stoker suspension posts???

[lo-G]

purchasing our first tandem. chose cannondale mtn version. I want to make my wife as comfortable as possible. Is the cane creek thudbuster a good choice? they have two options (LT-3in travel & ST-1.3in travel) or are there better options? I've had telescoping posts in the past and was never very impressed. I will set her up in more of an upright position than stock and want to make the right choice the first time. REACT TO ME!!!

[twonbike]

We have just ordered the one with the shorter travell for Sue on the back. It should be here in a week or so. If you aren't in a hurry we could let you know how it goes. Cheers Brian & Sue

[lo-G]

Brian & Sue, sounds great! I'll wait to hear. meanwhile, any saddle recomendations for her?

-thanks, Garrett

[stapfam]

Brian & Sue, sounds great! I'll wait to hear. meanwhile, any saddle recomendations for her?

-thanks, Garrett

Saddles are always a personal thing, But I have always been pleased with the Selle italia saddles, However, what I have found just as important is the Cycling shorts. Being a Mountain Biker, I have always gone for a good quality 8 panel short with a chamois liner. All that changed last year when to advertise for a local shop, and to get some free Clothing for a 100 mile trip, I was given some shorts with a massive 1" thick foam insert. Never used them before, but these are comfortable. The usual saddle soreness did not come in till well into the ride, and even then it was not as extreme.

[TandemGeek]

Let me voice a HUGE endorsement for a proper pair of properly fitting cycling shorts. Here's a link to a summary of some things I recently wrote regarding the value and purpose of cycling shorts: http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=839727&postcount=5 Bottom line on your bottom line: Cycling Shorts are mundo importente

Shockposts: Thudbusters seem to be the more reliable shockpost for off-road teams and the parallelogram movement is a plus. If you've had shockposts in the past then you should already have a good appreciation for how important it is to get the saddle height adjusted with full-rider weight on the saddle so that suspension sag doesn't cause her to sit too high or too low on the bike. Cane Creek also sells a variety different density elastomers for fine-tuning the suspension's progression.

Saddles to consider: My wife is partial her Selle Italia LDY TransAm; however, the model she uses has been discontinued and has been replaced by a TransAm with gel inserts. Can't comment on those since Debbie hasn't used one.

Another good place to start would be the Terry Liberator line, if only because of their 30 day guarantee program. There are several models in several different price ranges to choose from.

Terry's homepage: http://www.terrybicycles.com/produc...es&sc=For+Women

Team Estrogen: http://www.teamestrogen.com/categories.asp?catID=24
Note: Team Estrogen lists all of the various saddle dimensions (length x width).

Just some addtional comments about saddles from a previous post:

Conditioning and “time in the saddle” are definitely considerations. We who are the “cyclists” in the family often time take for granted how well our base miles serve us until we’re off the bike for a few weeks or months and have to re-acclimate our posteriors and bodies to the rigors of riding an upright road racing bicycle (an inherently uncomfortable contraption). For spouses and companions who are not seasoned cyclists, the “breaking-in” period can be a distressing process. Patience and perseverance are sometimes the only thing required to bridge the comfort gap. However, that said…

Make sure there's not too much bouncing going on with her seatpost. While a "cushy ride" might seem to be a good idea it's really hard on your body when your riding position remains in constant flux and your lower back remains in constant motion.

Make sure she's properly fitted for her riding position. It was really hard for me to convince Debbie that riding in a more aggressive position was actually more comfortable over the long-haul than being more upright. My instruction proved correct and even provided the “need” to have a custom tandem made that gave her extra room in the back. Seriously, without assuming anything about your knowledge of bike fitting, I can’t stress enough how critical it is for her riding position to be spot-on with regard to saddle set-back (usually compromised when adjusting the stoker’s reach on a tandem) and tilt.

As for the saddle, wider is better except for the most aggressive female riders who seem to adapt well to the really narrow men’s saddles. The Selle Italia GelFlow (formerly TransAm) womens model is one of the widest models available and, like the Terry saddles, has garnered positive feedback from many of its female users. Debbie worked her way through four or five saddles before we stumbled on the very wide womens’ Selle Italia model with the anatomic cut-out and she’s been very pleased with it going on two years and 8k miles now.

Lastly, don't forget to take "butt breaks" when you ride. New tandem teams tend to spend nearly all their riding time in the saddle. For stokers who stay clipped in all the time -- which I recommend and which most stokers do -- they don't even get the short break that captains do at brief stops for intersections, etc... Constantly being seated can truly be a "pain in the ass". When we ride bikes by ourselves we tend to "stand" more often for a variety of reasons without even thinking about it so it's not always obvious why the tandem is more brutal. Therefore, try to make a point of taking a butt-break (stand and coast for a few hundred feet or pedal out of the saddle if you can) at least every 15 minutes or so. I usually set my alarm watch to do 10 or 15 minute count-downs so we're reminded to drink regularly and to take butt breaks. It makes all of the difference in the world.

[ccrider]

Have her try a Terry Butterfly. Many women are very happy with that one.

[cornucopia72]

My wife uses a Terry Butterfly and she thinks it is very confortable. We do regular "but breaks" and find that they help a lot.

[joe@vwvortex]

My GF preferred the specialized Pave Carbon post. It's amazing how much flex it has and she hated the up and down motion of the suspension posts.

[zonatandem]

We test rode the 'original' Thudbuster before it became part of Cane Creek.
It is the only suspension seatpost we were impressed with.
Having said that, stoker Kay still rides a 'hardtail' and has for over 30 years. Each persons comfort needs, perceived or real, are different.
Saddles: again a very personal choice. A saddle can feel 'great' for a 20 miler and kill your posterior on a 50 miler. But having said that, if you find a saddle that you really like, buy another one just like it NOW! . . .'cause by the time you need another new saddle that model will have vanished from the bikeshops shelves.
A good saddle will typically serve you for thousands of miles. Kay 'retired' her previous saddle at 30,000 miles.

Pedal on TWOgehter!
Rudy and Kay/Zona tandem

[Rincewind8]

We have a Thudbuster (3 inch travel version) on our tandem and my stoker is very pleased with it. She actually told me not to call out bumps any more because she doesn't feel them anyway since we got the suspension seatpost.

Just make sure that you have enough "room" for the suspension. The suspension part of the seatpost is quite long. So if your wife has her seatpost about about 4 inches out of the seattube then you could exchange it for the 3 inch travel Thudbuster.

[2intexas]

After some experimentation, my wife/stoker chose a Specialized Body Geometry Dolce saddle -- the less foo-foo chro-mo one, not the Ti -- for around $40. Lower profile than her previous saddle, so positioning took some fiddling. Combined with a Tamer shock post, she's happy. We're roadies...

[docbluedevil]

My wife uses a White Bros. Air shock post with a Selle Italia Trans Am LDY. No complaints.

[Roadie Rob]

Our first tandem came stock with a 1.5" travel Post Moderne stick of junk. After one ride of her discomfort, I swapped out my Cane Creek off my race MTB and it has remained clamped in the tandem since. She simply loves the feel of the arcing movement - much more suitable than the "boing" of up/down telescopic posts. More natural on the knees too.

No worries about my MTB - I sold it (Klein Attitude) and built a Santa Cruz Blur.

Win - win if you ask me!

[bikertemaster]

difinately the three inches of travel.the more you have the more you don`t need to worry about.if you go for 1.3 inch then you might find out the hard way 3 inches would have been better.

[Brian]

My wife also prefers the Specialized Body Geometry Dolce, coupled with a cheapo suspension post that only provides about 1" of travel. It's enough to keep the roads smooth, and the off road tolerable. I don't think we sit down too much in the bush, so there's been no complaints so far. Oh, quality shorts make a huge difference too.