Suspension Seat Posts

[DaveMatthews]

Here is an interesting alternative. PNW has a air suspension dropper post than can be tuned to the rider's weight. It has 40mm of travel and can have either internal or external actuator cable routing. It is priced at $179 USD.

I really like the Kinekt (formerly Body Float) on my Homage but my Delight Mountain came with a dropper post which I have really grown to appreciate. I am now in the habit of always dropping the seat whenever I come to a stop. If I am getting off the bike it is way easier with the seat 100mm lower. If I am at a stop light, I can sit on the seat with both feet flat on the ground. I just stand on the pedals momentarily when I get going again and pop the seat up to meet my tush.

I learned the hard way that one should not use the saddle as a handle for lifting the bike when you have a dropper as that strains and weakens the seals on the dropper air cartridge. I have one of these on order and will post my impressions when it has been installed and I have a chance to ride on it for while.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

As an EMTB rider, this interests me greatly. Hope to be reading your opinion soon.

 

[CSH]

Here is an interesting alternative. PNW has a air suspension dropper post than can be tuned to the rider's weight. It has 40mm of travel and can have either internal or external actuator cable routing. It is priced at $179 USD.

I really like the Kinekt (formerly Body Float) on my Homage but my Delight Mountain came with a dropper post which I have really grown to appreciate. I am now in the habit of always dropping the seat whenever I come to a stop. If I am getting off the bike it is way easier with the seat 100mm lower. If I am at a stop light, I can sit on the seat with both feet flat on the ground. I just stand on the pedals momentarily when I get going again and pop the seat up to meet my tush.

I learned the hard way that one should not use the saddle as a handle for lifting the bike when you have a dropper as that strains and weakens the seals on the dropper air cartridge. I have one of these on order and will post my impressions when it has been installed and I have a chance to ride on it for while.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[Readytoride]

My rib is much better but still hurting so I have to be careful, but I did commute in to work this morning (30km). It was my first ride with the Kinekt suspension seat post, and...

I LOVED IT!!

I don't know why, as a long long time cyclist, I was so against even trying one. What a difference! (Maybe I've been too long a purist... you know, no suspension, seat hard as a rock, etc.)

You've convinced me. I just did a smile.amazon.com order for the Kinekt aluminum post, and it will be arriving Sunday. Love the Prime free shipping.

I'm on the lightweight end of the scale (139 lbs) so I hope the seat post works for me. We have well over 200 miles of gravel roads in our county, most of them being right around me, so I really would love to take advantage of that great resource.

Prior to ordering the Kinekt I wanted to test out a bike with front suspension on our gravel roads to see if that is what I needed for my upcoming purchase of a dedicated gravel road bike. I lucked out finding a brand new totally unused front suspension DBX "Cascade" mountain bike at the thrift store on Wednesday for $8 (because the chain was off and the clerk knew nothing about bikes). One attempt to ride the bike was a complete failure because my feet actually hit the front wheel. It took some quiet study of the bike before I realized - some idiot had misassembled the bike by putting the handlebars on backwards. The front wheel was turned backwards under the bike when the handlebars were installed, which is why it was unable to be ridden. That resulted in a complete cluster mess of the assembly. No wonder it was never ridden. It took a half second to flip the handlebars and then the better part of the afternoon to move everything on the handlebars so that they were correctly oriented, and repair one plastic part that was cracked due to the stress of the backward assembly. After replacing the dropped chain on the cogs, I was able to test out the front suspension on our gravel roads.

Turns out it wasn't my hands that took the beating - it was my seat.

So hopefully I'll be able to report next week on the (fingers crossed) success of the Kinekt on my LaFree E+1.

And the $8 test bike (now fixed and ready to ride), having served its purpose, will be donated to a charity bike program that gives bicycles to needy kids.

 

[Mtl_Biker]

You've convinced me. I just did a smile.amazon.com order for the Kinekt aluminum post, and it will be arriving Sunday. Love the Prime free shipping.

I'm on the lightweight end of the scale (139 lbs) so I hope the seat post works for me. We have well over 200 miles of gravel roads in our county, most of them being right around me, so I really would love to take advantage of that great resource.

Prior to ordering the Kinekt I wanted to test out a bike with front suspension on our gravel roads to see if that is what I needed for my upcoming purchase of a dedicated gravel road bike. I lucked out finding a brand new totally unused front suspension DBX "Cascade" mountain bike at the thrift store on Wednesday for $8 (because the chain was off and the clerk knew nothing about bikes). One attempt to ride the bike was a complete failure because my feet actually hit the front wheel. It took some quiet study of the bike before I realized - some idiot had misassembled the bike by putting the handlebars on backwards. The front wheel was turned backwards under the bike when the handlebars were installed, which is why it was unable to be ridden. That resulted in a complete cluster mess of the assembly. No wonder it was never ridden. It took a half second to flip the handlebars and then the better part of the afternoon to move everything on the handlebars so that they were correctly oriented, and repair one plastic part that was cracked due to the stress of the backward assembly. After replacing the dropped chain on the cogs, I was able to test out the front suspension on our gravel roads.

Turns out it wasn't my hands that took the beating - it was my seat.

So hopefully I'll be able to report next week on the (fingers crossed) success of the Kinekt on my LaFree E+1.

And the $8 test bike (now fixed and ready to ride), having served its purpose, will be donated to a charity bike program that gives bicycles to needy kids.

Good for you! Whoever thought of checking thrift stores for used bikes? I should try that because I could use a winter (snow, slush, road salt) bike.

I hope you ordered the right diameter for your seat post.

i didn’t check but you’re probably in the States... Amazon’s price must be reasonable. But in Canada the Amazon price was crazy expensive! I got my seat post from a local dealer for way less.

 

[Readytoride]

ACK!! Never thought of my seat post size!!!! Thank you for the heads up. Just cancelled and will reorder as soon as I have my seat post measurement.

 

[Readytoride]

Found the proper measurements. The cancellation email came through and I then ordered the correct size post. Can't wait to get it (Monday) to install it.

The Amazon price was reasonable at $264 (Inc tax). I spend enough time on this bike that I want my creature comforts and am not about to skimp on them and go cheap.

And yes - Virginia, USA

 

[Alaskan]

I wonder if Kinekt is the amazon "partner" that will fulfill you order. Given your weight be sure to get the right color springs. Did you have a chance to specify your weight or the spring color when you ordered?

 

[Feliz]

Whenever I've purchased a Kinekt I've always reived all six of the springs. The first one I bought I even bought extra springs not knowing there would be more in the box. The springs are an easy and quick replacement.

 

[Readytoride]

What color springs would that be? There wasn't a color selection with the purchase.

And yes, I could select my weight category (100-150). My current seat post had the specs on it - just had to take it out and read the size.

 

[AHicks]

New Thudbuster owner here, pretty impressed with just one short ride on it. I was checking out seat posts on Amazon. My butt doesn't hurt bad enough to justify what they get for a Kinekt, but when I saw a "used" Thudbuster in the size I needed (Rad 27.2) available for 87 dollars, I jumped on it. Amazon used I've learned recently, is mostly stuff that's been returned for one reason or another and is generally in new condition. So I rolled the dice and won. It arrived in perfect "unused" condition and even had a couple of extra #9 cushions that came with it in addition to the 2 lighter ones that are supposed to come with it. I'm 300lbs, so I put a #7 and a #9 together and gave that a try (1 step down from the firmest available). So far, kinda glad I didn't pair up the ultra stiff #9's as their documentation suggested. First impression is it's going to do what I wanted, which isn't really looking for a lot of travel to try and soak up jumps off curbs and dealing with pot holes. I'm after isolating the high frequency/chatter bump stuff from the seat, and it seems to be doing that just fine! -Al

 

[Feliz]

The Kinekt has different coloured spring not different numbers. The Thudbuster and Bodyfloat are not the same post. Unless my memory is failing even worse than I thought.

 

[Alaskan]

https://cirruscycles.com/pages/tech-specs purple springs

 

[6zfshdb]

New Thudbuster owner here, pretty impressed with just one short ride on it. I was checking out seat posts on Amazon. My butt doesn't hurt bad enough to justify what they get for a Kinekt, but when I saw a "used" Thudbuster in the size I needed (Rad 27.2) available for 87 dollars, I jumped on it. Amazon used I've learned recently, is mostly stuff that's been returned for one reason or another and is generally in new condition. So I rolled the dice and won. It arrived in perfect "unused" condition and even had a couple of extra #9 cushions that came with it in addition to the 2 lighter ones that are supposed to come with it. I'm 300lbs, so I put a #7 and a #9 together and gave that a try (1 step down from the firmest available). So far, kinda glad I didn't pair up the ultra stiff #9's as their documentation suggested. First impression is it's going to do what I wanted, which isn't really looking for a lot of travel to try and soak up jumps off curbs and dealing with pot holes. I'm after isolating the high frequency/chatter bump stuff from the seat, and it seems to be doing that just fine! -Al

Not a bad price for a "new" Thudbuster LT! I recommend getting the boot that covers the elastomers. It keeps out the dirt and prolongs the life of the bushings.

I'm 260# and use a pair of #7's. The trick is to have the seat depress slightly when just sitting to allow you to "float". Then the rest of the 3" travel can be used to absorb shock. When set up this way, IMO, it beats the more expensive Kenekt post due to the extra travel.

 

[Mtl_Biker]

What color springs would that be? There wasn't a color selection with the purchase.

And yes, I could select my weight category (100-150). My current seat post had the specs on it - just had to take it out and read the size.

I think it works this way: The weight category you purchase means that the correct springs for that weight are already installed. But you also get the other springs for different weights. This is just to save you the trouble of having to change them, but I'm pretty sure you could buy any weight category post and then change the springs (included) to get to the one you want.

At least that's how my post came. And I didn't have to change the springs... only needed to adjust the tension screw to get to the comfort level I wanted.

 

[Handlebars]

I'm thinking of re-adjusting my Suntour so that it's able to really soften the continual lesser bangs rather than to protect from the biggest hits, because I can stand on the pedals for the bigger hits.

 

[AHicks]

A couple more short rides later, initial results confirmed. This Thudbuster CAN isolate my butt from the harsh high frequency chatter type bumps pretty effectively. Expansion joints in the pavement for instance, or even running on a single track/grass mix trail. This means I can relax a bit more while riding, but still prepared to get up off my seat for the larger hits. Testing/tweaking to continue. Raising the air pressure to reduce rolling resistance for instance. Previously, I would run it as low as I could to get the best ride possible. That may not be necessary any more! -Al

 

[Scott Adams]

Here is an interesting alternative. PNW has a air suspension dropper post than can be tuned to the rider's weight. It has 40mm of travel and can have either internal or external actuator cable routing. It is priced at $179 USD.

I learned the hard way that one should not use the saddle as a handle for lifting the bike when you have a dropper as that strains and weakens the seals on the dropper air cartridge. I have one of these on order and will post my impressions when it has been installed and I have a chance to ride on it for while.

I'm in the club that learned not to lift with the saddle as well...

You have found a dropper to be very worthwhile, so the PNW might be a good fit, the only caveat I can see is the direction of travel is along the line of the seatpost. Years ago I had a suspension seatpost with that geometry which was better than nothing, but was left far behind by the performance of the Kinekt which moves down and back to absorb the shocks which come from the rear wheel hitting uneven surfaces.

 

[Alaskan]

I'm in the club that learned not to lift with the saddle as well...

You have found a dropper to be very worthwhile, so the PNW might be a good fit, the only caveat I can see is the direction of travel is along the line of the seatpost. Years ago I had a suspension seatpost with that geometry which was better than nothing, but was left far behind by the performance of the Kinekt which moves down and back to absorb the shocks which come from the rear wheel hitting uneven surfaces.

It is not feasible to do a dropper post with a parallelogram mechanism like the Kinekt or Thudbuster. The two functions are mutually exclusive. The shock mechanism takes up too much verticle space leaving too little vertical travel for the dropper to be effective.

I agree that the parallelogram configuration is superior for ergonomic shock absorption. However the adjustable air shock integrated within the post giving 40mm of shock travel leaves all the vertical travel in place for a useful dropper function. In my opinion, that is the correct compromise to make.

If I had a hard tail bike, I would favor the Kinekt as the suspension function would be first priority. On a full suspension bike like my Delight Mountain, the priority shifts to the dropper function for ease of mounting and comfort at stops. Getting a little added cush for the tush is a bonus with the PNW.

 

[Alaskan]

So is this legit or a fraud?
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[CSH]

So is this legit or a fraud?
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Alaskan

Geeezzz Dude !

You keep commin' up with new stuff................. Your killing Me !
Now I want to research that one.

Craig