new Bodyfloat / Kinekt 2.1 & 3.1 versions
 

The new Kinekt 2.1 AL & the 3.1 Carbon version are both 12mm setback vs. 24-28mm setback of the 2.0/3.0 versions, plus some relocation of the linkage points, etc. Functionally identical. The reduced setback will allow us to setup my wife in her normal riding position, so we are going to try this on our hardtail Fandango 29er Mtb tandem.

They are taking phone orders starting today. Announcements yet to be published.
Kinekt-BodyFloat Seatpost by Cirrus Cycles | Suspension seat post


Attached photo of the new 2.1 AL version. Notice the forward offset immediately above the top of the seat tube.

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* Big pricing change: the 3.0 carbon is now $269.00, the 2.0 AL model is $199.00 *

When we ordered our new Calfee tandem, we considered a suspension seatpost. Our old steel Co-Motion had one. My Stoker decided to try the new bike without. So far, she is satisfied not having one. I notice that the Calfee is much smoother than the steel bike for the Captain.

Do most Stokers feel a need for a suspension post? Maybe it depends on how smooth your roads are. I'd rate our roads as "medium".

On our road tandem we only carbon Specialized Pave SL which works well for the roads we ride 95% of the time. Plus moving up to the fatter 28mm (32mm IRL) Continental 4k tires are a sweet ride too. If we frequented the horrible roads around Watsonville where the Calfee factory is (similar to parts of Puglia Italy) then likely a Bodyfloat might go on it as well.

My stoker hates the Thudbuster LT on the mtb tandem. It just doesn't work for her sub-100lbs in spite of using various elastomers and has far too much setback especially when it squishes down and moves a lot further back during its arc. I can see maybe this post might work ok for taller riders but for a small person, the amount of rear movement the LT produces is a rather large ratio.

I've been waiting and waiting for a Bodyfloat with less setback and now they are releasing it. Looking forward to trying it once the snow melts here. It's coming with a few extra springs to better allow setting up for a wide variety of terrain conditions... anything from fairly smooth gravel to somewhat rougher trails.

I really didn't care about having the carbon 3.1 version of the Bodyfloat on the mtb tandem, but bit the bullet anyway. Stoker's birthday present :)

We have the original AL version. Works great

We gave up on the thudbuster, went to a carbon post, stoker is happy.
R&J

Interesting. We have the 2.0. There is considerable set-back. However, the saddle clamp is pretty narrow which gave use plenty of room to move the saddle forward within the specified range. Works for us and partially compensated for the set-back.

We probably would not use a suspension post if we only rode on smooth roads. Alas, we have to traverse pothole filled roads to get to smooth roads. So, we have the short Thudbuster on our DaVinci Grand Junction and whatever inexpensive basic suspension post came on our Trek T900 (now the backup bike). My stoker prefers the suspension post on the Trek T900. Comfort saddles also help.

I got the carbon model for my wife Christmas of '16. It took a few rides -- and spring swaps -- to get it dialed in. After that point, she loves the combo of the Body Float and her Brooks saddle. (The Body Float replaced her Specialized Pave post that we'd run since '07 or '08. That seat post worked fairly well, but the BF certainly has smoothed out cracked pavement and the like.)

Here's a link to a brief article showing some additional photos of the new 12mm setback post design:
Cirrus Cycles Kinekt Seat Post: Getting Rolling -

With snow and cold still gripping our home area in northern Idaho, we setup the 3.1 post on Linda's bike trainer / single bike to do some initial tinkering and get a better idea of which springs to use (as that depends not only on rider weight but also riding position and intended use). For example, if the post was for road use, you'd be mostly be looking to get rid of vibration, pavement cracks and the occasional pothole, but at the other extreme if riding offroad or trail then you likely have much bigger tires to take care of the vibration part and so use the post to absorb the chunkier hits. After discussing all this with Chris at Cirrus, we learned there could be many combinations of springs and settings to accommodate whichever usage type.

Since the post will soon be mounted on our Fandango hard tail mtb tandem, we ended up using the Purple/Purple springs rated for the next higher rider weight category. Her "foundation" with these springs is at 3.5 out of 8, allowing plenty of float room to back off above that initial sag point. By comparison, if tuning for a road setup we would use a white lower spring which drops Linda's foundation sag to the 4.5-5 indicator and more into the mid point of the entire range for a plusher setup. The purple lower spring holds her a bit higher up which proves a touch more travel range below the initial sag point.

So after doing all the above, I got on the phone again with Chris to discuss how to setup for bigger hits. The thing is, as the foundation/sag level indicator number increases, the amount of residual travel lessens and so my concern was regarding how to maximize post travel for bigger hits. One option we could do is use a black lower spring to raise Linda even more the top of the spring range, at the expense of a little plushness but gaining further travel range. However Chris also mentioned the possibility to remove the bottom-out damper from the top spring assembly, an unpublished setup modification which should increase the travel range by a whopping 10mm. I'm not sure if removing the damper could expose any of the mechanism to some damage, but given Linda's sub-100lb weight is ever likely to fully compress the purple springs, I doubt the lack of a bottom-out damper is ever going to be hit. We'll see once this gets put to the test out on the fire roads and trails.

Anyway, short story and new tip is the possibility to remove the bottom-out damper for increased suspension travel range, an attribute which may be desirable for bigger hit compliance.

Cheers.