jamesdak 

+1000

This is my "smooth as silk" ride.

jamesdak 

I will say that I have a couple FSA K-Force seatposts paired with Fizik Kurve saddles on a couple of my steel rides and they are plenty comfortable over rough roads. But they are also sporting 700 x 25 tires....

speshelite

The suntour is not recommended for riders who are significantly over 200 lbs.

trailflow1

An alternative but it's not ready to buy yet, but should be soon. (I'm a backer)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...shock-absorber

speshelite

Nice find trailflow.

^^This product has already missed it's release deadline (july '17). Also, they raised the price from $31 to $50. At 400 grams it's not especially light either.

Nonetheless it's nice to have more competition in the rear sus road market.

I have to warn everyone though: none of these rear sus designs are damped, so they will bounce noticeably on rebound. The bobbing also robs you of power. There's no free lunch here and you'll pay the price one way or the other. Not to mention the seat rocks back and forth and does not remain level.

It's good to see more of these designs on the market. There's no doubt US roads are in increasingly poor condition. Also, Americans continue to get fatter and fatter annually.

kickstart

The roads in my area are horrible so I decided to give one of those inexpensive pogostick seat posts a try on my trekking bike. It definitely made the ride significantly more comfortable, but was functionally less than ideal, and didn't last very long.
I am awaiting delivery of a Thudbuster LT for my cargo bike because although my initial experience with a suspension seat post was a failure, it did prove to me the merits of having one.

speshelite

I have a thudbuster LT. It works brilliantly off road, esp on descents. It makes me wonder if rear sus is actually necessary now. I could very well be wrong, even very wrong, but is it possible that the elastomer induced bobbing actually helps me to climb? It almost feels like a slingshot effect with each pedal stroke.

It seems like the upward bob gives me a bit of momentum with each stroke. It could very well be wishful thinking; perhaps I'm just trying to rationalize the novelty of extreme pedal bob as a positive rather than what actually is: a penalty for pedaling efficiency? shrug.

On the road, however, I feel far more sluggish pedaling with the TB LT. I had set it up with a slightly softer elastomer for off road rides. Then, I switched out a "3" for a "5." This firmed up the ride quite a bit but I still felt far less efficient pedaling on flats.

Now I've simply switched out the TB for a standard seatpost. I still use a cushy saddle though and this seems to be a decent compromise.

Maybe I'd get better results going with a 5/7 elastomer setup instead of the recommended 5/5 for my weight.

I just find the TB LT disconcerting for road riding. The constant movement downward and back just doesn't help me to spin.

I've read some good reviews for the ST version. Maybe the ST with stiff elastomers would be better suited for road rides.

I tend to suspect that these elastomer linkage seatposts are never going to be ideal for road riding. The lack of damping and the weird parallelogram movement just don't work for fast, athletic road riding.

fietsbob

the TB LT, has a pre load bolt, and you can change to denser elastomers, so they really only act in a thud.

TB ST has different density elastomers included, (& to buy , very-densest one) they're a single piece , not several in different colors.

Cougrrcj

I've been using a suspension seatpost on my old Fuji for years. The roads around NE Ohio are VERY bad - frost heave, broken pavement edges, one 'patch' on top of another...

I got mine from Nashbar probably 20 years ago. It looks like a knee joint with a 1" diameter x 1" tall elastomer 'puck' sandwiched in the knee joint. This seatpost cost about $20 back then. works great! BUT, I've never seen it available other than when I bought mine. One of those ideas that didn't catch on, I guess... In that 20 years, I've had to replace the puck once, but I bought a foot-long 1" diameter elastomer rod, and cut off the length I needed.

fietsbob

Putting 240+ pounds on the end of most seat posts will bend them a little..

maybe a titanium seat post will work well for you.. it has a bit of elasticity.

the Thudbusters max rider weight is just 10 pounds more than you weigh, at 250. FWIW..




...

PaulRivers

I remember reading claims that the Specialized CG-R seatpost was a good seatpost for reducing vibrations or shock, for $200:
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/co...eatpost/105098

But personally I would never go that route. If I wanted a frame that was shock reducing and also stiff and responsive, I'd buy one of the cheaper full carbon road bikes. Even the base level specialized roubaix had a really nice ride for not feeling the bad parts of the road while still being stiff and responsive.

The usual problem with a seatpost is you get one of two things:
- It doesn't move, but it's ineffective
- It does move, and it saps power from your peddling because it moves

speshelite

Suspension seatposts do in fact sap power as you put it.

However, I'm holding out hope that seatposts with a modest amount of movement don't affect pedaling efficiency appreciably (not for a recreational rider), although it would affect pros looking for a spot on the podium at the TdF.

This includes canyon, ergon, and perhaps specialized.

The redesigned roubaix gets rave reviews which suggests seatposts with compliance (flex) rather than travel (suspension) are the correct design for road bikes.

bobwysiwyg

I switched from a hybrid with fork and seat suspension to a dropped bar gravel bike with zero suspension. On my first ride on an unpaved gravel road I've ridden many times on the hybrid, I thought I had made a huge mistake. The real issue was every little dip, pot hole or bump went immediately to my lower spine.

Searched suspension posts and like you, $200 was ridiculous. Found one, a Satori. They have several. I tried one on a whim, $30 as I recall. Works great, couldn't be happier. I'm 6'3", 225. Though it has preload adjustments, I used it "as is," right out of the box.

speshelite

That's a great find on the satori. It seems to be a genuine bargain, almost a steal at $30. It's received very positive reviews online. I think this would be just about perfect for a city bike.

bobwysiwyg

I'd be interested in what you think if you get one.

sweeks

I have one on my folding commuter bike. I'm also a backer, hoping they eventually deliver. There was an update a week or so ago, so... fingers crossed!

It's true that there is no damping provided by this spring, but I do not find myself bouncing down the road. The rider provided a significant amount of damping. I find this thing is fairly effective at smoothing out the ride of my folder with 20" wheels. The bike was perfectly fine without it, but I was offered a loaner and tried it... just haven't bothered to take it off.

FWIW, the ThudBuster *does* have rebound damping, which is provided by the elastomer insert(s). I have 2 of the L/T version, and find the ride quality comparable to the Rinsten device.

There's a picture of the Rinsten spring on this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...le-spring.html. There was some hostility there, which I regret that I reacted badly to.
Steve

Kapusta

This is not true of all of them. There have been a number of in depth reviews of some of the newer offerings, and some of them seem to work very well without the issues you are describing.

BobbyG

I have a 1984 Nishiki International. It is kinda flexy which adds comfort, but when I got it 8 years ago it had 700x23s. Eventually I stacked 2 gel seats and it was nice. I later put 32s on it which just about fit but not above 80psi. Now it is very nice for commuting. I know it is counter most rider's experiences, but the gel seat(s) really help. It doesn't look great, but I'm not "butt-hurt" about it.

speshelite

Must be that super duper vaporware you ride everyday.

speshelite

Some of you are confusing the effects of gravity with damping.

WizardOfBoz

Very sweet. I thought I'd written to ask this, but can't see my post. Your sig shows you have a Maillot Jaune. How would you compare the ride of that frame with the others?

fietsbob

Maillot Jaune. is the yellow jersey.

sweeks

Just in case this is directed at me, here is a FAQ from the Cane Creek site:

DOES THE SUSPENSION HAVE ANY DAMPING CONTROL?

Yes. The Thudbuster elastomers are specially formulated with inherent damping characteristics. The proprietary formula offers quick compression to absorb bumps quickly with rebound damping to slow the suspension mechanism's return to the top-out position.

Apologies if you meant someone else.
Steve