uberclkgtr

As far as seatposts, I've found that the Specialized seatposts with those zertz elastomer inserts do dampen the ride quite well. The compact aluminum Aerotech frames are super stiff, and those carbon bits make those bikes very comfortable to ride - no road noise. Though I've never ridden one of those frames with an aluminum seatpost.

bbattle

On Treks and Kleins it's called S.P.A. Hincapie rode one when he won Paris-Roubaix.

Orbea's Lobular frame used hydroformed aluminum tubing to improve the ride. Not cheap, though.

Many Al frames have carbon seatstays, carbon seatposts, and carbon forks to absorb vibration.

DocRay

Hincapie never won Paris-Roubaix. He has crashed out of most of them, however.

Jed19

I weigh 220Ibs, and some other seatposts I tried pre the Thomson Elite usually get "squeaky" after a while. The Elites just "disappear" under me, even though they feel rock-solid. When you have been biking for the better part of twenty years, you notice great products like the Thomson Elites.

I have never been one that prefers form over function. I'll take a well-made, functional but ugly product anyday (Not saying the Thomson is ugly by any means) .

Regards,

I_bRAD

When my bike was in the shop getting a new head tube I was riding on a borrowed CAAD5 frame with a dented seatstay which didn't seem to have any effect at all on the performance of the bike. (it was also a bit harsher than the Ti frame I'm used to but surprisingly not as much as I'd thought it would be)

When I was in the shop picking up my frame someone had brought in a Carbon Cervelo that appeared to have had a very similar crash to what dented the C'dale. Unfortunately for them though, the seatstay was broken in half instead of dented and useable.

jeremyb_nz

A lot of bike feeling of harshness or otherwise comes from the wheels and tyres, but an old cannondale frame is always gonna be harsh unfortunately

DannoXYZ 

I had one of the pre-3.0 fat-tube Cannondales. Boy was that a stiff monster, especially when I weighed 150lbs! Great for smooth crits, horrible for mountain downhills or long rides. My downhill times actually got worse compared to the soft alloy Peugeot Comete I had earlier; the 'dale was skipping off the tops of bumps and sending me wide on the entry of the corners.

Anyway, after I trashed the front-end in a crash, I put on an alloy fork and WOW, did that make a huge difference in comfort and smoother control. At the same time, I got lightweight wheels with 15ga double-butted spokes too, so I can't separate the fork from the wheels really. Also did what alanhouston recommends, I calibrated the pressure based upon tyre-size and weight rather just pumping up to full-max all the time. That made a big difference as well.

BTW - I doubt the seatpost makes a big difference anyway. You're applying load inline with its axis, it's not gonna flex at all.

bellweatherman

Blatant lie.

wakked1

I just took a 5 day trip down the coast on my Trek 2300. Generic Sette CF seatpost (0 setback), Kestrel EMS CF bars (Thomson X2 stem), and Specialized Rubino Pro 23c/25c tires made a huge difference in comfort. Might want to reconsider that Thomson seatpost for an alu bike.

wakked1

To clarify, the CF seatpost helped with both impact and vibration absorption. The bars helped with vibes mostly. The tires helped with general ride and compliance. But did it turn it into a CF frame? Well.. not really.

derath

I have a Giant carbon bike that is just super comfy. When I was out of town a few months ago I rented a bike or a 50mile ride. It turned out to be surprisingly comfortable. I had always just assumed that aluminum=harsh. But this one had me believing I could have gotten away with an aluminum bike instead.

-D

Retro Grouch 

BINGO!

The compliance in the tires is several magnitudes of everything else combined. The solution is so simple that people don't want to believe it.

531Aussie

I recently bought a Streetfire, and I'd actually wish it was a little stiffer, but I'm about 195lbs! I ended up putting in my stiffest fork to firm up the ride; a Columbus Link,


I agree with the Doc that the difference between old and new and old aluminium is night and day.

lennon2600

If carbon seatposts don't do anything, why have them? They clearly do dampen vibrations, just like a quality carbon frame dampens vibrations more than a quality aluminum frame. These comparisons don't apply to some other metals - titanium, scandium, etc.

krazygluon

What about going to a carbon fork?

531Aussie

^^ yeah, I meant to say that. A bike can be just about transformed with different forks.

I have an alu Cinelli, and the ride was totally different with each of the 3 forks I had in it