Thudbuster vs Kinekt seat posts

[Fast n' Furious]

The Kinekt cover wrap is indeed spendy for what you get but it's more durable than it looks. It isn't waterproof but it is treated with something that makes water bead up rather than sink in. Since I rarely ride in rain heavy enough to penetrate the cover, it really isn't a problem. When transporting the bike, I always remove the seat post to avoid water getting into the seat tube. It's also a good idea to prevent theft. I cover the open seat tube with a simple, tight fitting vinyl cap that keeps out dust, debris and moisture:

View attachment 88857 View attachment 88858

Great ideas. Probably has PTFE coating. I may simply try one. I like the cap idea.
The adjuster, lighter springs and the Selle's Carbon rails will be here soon, now it's back to security.
My plan is still PitLocks or PinHead locks for the seat-clamp (2 bolts) and stem-post clamp (1 bolt).
My current stem-post clamp is useless, to convert the parts, not worth the cost.
A 'PitLock' brand clamp is $14, but having a love affair with titanium I bumped into this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265135551873?var=565016486919


Then, even better - this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265135560442?var=565016493213

Both came in 31.8, have recessed bolt shoulders and are threaded for M6.
While Ti requires (Finish Line or equivalent) copper based anti-seize, the inevitable natural grey patina works well with the machine's black and grey theme. The ad says the bolts included are SS and both seat-post's bolts are 35mm x M6.
Unfortunately, the KINEKT seat-clamp bolts are easily removed with vice grips regardless of security inserts and must be changed out.
KINEKT does not publish specs but they look about 35mm x M5.
Titanium button-head bolts should be easy. Then it's on to the security inserts.
As always, thanks for the real input.
Lovin' this weather and hope you are as well !!!

Fn'F

 

[Fast n' Furious]

I put a Kinekt and Baramind City on my Trek Allant 9.9S right after I bought it in early 2020. It took a stiff, hard riding bike and, along with a pair of Schwalbe Hurricanes inflated to 35psi, made it completely comfortable for my 70 year old bones. I also made some substantial mods to the drive train to get top performance out of it. I have almost 3,000 miles on the bike, ride it hard and fast and find it very comfortable to ride with the mods.

I weigh 210 lbs and use the orange springs. It is important to set the spring preload screw such that there is no sag when you sit carefully on the saddle. This limits the travel but takes the weird bounce out of it when pedaling hard and give you compliance when you need it. Also the SQ labs 702 grips help with cushioning impact and vibration to the hands and wrists.

Grip 702

NEW 702 Trekking and City Comfort Grip is ergonomically designed for comfort and control. Benefits of this grip are amazing!

sqlab-usa.com

That's a real testimonial and exactly the durability/performance I'm looking for. That Trek is quite an amazing bike. The grips will be dependent on getting the grips off the left hand twist throttle. I'm ordering another to tear apart.
I was thinking after finishing my saddle and post, I'll upgrade the handlebars - the neck and trap pain - but moving the seat all the way forward last night, today no pain. Now pedaling's not quite right so half way back is next.
My bones are a year behind you and admire your spirit.
Thanks for the knowledge and inspiration!

Fn'F

 

[Alaskan]

That's a real testimonial and exactly the durability/performance I'm looking for. That Trek is quite an amazing bike. The grips will be dependent on getting the grips off the left hand twist throttle. I'm ordering another to tear apart.
I was thinking after finishing my saddle and post, I'll upgrade the handlebars - the neck and trap pain - but moving the seat all the way forward last night, today no pain. Now pedaling's not quite right so half way back is next.
My bones are a year behind you and admire your spirt.
Thanks for the knowledge and inspiration!

Fn'F

FWIW - This from a good buddy who is a pro bike fitter: the seat should be adjusted fore and aft such that when the left pedal is level, crank parallel to the ground, pedal in the forward position, with the ball of your foot directly over the axle of the pedal, your knee joint should be directly over the axle as well. Then it should be left alone and not changed. Any further adjustments to take pressure off the hands or get a more upright position should be done with a variable angle stem or a shorter stem or a change of handle bar with more rise.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Riding style matters, as well.

I'm 6' 3", and my weight varies between 215 and 235lb. Although I'm in my mid 60's and have a bad back, I am riding for exercise, and have a moderately active riding posture on the bike.

I wouldn't want a throttle on my Gazelle Medeo, preferring to spin gently at a medium cadence unless I'm coasting down a steep hill. Also, after decades of riding road bikes and hardtail mountain bikes, it's become a reflex to take some weight off the saddle as I approach bumps and potholes on our city streets and bike paths.

As such, I found a borrowed Thudbuster LT too floaty, robbing power and eroding my confidence on bumpy terrain.

The Kinekt offers a much more "invisible" experience. I'm rarely aware of how well it's working until I ride out with a friend who doesn't have suspension, and see how they're getting beaten up.

I have the heavy springs and the drawstring cover. I only have 890km on it so far, but that's been in all weather, and so far there's been no evidence of dirt or moisture contamination to the mechanism.

 

[RGVCycling]

Riding style matters, as well.

I'm 6' 3", and my weight varies between 215 and 235lb. Although I'm in my mid 60's and have a bad back, I am riding for exercise, and have a moderately active riding posture on the bike.

I wouldn't want a throttle on my Gazelle Medeo, preferring to spin gently at a medium cadence unless I'm coasting down a steep hill. Also, after decades of riding road bikes and hardtail mountain bikes, it's become a reflex to take some weight off the saddle as I approach bumps and potholes on our city streets and bike paths.

As such, I found a borrowed Thudbuster LT too floaty, robbing power and eroding my confidence on bumpy terrain.

The Kinekt offers a much more "invisible" experience. I'm rarely aware of how well it's working until I ride out with a friend who doesn't have suspension, and see how they're getting beaten up.

I have the heavy springs and the drawstring cover. I only have 890km on it so far, but that's been in all weather, and so far there's been no evidence of dirt or moisture contamination to the mechanism.

I too get up off the saddle when I'm hitting bumpy sections of the road or a pothole that I can't ride around. It helps takes a lot of stress off the tires. Tires being the rims, spokes, truing, and of course snake bites flats. It's a riding style from road bikes and such with slim tires. How much that translates to these bigger, beefier tires like on the Turbo Como's and other e-bikes is another story.

 

[Fast n' Furious]

FWIW - This from a good buddy who is a pro bike fitter: the seat should be adjusted fore and aft such that when the left pedal is level, crank parallel to the ground, pedal in the forward position, with the ball of your foot directly over the axle of the pedal, your knee joint should be directly over the axle as well. Then it should be left alone and not changed. Any further adjustments to take pressure off the hands or get a more upright position should be done with a variable angle stem or a shorter stem or a change of handle bar with more rise.

I see the geometry, makes total sense - and it worked !
I'm awaiting my mid-drive G510 powered machine's delivery, installing post/ seat there and certainly use this wisdom going forward.
In my quest for 'ultralight' everything, I ordered a bag of Ti bolts (arrived week ago), compatible with various security locks - and Selle's Carbon Fiber arms. A month later, three phone calls and promises and have not received.
All I wanted was a Pepsi,

Fn'F

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Riding style matters, as well.

I'm 6' 3", and my weight varies between 215 and 235lb. Although I'm in my mid 60's and have a bad back, I am riding for exercise, and have a moderately active riding posture on the bike.

I wouldn't want a throttle on my Gazelle Medeo, preferring to spin gently at a medium cadence unless I'm coasting down a steep hill. Also, after decades of riding road bikes and hardtail mountain bikes, it's become a reflex to take some weight off the saddle as I approach bumps and potholes on our city streets and bike paths.

As such, I found a borrowed Thudbuster LT too floaty, robbing power and eroding my confidence on bumpy terrain.

The Kinekt offers a much more "invisible" experience. I'm rarely aware of how well it's working until I ride out with a friend who doesn't have suspension, and see how they're getting beaten up.

I have the heavy springs and the drawstring cover. I only have 890km on it so far, but that's been in all weather, and so far there's been no evidence of dirt or moisture contamination to the mechanism.

Couldn't agree more on riding style and seeing you don't need a throttle to slowly plod along or go down a hill and your goal being slow-mo recreation rather than 'whatever terrain transportation' with set appointments, your preference makes sense. I couldn't live without my twist throttle. I want assist leaving a stop sign, up a hill, not cars being frustrated and pulling out in front of me - while I piddle along.
I blame me, not them for disrespecting weakness getting in their way, because I'm as serious about getting to work as they are.
I LOVE Fast Bikes, LOVE Fast cars, but also LOVE to just plod along and smell the flowers (and also generally use the throttle for dead-slow speed).
Dead on about that Kinekt - once I ordered and set up the (sorta) right springs/ tension. So many, like you with a cycle background have the same praise. It's why I got one. It's all you've pros said.
At 138lbs, I'm switching out one 100 - 150lb for a 150 - 200lb class (I have the full set), finding it presently a bit too flaccid.
Good input. Made me think.

Fn'F

 

[Fast n' Furious]

I put a Kinekt and Baramind City on my Trek Allant 9.9S right after I bought it in early 2020. It took a stiff, hard riding bike and, along with a pair of Schwalbe Hurricanes inflated to 35psi, made it completely comfortable for my 70 year old bones. I also made some substantial mods to the drive train to get top performance out of it. I have almost 3,000 miles on the bike, ride it hard and fast and find it very comfortable to ride with the mods.

I weigh 210 lbs and use the orange springs. It is important to set the spring preload screw such that there is no sag when you sit carefully on the saddle. This limits the travel but takes the weird bounce out of it when pedaling hard and give you compliance when you need it. Also the SQ labs 702 grips help with cushioning impact and vibration to the hands and wrists.

Grip 702

NEW 702 Trekking and City Comfort Grip is ergonomically designed for comfort and control. Benefits of this grip are amazing!

sqlab-usa.com

Pouring over these older posts, I noticed you'd said "orange springs". Likely you meant 'red' as Cirrus has only Red, Yellow, Purple and Black springs (Correction: but they sure do look orange to me too). There's 60 - 80lbs difference and only on the XR version. Orange/ orange puts you in the 230 - 320lbs range, the mean being 275lbs
(65lbs to your high side bias).
Black/ yellow lands you squarely between 200 and 240lbs (190 - 230lbs for e-bike) where your mean is 220lbs for gravel and exactly 210lbs for e-bikes.
If your springs are at the end of their range, you'll have very little adjustment variation available no matter what you do.
Adjusting tension light enough to enjoy the KINEKT is not possible as the weight's out of the spectrum allowed.
You'll end up going waaaaay too stiff just to stop the excessive jounce and unless you are completely loose. There is very little suspension available, as you are out of your permissible weight range.
The closer you are to that mean, the longer the range available you can 'properly' use.
The correct tension adjustment, again, should fall near the middle.
That's the spot that massively reduces road chatter, absorbs bumps in the mid-range and will not bottom out on a heavy hit.
Too stiff only gives you 'bottom out' protection.
If you like that KINEKT now, there's a whole hidden world you'll find when you match those springs as close to your weight as possible.
There's no other way to get it (See: KINEKT Spring weight application chart).
Anticipate the % of bias will dictate the range available with those particular springs.
If you calculate 20% > heavy bias, anticipate -20% of the suspension range unavailable, and so on.

That's my take!

Fn'F

 

[DiggyGun]

I had the Thudbuster ST on my Riese and Müller Nevo3 GT Vario GX and found it worked OK, apart from one big problem. The saddle clamp is from side to side and I could just not get this tight enough to stop the nose of the saddle rising up. Took the fastenings out and tried a straight through stainless steel bolt and nut to no avail as it still kept moving up.

Now I’m trying the Cane Creek eeSilk+, which has a different saddle fitting. This time, the bolts are top to bottom and so far, no upward movement of the nose of the saddle.

Apart from the saddle fitting, the other difference is the length of travel. The Thudbuster is 50mm and the eeSilk is 35mm. But don’t know if I’m going to notice the difference.

So far, it is going well.

 

[Fast n' Furious]

I had the Thudbuster ST on my Riese and Müller Nevo3 GT Vario GX and found it worked OK, apart from one big problem. The saddle clamp is from side to side and I could just not get this tight enough to stop the node of the saddle rising up. Took the fastenings out and tried a straight through stainless steel bolt and nut to no avail as it still kept moving up.
View attachment 129575

Now I’m trying the Cane Creek eeSilk+, which has a different saddle fitting. This time, the bolts are top to bottom and so far, no upward movement of the nose of the saddle.
View attachment 129574

Apart from the saddle fitting, the other difference is the length of travel. The Thudbuster is 50mm and the eeSilk is 35mm. But don’t know if I’m going to notice the difference.

So far, it is going well.

That's a real classy bike you have
Thank you for the heads up. I came an inch from buying a Thudbuster and was still considering trying one.
Your photo shows a clamp quite similar to that used by KINEKT, but with side to side bolts.

My experience, which would hold little validity for a normal to heavier person (me at 139lbs), the KINEKT has never come loose at the seat.
-
My Selle Anatomica CF rails did crack and stabbed like a viper's fangs when I started feeling around - while perfectly torqued.
Perhaps the clamp, or as likely the rails were defective.
Dissatisfied with Selle's initial response, I put them behind me - it's 'onward with Brooks' I guess.
My WattWagons Titanium, Ultimate Commuter

on order specifies the KINEKT/ Brooks combo. This machine and your Riese and Müller Nevo3 GT Vario GX come weighing 65lbs, however the Bafang G510 powered WW ranges from (a real) 160 - 250nm+ torque available. I've ordered with a Kindernay VII w/ gates drive, Magura MT7-E brakes.
Awaiting the titanium frames, the fork is still TBD.
The KINEKT's a standard feature on these hardtail machines for several years.
Yes, 35mm of travel seems plenty for me as well.

Happy Trails from across the pond!

Fn'F

 

[DiggyGun]

That's a real classy bike you have
Thank you for the heads up. I came an inch from buying a Thudbuster and was still considering trying one.
Your photo shows a clamp quite similar to that used by KINEKT, but with side to side bolts. View attachment 129578
My experience, which would hold little validity for a normal to heavier person (me at 139lbs), the KINEKT has never come loose at the seat.

Yes. The top and bottom clamping arrangement appears to be more robust.

Plus on the Thudbuster, it was a right pain fitting or adjusting the saddle as when you loosened the bolt, the fittings always came apart as the bolt was too short.

The eeSilk+ was way much easier to fit and adjust.

 

[DiggyGun]

I've ordered with a Kindernay VII w/ gates drive, Magura MT7-E brakes.

The Gates drive is great. Magura MT 4 and MT5 are fitted to the Nevo3. Both have performed well.

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Pouring over these older posts, I noticed you'd said "orange springs". Likely you meant 'red' as Cirrus has only Red, Yellow, Purple and Black springs (Correction: but they sure do look orange to me too). There's 60 - 80lbs difference and only on the XR version. Orange/ orange puts you in the 230 - 320lbs range, the mean being 275lbs
(65lbs to your high side bias).
Black/ yellow lands you squarely between 200 and 240lbs (190 - 230lbs for e-bike) where your mean is 220lbs for gravel and exactly 210lbs for e-bikes.
If your springs are at the end of their range, you'll have very little adjustment variation available no matter what you do.
Adjusting tension light enough to enjoy the KINEKT is not possible as the weight's out of the spectrum allowed.
You'll end up going waaaaay too stiff just to stop the excessive jounce and unless you are completely loose. There is very little suspension available, as you are out of your permissible weight range.
The closer you are to that mean, the longer the range available you can 'properly' use.
The correct tension adjustment, again, should fall near the middle.
That's the spot that massively reduces road chatter, absorbs bumps in the mid-range and will not bottom out on a heavy hit.
Too stiff only gives you 'bottom out' protection.
If you like that KINEKT now, there's a whole hidden world you'll find when you match those springs as close to your weight as possible.
There's no other way to get it (See: KINEKT Spring weight application chart).
Anticipate the % of bias will dictate the range available with those particular springs.
If you calculate 20% > heavy bias, anticipate -20% of the suspension range unavailable, and so on.

That's my take!

Fn'F

My Kinekt has died. Long live the Kinekt !!!
They've authorized an RMA at 15 months out and I'm returning.
Detached my 'upgrade parts', found the box and it's off to Cirrus in tomorrows post.
I don't blame them that my seat spins at the post/ tube juncture.
An unforeseen defect usually translates to 'user abuse' or whatever and a lot of it no doubt is just that.
Kinekt staff (thank you Anna !!!) have been 100% professional, great. Certainly they need to see it first - and will find I take good care of fine components.
This could've be some some bum trying to steal my saddle/ post or so many things. One day while tuning I just noticed the joint was loosening.
I wonder if others encounter a slight side-to-side play right out of the box as I did - and assumed was SOP ????

Fn'F

 

[WIVado]

I have a Kinekt on one bike and a Redshift on the other; been very happy with them both.

Some might say the Redshift looks a little more refined than the Kinekt….

 

[linklemming]

I have a Kinekt on one bike and a Redshift on the other; been very happy with them both.

Some might say the Redshift looks a little more refined than the Kinekt….

I also have both and like them both.

Performancewise I cant really feel a difference. The kinekt is easier to access all the bolts (pain in the arse on the redshift).

I definately like the look of the redshift more

Redshift has an upper weight limit of about 240#

 

[Over50]

I had the Thudbuster ST on my Riese and Müller Nevo3 GT Vario GX and found it worked OK, apart from one big problem. The saddle clamp is from side to side and I could just not get this tight enough to stop the nose of the saddle rising up. Took the fastenings out and tried a straight through stainless steel bolt and nut to no avail as it still kept moving up.
View attachment 129575

Glad I saw this. The Gen 4 Thudbuster (your photo) came stock on my Tern GSD Gen 2. Recently, about a year into riding, it lost the ability to keep the saddle clamped. Big bumps would lodge it loose. Specs are 16NM and my Park Tool torque wrench goes up to 15NM. Pretty sure I had overtightened, as I had been swapping saddles with some frequency in the last couple of months and figured I had stripped something in the process. I swapped the Gen 4 seatpost on the GSD with my Gen 3 Thudbuster ST on my Tern Vektron (same diameter 30.9). The Gen 3 has a different seatpost clamp mechanism - the one with a single hex screw and a wheel/dial screw to adjust tilt. Anyway, the older Gen 3 is still holding up fine but my Gen 4 also wouldn't keep the saddle nose on my Vektron from tipping up - the seat tube angle is less slack or more upright on the Vektron so I thought there would be less pressure on the clamp. I also think the Gen 3 makes it much easier to adjust tilt. And yesterday, before I saw this post, I ordered a replacement clamp kit for the Gen 4 from Cane Creek. Maybe I should have just ditched it for an alternative. Sounds like the Gen 4 clamp mechanism has some issues.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

No one mentioned the Redshift ShockStop yet?

 

[Alaskan]

sNo one mentioned the Redshift ShockStop yet?

Nor should they (or you) The topic is Thudbuster vs Kinekt.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Nor should they (or you) The topic is Thudbuster vs Kinekt.

Ya, because @Marci jo was unaware of Redshift back there in 2019

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Nor should they (or you) The topic is Thudbuster vs Kinekt.

Isn't it peripheral information ?