Spring Seats vs. Suspension Posts - What's the Better Choice?

[SwissJetPilot]

I'm curious if anyone has done a comparison between springs seats (e.g. Brooks, Velo, etc. ) vs suspension posts (e.g. Suntour, Kinekt, etc.).

Having been an avid mountain biker for years, I understand and have enjoyed a fully suspended bike. However those days are now over, and now I'm more into just riding a 20" un-suspended folding eBike for pleasure and limiting my routes to streets, bike paths and the occasional gravel road.

With the amount of travel a suspension post offers, I'm thinking this may be a bit of an over kill for the road surfaces I plan to ride on.

On the other hand, is a spring seat really effective in taking some of the shocks and bumps out of rough pavement, farm or gravel roads?

At the end of the day, I just want to minimize butt and back pain. I'd appreciate any links or information about the pros and cons of each system or any head-to-head comparisons of both.

 

[AHicks]

Why not use both?
In my experience the seat springs are pretty light, and the seat post is adjustable. This, with a little creativity, should give you a pretty decent progressive rate suspension with a little messing around.....

 

[m@Robertson]

Why not both? A bike like you describe is never going to be a cycling tour de force, so make it comfy. I've done both once on a cruiser and it was just the ticket. But that bike was not a serious cycling bike. On the other hand, neither is that Brooks seat which is shaped for an upright ride. I've never seen any attempt to compare the two. Why not just do one and then if you want more, do the other? I will say that suspension posts - if they are of good quality - do not alter your pedal stroke.

I don't like the Suntour posts like you pictured because they can smash down on themselves. This is just one example of that occurrence

SR Suntour SP12-NCX Suspension Seat Post | Tour on a Bike

Thudbusters are quality pieces but I had two or three of the Short Travel ones, thinking the Long travel looked goofy. Then I decided to just try it and I was sorry I ever went with the short travel models. I sold what I could and replaced with LTs. Never regretted that.

On my most recent build I sprang for a Kinekt. This is a more active - and noticeable - suspension post. It does its job very well but can pogo on you if you are honking on the pedals at higher rpms. Its the most well engineered of the bunch but I don't think I would recommend it for a first-timer on a campground bike.

The Satori Animaris was once a low cost decent alternative to a Thud but prices have crept up to the point you may as well get the better Thud.

I would do a Thud LT. Hands down. And for a saddle, the Selle Drifter gel is my (again) hands-down favorite for upright-posture seats that aren't so oversized they are an embarrassment for a cyclist to have on a bike in their stable. With that said maybe the Brooks and its reputation will keep you from putting a bag over your head.

 

[AHicks]

I don't like the Suntour posts like you pictured because they can smash down on themselves. This is just one example of that occurrence

SR Suntour SP12-NCX Suspension Seat Post | Tour on a Bike

I use both the Suntour and Thudbuster LT on different bikes. I have both the original Thudbuster type as well as the newest version. All are set up with the heaviest elastomers and springs because of my weight. They get regular maintenance, and all seem to be working great. If I were to order a new one tomorrow, I think the Suntour may get the nod. I like the feel better. Seems like I use more travel more often, where the LT's are a little too progressive. It takes a pretty good hit to bottom one of those out completely, and that's not something that happens often. I'm from the school that beleives a suspension SHOULD bottom out on occasion as that's proof positive you are using the entire suspension travel. That vs. riding around only on the top half for instance.

All of mine are used with the Lycra covered Cloud 9 seat.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

Thanks for the recommendations. The other challenge will be finding a suspension post that's 34Ø/500 long as my SFM Bike seat post seems to be an odd size. Fortunately, it takes any size saddle. Given they're not that expensive, I guess I could get both and try them out.

 

[Dave Rocks]

This is how I roll on my daily commute. Some road,

some dirt trail.
it's like riding my couch to work. Awesome.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

Wow....nice set up!

 

[hoboin]

I have 2 electric bikes, both use the same spring large cushioned seat but my commuter bike has suspension post and it's night and day with the comfort. I use the suntour pictured and coming off a walking path to road, or any bumps on the road, you feel it so much on your butt and spine without it. I have chronic lower back pain and with suspension seat post I can ride for hours without pain. I love it so much I bought a little protector for it lol.

 

[ActionJackson]

I'm curious if anyone has done a comparison between springs seats (e.g. Brooks, Velo, etc. ) vs suspension posts (e.g. Suntour, Kinekt, etc.).

Having been an avid mountain biker for years, I understand and have enjoyed a fully suspended bike. However those days are now over, and now I'm more into just riding a 20" un-suspended folding eBike for pleasure and limiting my routes to streets, bike paths and the occasional gravel road.

With the amount of travel a suspension post offers, I'm thinking this may be a bit of an over kill for the road surfaces I plan to ride on.

On the other hand, is a spring seat really effective in taking some of the shocks and bumps out of rough pavement, farm or gravel roads? View attachment 104028

I’ve owned and operated both products above and don’t recommend them specifically. Suntour post wasn’t soft enough to suppress vibrations (like brick paths) and not hard enough not to bottom out on bigger things like a 3cm curb. The Brooks saddle looks great but too weak for +100kg guy like me.

Now happy with a Kinekt post and non sprung saddle (Brooks Cambria Cambium). I’ve had a lot of spring saddles including wide “sofa” ones and they didn’t work out for me. Now riding on C17 size Brooks / Kinekt post and good to go for the long journey.

I don’t think that a suspension post and spring saddle combination is particularly wrong but definitely the major investment should be in a good post and then upgrade the saddle if you want afterwards.

 

[antboy]

A good suspension post combined with a proper saddle setup shouldn't require a sprung saddle, IMHO.

My current setup is a Redshift ShockStop suspension post and a regular saddle (Ergon), and it works well enough that I don't feel saddle sore after a 60km ride (about 70% asphalt/30% gravel-dirt / 2km of cobblestone).

Conversely the (admittedly cheaper) spring seats I've used never smoothed out the bumps in the same way, and I could start feeling the saddle soreness kick in well before the end of a day trip. Some of that could be because such seats were a bit wide for my tastes as well.

If you want to do a deep dive on suspension seatposts, CyclingAbout put up a pretty extensive video on them covering pros and cons of each system...

 

[m@Robertson]

A good suspension post combined with a proper saddle setup shouldn't require a sprung saddle, IMHO.

You may simply do it because you can. A cruiser bike that is used for puttering about a neighborhood, race paddock or campground and not actual cycling ... its a solution to a First World problem for sure . Definitely a nice spiff. And if your back is messed up, every little bit that takes those shocks off the spine helps.

For me, daily long commutes with store trips mixed in on the same day, a suspension post has been all I needed to eliminate the chronic lower back pain that comes with cycling these days (boo hoo). As shown in that pic I posted above, an Ergon ST Core Prime is the other half of the dynamic duo for long stints in the saddle where I am pedaling hard on the street. I've found that even though my body maps out to a Large version of that saddle, for a bike I pedal a lot I am better off with the Medium.

Its an expensive seating solution counting the two together. But that 3-layer Ergon saddle is just right. Does exactly what they advertise.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

Sorry for a stupid question, but the SR Suntour SP12-NCX suspension seat post specifications call out a seat post diameter of 31.6 mm and a 400mm length.
Is the 400mm length for dimension "A" (just the post) or dimension "B" - overall length? I'm guessing they mean "A" but would appreciate confirmation.
As noted previously, my current fixed seat post is 500mm, so I hoping a 400mm post would be adequate to ensure it's long enough to be well anchored in the seat tube.
Since I'm in the 65 kg to 95 kg weight range, I'm thinking this might be a good enough seat post in combination with a spring seat as several of you have suggested.

 

[6zfshdb]

There have been many posts here on seats and suspension seat posts. Unfortunately, seat comfort is subjective and preferences are highly individualized based on personal needs. What works for some may not for all. I'm sure there are many internet sources available with reviews on various products but the problem remains the same. It's really a trial and error process which every rider needs to work out for themselves. By all means, read what others recommend but you have to make your own decision as to what works best for you. That being said, I'll add my own experiences in the hope they may help.

I have the Thudbuster ST, Thudbuster LT, Redshift and Kinekt 2.0 suspension seat posts on my bikes. Be aware that you need between 3 and 4" of seat tube to seat rail clearance for these posts. All four are far superior to any of the telescopic spring posts or plain spring seats I've used in the past. I did however, notice a significant improvement in overall comfort when I added a spring seat to the above suspension posts. In my case, due to a circulation issue, my seat is a split design (Spiderflex) with both a spring and a small shock absorber.

For fairly smooth gravel and paved surfaces, I get the best result using the Kinekt 2.0 with the Spiderflex seat. For rougher trail riding, I prefer the Thudbuster LT with the Spiderflex seat.

Again, this is a personal preference and may or may not work for someone else.

BTW: Welcome to the forum and good luck with your quest to find what works for you!

 

[ActionJackson]

Sorry for a stupid question, but the SR Suntour SP12-NCX suspension seat post specifications call out a seat post diameter of 31.6 mm and a 400mm length.
Is the 400mm length for dimension "A" (just the post) or dimension "B" - overall length? I'm guessing they mean "A" but would appreciate confirmation.
As noted previously, my current fixed seat post is 500mm, so I hoping a 400mm post would be adequate to ensure it's long enough to be well anchored in the seat tube.
Since I'm in the 65 kg to 95 kg weight range, I'm thinking this might be a good enough seat post in combination with a spring seat as several of you have suggested.


View attachment 104819

• Seat tube length in 350mm and 400mm

I believe it is dimension “A” from the Japanese description which translated to “Seat tube length in 350mm and 400mm”.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

@ VoltMan99 - Thanks for clarifying.

@ 6zfshdb - Thanks for the welcome and your opinions on the posts you've used.

Here in Europe, there's another brand you may not be aware of which is also a parallelogram-style suspension post. The company is called BySchultz and is located in Saarbrucken, Germany (https://byschulz.com). Their seat posts are available in two different suspension travel lengths, five spring ratings and configurations (fixed vs. drop post) and is comparable in price to others you mentioned. The two models shown below have 30mm (G.2 ST) and 50mm (G.2 LT) of suspension travel. I've attached their product guide for anyone who might be interested.

From what I have read, the elastomer dampening seats can be less effective in colder weather, but at what temperature does that really come into being an issue? Personally, I don't see myself out in anything below 10°C so I don't think it's really a major concern. Of course spring vs. elastomer is just one more topic for debate.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with BySchultz seat posts?

 

[AHicks]

@ VoltMan99 - Thanks for clarifying.

@ 6zfshdb - Thanks for the welcome and your opinions on the posts you've used.

Here in Europe, there's another brand you may not be aware of which is also a parallelogram-style suspension post. The company is called BySchultz and is located in Saarbrucken, Germany (https://byschulz.com). Their seat posts are available in two different suspension travel lengths, five spring ratings and configurations (fixed vs. drop post) and is comparable in price to others you mentioned. The two models shown below have 30mm (G.2 ST) and 50mm (G.2 LT) of suspension travel. I've attached their product guide for anyone who might be interested.

From what I have read, the elastomer dampening seats can be less effective in colder weather, but at what temperature does that really come into being an issue? Personally, I don't see myself out in anything below 10°C so I don't think it's really a major concern. Of course spring vs. elastomer is just one more topic for debate.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with BySchultz seat posts?

View attachment 104824

My first impression, just looking at those springs, is that they are going to coil bind pretty early in what could be usable suspension travel (especially with the thicker coils used in the heavier springs)? If that doesn't prove out/doesn't actually happen, it looks like a fine design from where I'm sitting. I have both spring type and elastomer type posts. I agree the spring type is more predictable (prefer them for that reason), but can't say I've noticed a loss when the elastomer gets cold. Then again, I have to say it's a pretty bored day that has me out in really cold temps. 40F degrees/4-5C is about my limit....

 

[SwissJetPilot]

@ AHicks - Interesting observation. Do spring suspension posts have the potential to become noisy? I know spring seats can get a bit squeaky.

 

[AHicks]

Mine, both types, get regular maintenance. Without that, I believe you'd be looking at a lot of wear with all the movement.

Yep, have run into squeaky seats as well. A drop of oil where they pivot at the front usually keeps them happy.

My bikes need to be silent. No squeaks or rattles. I enjoy keeping them that way, so kind of anal when it comes to stuff like that. -Al

 

[SwissJetPilot]

 

[Taylor57]

Mine, both types, get regular maintenance. Without that, I believe you'd be looking at a lot of wear with all the movement.

Yep, have run into squeaky seats as well. A drop of oil where they pivot at the front usually keeps them happy.

My bikes need to be silent. No squeaks or rattles. I enjoy keeping them that way, so kind of anal when it comes to stuff like that. -Al

Al Hicks, The Silent Assassin