I'm having trouble putting my seat post all the way down into the seat tube for jumps. The seat tube has not been cut, but I would prefer to avoid doing so. I have taken the seat out to look down the seat tube, and it all seems clear. The seat probably can go all the way down with a lot of force, however when it is around two inches from the bottom, it gets extremely hard to push and very squeaky. I have tried lubing it, and cleaning everything as much as possible. The two things I can think of are: either the seat tube gets thinner (although not visibly) near the bottom for some reason associated with the suspension(see picture below). Or the seat tube is slightly bent.

Any suggestions?

Hmm. Maybe you could cut just a couple inches off the seat tube. Once you adjust the seat up high for xc riding you should still have enough tube inside the frame to keep anything from failing on your bike. You only need a minimum of about 4-5" of seat tube inside the frame. Chances are your seat tube is about 2 feet long and you don't need that much.

Well, at the length it is now only around 4 inches stays inside the tube while riding. I keep my seat high for XC. Even if I were to cut the seat post, I would still like to know what is causing the problem. It isn't as if the seatpost is ever anywhere near the bottom of the seat tube.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Is the seatpost lubed well?

I've seen it hit the water bottle bolts before but hadn't heard of this problem. I'd think the seat tube may actually taper near the bottom for structures sake, though I don't see the benefit. I might suggest putting the post in until it binds then marking the post and pulling it out and measuring that against the tube to see if there is anything notible there, like maye the linkage weld or something that just might make it act weird.

Yes, I have tried lubing it.
It ends up right around the middle of the suspension weld there. However, looking down it it seems normal.

The answer is simple, you have the seatpost as far in as it goes.

Indeed. This happened to my bike. I just had mine cut.

What frame size is it? Often seatposts are made to accomodate all sizes of bikes and if you're riding a smaller frame the post may get stopped sooner then it looks like it should.

If I may butt in...just get a shorter seatpost with an extra saddle and swap them out when necessary.

I'm actually riding a 20.5 inch.

If I were to cut it, what is the absolute minimum length of stem I should keep inside my bike at any one time?

mark how high you would ever want your seatpost. Them measure the distance from the bottom to where it is currently marked on the post not to exceed (probably around 4") and just add that length to your mark and cut away.

Ahh, I see.

Git er cut then!