That's true about feeling less connected. I got mine as I was deciding between getting a hardtail or FS mountain bike, and my reasoning was that it would add comfort while keeping the relatively better efficiency of the hardtail. It's cheap -- it has no damping, so it "tops" out after springing me over harder bumps. But, it does protect against the rough patches & creases that catch me by surprise -- those are the ones that are too small to easily see but sharp enough to annoy. It's very much something I'd only put on a bike that I mainly use for easy riding.