Suspension seat post - Kinekt

[Stefan Mikes]

The odyssey of the Kinekt 2.1 seat-post ended on May 8th, 2020. The original seat-post sent by CirrusCycles from Bellingham WA on March 27th is probably still stuck in SF CA with the USPS...
The CirrusCycles agent BikeShore sent me a replacement product on April 18th, 2020 from Switzerland by the Swiss Post... Needless to say, it took the Swiss/Polish post as many as 20 days to deliver to my place.

And I couldn't make use of the seat-post as it turned out my e-bike for which the product was intended had different seat-tube diameter...

Today, I decided to replace the PNW Coast suspension dropper seat-post in my Vado with the Kinekt 2.1. The outcome turned out to be extremely positive. The problem with the PNW Coast is you need to sit centrally over the axis of the seat-post to make it work properly. All of us might want to choose another riding position; I like to have the saddle slid backwards, and that made the PNW product deliver no suspension action. With the Kinekt 2.1, your riding/saddle position is irrelevant. The seat-post would absorb wobble and vibration almost as good as the full suspension. In case you also own a good shock fork, the only body part that is not shock-protected are your legs. I own another FS e-bike and can tell the similarity. Your behind is protected extremely well with the Kinekt 2.1!

There is also the matter of the pre-load setup, which is very easy. Without proper pre-load on the Kinekt springs, your saddle would bob during pedalling, which takes part of your effort away. To set the pre-load up, just sit on the saddle with your feet on the pedals (make it the way the bike cannot fall sideways; lean the handlebar against a tree or let somebody hold your bike). The other person should just tighten the screw behind the seat-post springs, so the screw head just blocks the backwards movement of the springs when you're getting off the bike. You can adjust the pre-load by trial-and-error method too.

I'm enchanted with the quality of the Kinekt 2.1 and the comfort it gives me!

 

[Worm]

I ordered from CirrusCycles the Kinekt late on 14/5 and it arrived here in Australia 20/5. So much faster than I expected in these troubled times. I have not had a chance to install, but looking forward to experiencing a better ride. I have scoured the web and read a few reviews about suspension seat posts but found it hard to make much sense of what I read. I had much sympathy for a poster who recommended Suntour & couldn't see that Kinekt would be that much superior as price would indicate. Also sympathy for poster who said the adjustment screw/knob and dust cover should come with the product given its price, ...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I ordered from CirrusCycles the Kinekt late on 14/5 and it arrived here in Australia 20/5.

Perhaps because your countries share the same ocean?

 

[Worm]

Perhaps because your countries share the same ocean?

I actually found a moment today to put the Kinekt seat post on my Vado 3 (which has front suspension forks). I did a quick ride on some rough road near my home, and the result was, perhaps, not as dramatic as I hoped for on a brief trial ride. I did however perceive I had more control over my bike; presumably due to not being buffered by the bumps. I suspect its a bit like the front suspension. You think its not doing much until you have to do without it.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Provided the spring is properly selected, not too much of preload has been applied, the Kinekt should do miracles for you. Ride over a speed bump fast and tell me if you felt shock in your small of the back.

P.S. I might have seem to be bashing the PNW Coast before. No. My PNW Coast might be defective. I just want to say my Kinekt worked as intended from the first moment.

 

[6zfshdb]

The odyssey of the Kinekt 2.1 seat-post ended on May 8th, 2020. The original seat-post sent by CirrusCycles from Bellingham WA on March 27th is probably still stuck in SF CA with the USPS...
The CirrusCycles agent BikeShore sent me a replacement product on April 18th, 2020 from Switzerland by the Swiss Post... Needless to say, it took the Swiss/Polish post as many as 20 days to deliver to my place.

And I couldn't make use of the seat-post as it turned out my e-bike for which the product was intended had different seat-tube diameter...

Today, I decided to replace the PNW Coast suspension dropper seat-post in my Vado with the Kinekt 2.1. The outcome turned out to be extremely positive. The problem with the PNW Coast is you need to sit centrally over the axis of the seat-post to make it work properly. All of us might want to choose another riding position; I like to have the saddle slid backwards, and that made the PNW product deliver no suspension action. With the Kinekt 2.1, your riding/saddle position is irrelevant. The seat-post would absorb wobble and vibration almost as good as the full suspension. In case you also own a good shock fork, the only body part that is not shock-protected are your legs. I own another FS e-bike and can tell the similarity. Your behind is protected extremely well with the Kinekt 2.1!

There is also the matter of the pre-load setup, which is very easy. Without proper pre-load on the Kinekt springs, your saddle would bob during pedalling, which takes part of your effort away. To set the pre-load up, just sit on the saddle with your feet on the pedals (make it the way the bike cannot fall sideways; lean the handlebar against a tree or let somebody hold your bike). The other person should just tighten the screw behind the seat-post springs, so the screw head just blocks the backwards movement of the springs when you're getting off the bike. You can adjust the pre-load by trial-and-error method too.

I'm enchanted with the quality of the Kinekt 2.1 and the comfort it gives me!

View attachment 53030

Looks good Stefan!

I've been using my Kinekt for 2 seasons now. I ride in some pretty dirty areas and began to develop some looseness in the Kinekt caused by dirt getting into the pivot bushings. My LBS advised using this protective cover:

Amazon.com : KINEKT Bike Seatpost Protective Wrap : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : KINEKT Bike Seatpost Protective Wrap : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

Problem solved.

The convenient draw string makes it easy to access the spring tension screw.

 

[TS25]

I did choose the original neopren cover from CyrrusCycles as it is waterproof, too.

 

[Johnny]

I actually found a moment today to put the Kinekt seat post on my Vado 3 (which has front suspension forks). I did a quick ride on some rough road near my home, and the result was, perhaps, not as dramatic as I hoped for on a brief trial ride. I did however perceive I had more control over my bike; presumably due to not being buffered by the bumps. I suspect its a bit like the front suspension. You think its not doing much until you have to do without it.

If while riding on the bumps, holes cracks on a path where you felt the need to stand up, now you don't feel the need to do so then it is working. That is how every seatpost suspension work and most of the decent suspensions accomplish this.

Seatpost suspension is not a substitute for full suspension, it does not noticeably improve your control, it is there for some comfort that is all. Full suspension give the wheels a limited amount of freedom which helps keeping them touching the ground while riding on rough terrain moreover with full suspension the sprung weight is almost the whole bike including the rider and for these reasons FS improve your traction significantly. With a seatpost suspension the only thing you get is a portion of rider's weight being sprung. Seatpost suspension is a non-optimal solution to a comfort problem.

 

[Worm]

I went for a longer ride in the weekend with the newly fitted Kinekt. First thing is it worked pretty well out of the box by doing the preload thing, and then softening up a bit. I noticed at times the clutter in my trunk bag on my rack was really rattling at times, but I was comfortable on my saddle, so Kinekt was probably doing more work than I might have guessed. As they say in the material I can experiment with the settings, but I suspect I am not far way from what suits me almost straight way. What installing the Kinekt did bring into my apprehension was the shocks coming through the stem despite the Vado 3 suspension forks. That is, the Kinekt seemed to be doing a better job than the Suntour suspension. This is something I might give more thought to in coming days. With my particular settings, my impression was the Kinekt did a lot better dealing with the small humps and bumps than the more severe obstacles - though I suppose thats an obvious result? My adult son, who is a much more seasoned rider than me, was much more generous/effusive in giving the Kinekt the thumbs up, even though the medium spring installed is a bit underpowered for him (he is 15 Kilos heavier than me). Overall, despite cost, I am pleased I purchased the Kinekt.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Everyone,
Is it normal to experience pedal bob with the Kinekt?

 

[6zfshdb]

Everyone,
Is it normal to experience pedal bob with the Kinekt?

I'm not sure if it's normal or not Stefan but I get it occasionally with the Kinekt as well as my Thudbuster LT. I've found it doesn't occur as often once you get used to riding with a suspension seat post. At least in my case, I've learned to adjust my pedal effort to match the "bounce" created by the suspension. It becomes almost an automatic reflex after a while.

 

[Alaskan]

I'm not sure if it's normal or not Stefan but I get it occasionally with the Kinekt as well as my Thudbuster LT. I've found it doesn't occur as often once you get used to riding with a suspension seat post. At least in my case, I've learned to adjust my pedal effort to match the "bounce" created by the suspension. It becomes almost an automatic reflex after a while.

It is normal to experience bob on any sprung seat post, especially at a higher cadence. In order to eliminate that bob, one needs to tighten the adjustment bolt and take up some of the slack in the preload. This will reduce the range of the seat post and make it a bit firmer. The best place to start with the preload is to sit on the seat post and have some one screw in the adjustment bolt to take up the sag just to the point where the bolt starts to get tighter. Tighten pre-load bolt (control knob) until saddle no longer rises when unweighted.

if you continue to feel a lot of bob with harder pedaling take increase the preload in half turn increments until it goes away. This may leave you with little actual suspension range though so try the following first.

If you are riding and get some bob, shift up one gear to reduce your cadence. Try to make any remaining bob go away by concentrating on smoothing out your pedal stroke. Once you have done that, you can relax the preload to increase the suspension range.

All of this assumes that you have the correct set of springs for your weight.

SM Charcoal / Purple Stripe
100-150 lbs

MD Charcoal / Black Stripe
150-200 lbs

LG Charcoal / Orange Stripe
200-240 lbs

XL Orange / Yellow Stripe
240-320 lbs

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you @6zfshdb and @Alaskan for your helpful advice! Everything seems exactly as you both say. The spring is sized correctly (LG for 204 lb). My brother helped me set the initial pre-load properly. I increased the pre-load slightly. As I can see, all what is needed is to get used to and improve my technique.

Also, as you said once Richard, nothing can beat the FS, and I'm so glad to have it in my Trance E+!

 

[JohnRC]

I am going to be getting a Como in the next few days and I want to put my 2 year old Kinect seatpost on it. This means dealing with the wires for the seat lights. Somewhere I read about drilling a hole in the shaft near the top. If anyone has done this please write up your experiences. I don’t know yet if there are clips or soldering is required.
Thanks, John

 

[Allan47.7339]

I am going to be getting a Como in the next few days and I want to put my 2 year old Kinect seatpost on it. This means dealing with the wires for the seat lights. Somewhere I read about drilling a hole in the shaft near the top. If anyone has done this please write up your experiences. I don’t know yet if there are clips or soldering is required.
Thanks, John

This is a link to a forum post for drilling on a 2015 Turbo X. Kinekt used to be called "Bodyfloat".

BodyFloat / Specialized Turbo X - Seat Post Drilling for rear light wire

Hi everyone, I’d like to try and get some opinions or advice, if I may. I purchased a Bodyfloat for my Specialized Turbo X and am wondering how best to keep the rear light. As you may know the wire for the LED rear light exits a hole in the top of the original Specialized seat post and enters...

electricbikereview.com

 

[Over50]

...The Cane Creek eeSilk....

Well just in case there is anyone out there who was thinking of trying the eeSilk: it is dead. gone. not coming back (anytime soon). Cane Creek's website has showed them backordered. I sent them an email asking for an availability estimate and received a very polite response saying that they are gone and product is dead for the foreseeable future. Paraphrasing, I'm interpreting it that the original batch is gone, they had planned an improved version but Covid shut that project down. They are not bringing the eeSilk back anytime soon. I guess I'll get another Kinekt for the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0.

 

[000]

I've been using the Thudbuster ST on my Trek MTB's for many years. The ST works fairly well but I wanted something a bit more comfortable for my e-bikes. I tried the Kinekt 2.0 and it does give a better ride. Last year, a riding buddy suggested I try the Thudbuster LT. I had the necessary seat to frame clearance so I bought one. IMO the LT has a slightly better feel. It has a full 3" of travel compared to 1.5" on the Kinekt & Thudbuster ST. Now, I switch back and forth between the Kinekt and LT depending on riding conditions. The trick to using the Thudbusters is "dialing in" the right elastomers. This is a lot trickier and less convenient than just turning a screw on the spring loaded Kinekt.

Everyone has different needs and expectations when it comes to saddles & seat posts. It's a personal choice and opinions vary greatly from rider to rider. My guess is, you'll be quite happy with the Kinekt.

Recently installed the new version of the Thudbuster LT on my wife's bike. I works great for her. Changing the elastomer was a bit of a learning curve but not an issue. I have no experience with any other suspension post but the quality and performance of the Thudbuster are excellent.

 

[FlatSix911]

Recently installed the new version of the Thudbuster LT on my wife's bike. I works great for her.
Changing the elastomer was a bit of a learning curve but not an issue. I have no experience with any other suspension post but the quality and performance of the Thudbuster are excellent.

Welcome to EBR and thanks for your review.

 

[000]

I posted this video in a thread about the Super Moto X tires. But at about 11 minutes of the video, he talks about suspension seatposts. And he is riding with one that I don't recall having seen mentioned in these forums. The Cane Creek eeSilk.

Only comes in a 27.2 size.

 

[Nxkharra]

My set up for my Vado 5 currently is Kinekt 2 suspension seat post, Ergon ST Core Prime saddle, and Schwalbe Marathon E+ tires. I also use Ergon GP5 grips and RaceFace Chester pedals.
I think some call this dialed in and very comfortable ride.
Will be keeping this set up for a while.