cush some use a thudbuster and you know many prefer FS. You should try for a good 2-3 hrs to decide what you prefer.

 

[Marci jo]

The Kinect suspension seat post made a world of difference on my Vado speed pedelec, which I consider to be a heavy bike (55 lbs). And heavy bikes at faster speed can make for an exceptionally jarring ride. My cycling is similar to your situation, 60% on crappy poorly repaired roads and the rest back roads and some bike trails. I prefer to ride around 17-22 mph and can honestly say the seat post is fantastic at absorbing the bumps. The original name was "Body Float" and it lives up to that name. I'm around 135# but different springs are available for different weights.

 

[The duke]

If it was only lower back pain problem I would say you might consider raising the bars to get a slightly more upright position. Other changes such as the grips with horns will allow you to alternate postions. Or you may find the bars are too wide for you and if so you can cut an inch from each end. I find that even a small adjustment makes a big difference on back pain so before you do any of that , maybe check if your seat is in the optimal positions. Small fore and aft adjustments ,seat height and inclination make a huge diff. I have an air front fork, a good Selle Royale Respiro saddle and a Thudbuster sd seatpost. While I would never go back to a pure hardtail , the ride is not what I would call "plush" as you say. I feel it is worth buying a good suspension seatpost for sure but it will only diminish the larger bumps instead of complete elimination.

That's good feedback. I actually replaced the stock handlebars with one an inch shorter and 2inches higher. I don't really notice the change, because before, I use to ride holding the bar with my fingers rather than resting on the base of my palms. Now, I hold the bar normally.

I understood that the seatpost was more for the smaller bumps (chatter) and full suspension wasn't as quick reacting to soak up those small bumps but was better for the large hits. Is that wrong?

 

[The duke]

The Kinect suspension seat post made a world of difference on my Vado speed pedelec, which I consider to be a heavy bike (55 lbs). And heavy bikes at faster speed can make for an exceptionally jarring ride. My cycling is similar to your situation, 60% on crappy poorly repaired roads and the rest back roads and some bike trails. I prefer to ride around 17-22 mph and can honestly say the seat post is fantastic at absorbing the bumps. The original name was "Body Float" and it lives up to that name. I'm around 135# but different springs are available for different weights.

That does sound like me! I appreciate the feedback. Have you ever thought about full suspension for your riding style? Do you feel that having the Kinekt covers some or most of the bases that a full suspension would?

 

[steve mercier]

That does sound like me! I appreciate the feedback. Have you ever thought about full suspension for your riding style? Do you feel that having the Kinekt covers some or most of the bases that a full suspension would?

I think Marci has a full suspension Riese and Muller as well as the Vado so she is well qualified to answer that .

 

[Marci jo]

Thanks guys, but currently no full suspension ebike for me. Both my ebikes are hard tail hybrids with front fork suspensions, a class 1 and a class 3. The front forks are only spring forks but they do help a little with some of the nasty bumps. Both bikes have Kinect suspension seat posts too.
That said, I foresee a emtb in my future. Many times I would have liked full suspension on some of the barely repaired roads and also to pop a high curb or two.
My specific challenge is the weight of these beasts, as I tend to haul my bikes frequently and getting them on a rack can be difficult. Ideally I would like to rent something for a few days and really put it through some tests.
So I will be watching for a emtb that's maybe under 45 lbs, powerful battery, and doesn't require the sale of one kidney to afford it!

 

[33red]

Thanks guys, but currently no full suspension ebike for me. Both my ebikes are hard tail hybrids with front fork suspensions, a class 1 and a class 3. The front forks are only spring forks but they do help a little with some of the nasty bumps. Both bikes have Kinect suspension seat posts too.
That said, I foresee a emtb in my future. Many times I would have liked full suspension on some of the barely repaired roads and also to pop a high curb or two.
My specific challenge is the weight of these beasts, as I tend to haul my bikes frequently and getting them on a rack can be difficult. Ideally I would like to rent something for a few days and really put it through some tests.
So I will be watching for a emtb that's maybe under 45 lbs, powerful battery, and doesn't require the sale of one kidney to afford it!

Hi, to stay away from the heavy and expensive FS i am happy on my HT Ebike, 120mm with +, 40 mm 2.8 tiresx27.5. It is 47 pounds and no problem. When lifting it, it is about holding it at the proper place, using our legs. I am only 130 pounds, not strong and i do not want a 52 pounds Ebike. I found a 500Wh is plenty with a 20 mph legal in my area. I guess if need be i could take the battery of but never felt it would help.