Suspension Seatposts and Stems

[dlovett]

Hey there, I am building a set of 29x2.1 wheels for use on the Fat bike. As I will be going from a very comfy 26+x4.0 to the less volume 29 tyre I am assuming the ride will really be much rougher and nearer to the gravel bike ride on 650x47's. Are suspension seat posts and stem worth looking at to try to reduce the difference between the wheel set's. I run very short stem currently (40 I think) with a pair of Jones on it. I would also still want to be able to use my Retrap seat pack, can you do that with suspension posts?

Any other ideas on how to increase the plushness of 29ers without buying suspension forks?

Cheers

d

[ScotRoutes]

[dlovett]

Ha, bloody Ha.

[wriggles]

2.1 is just a fat 54mm gravel tyre really. It all depends on intended use and terrain, and also some people are more tolerant of a rigid bike than others. Why not use 2.4 - 2.6 tyres as a midpoint between your 4" fat and 47mm gravel tyres?

Other options - 27.2mm seatpost in a shim for a bit more twang. Brooks saddle for a bit of a hammock under your bum. Thicker, different grips?

[redefined_cycles]

[redefined_cycles]

My experience of suspension posts was a bit rubbish to be fair. Yes, they do increase the comfort but its another mechanical bit to go wrong. After so long they'd not be working as optimally anymore...

Probably would work ok with seatpacks but I reckon you're gonna get some wear and tear in the packs. If they're expensive kit then you probably not gonna be too happy.

What I've found to work well (on the road bike this is now) and is reported positively (aside from just the lesser diameter posts ehich is how Cannondale and Santa Cruz claim to aid comfort on their bikes) is some of the more comfy seatposts...

3 that spring to mind are

Canyon (this I have and is comfy as anything and also many people purchase seperately to put on their other make frames).

https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/25 ... osset-your

The one that I would go for is the Rose due to low(er) cost and doing the job well...

Also decent grips on the hands should prove a big boost/aid. I recently got the Pro Koryak Race and the some Ergon GA2. Got both for around 21 quid from CRC after gaining input from the Bonafitas on here advised.

Ultimately though. Going from 4 to 2.1 theres inevitably gonna be some discomfort and your gonna have to brace a little of it. I went with 3.0 Vittoria Bombolonis on Stan (the Sonder) first. Nice and comfy and cushioned (enough to get on with the ride and not have cheap Clarks grips bother me much). Then I went with a 2.4 and 2.3ish (real measurements although the stated widths were actually 2.5 and 2.6). Doing the MTL was pretty tough on the good old hands and straight as I got back I reordered some 2.8 to go on... and swapped out the brakes which were old and horrid.

Hope it works out for you buddy

[dlovett]

2.1 is just a fat 54mm gravel tyre really. It all depends on intended use and terrain, and also some people are more tolerant of a rigid bike than others. Why not use 2.4 - 2.6 tyres as a midpoint between your 4" fat and 47mm gravel tyres?

Other options - 27.2mm seatpost in a shim for a bit more twang. Brooks saddle for a bit of a hammock under your bum. Thicker, different grips?

Thanks for the ideas. I have ridden the camino 650x47 on the bb200, yd200 and cb19 and it’s not too bad. The vf though always seems to make my body feel less wrecked at the end of the ride. I don’t really have much time for multi day training to built up my body, but generally it’s my bottom that suffers the most. After about 100kms I can feel it have been sitting on a saddle. I recently did a touch 50km section of the sdw on the Camino and the next day on the ht (ti with carbon seatoost) and the ht felt a lot more comfortable. What was surprising was the Camino was fractionally quicker (a few seconds here and there on segments) despite being more uncomfortable. I had never thought about using a skinny pot i’ll Get some 27/31 shims and try the carbon post in the VF. I guess as it’s mainly my bottom that gets sore I need to look at my saddles and shorts.

[dlovett]

Yep i’ll Try the carbon 27 post on it and see how that feels. I don’t tend too get issues to much with hands and arms. the VF has Jones with a good padding and esi chunky foam grips. I’ve now added the tribars and will pad them well. The tyres I have got coming are 2.1 but perhaps bigger might be better. However there is s line where their rolling resistant won’t be much better the the jj4.0’s which are higher pressure are very low rr.

Thanks for the tips.

ost_id=185104 time=1560727160 user_id=4248]
My experience of suspension posts was a bit rubbish to be fair. Yes, they do increase the comfort but its another mechanical bit to go wrong. After so long they'd not be working as optimally anymore...

Probably would work ok with seatpacks but I reckon you're gonna get some wear and tear in the packs. If they're expensive kit then you probably not gonna be too happy.

What I've found to work well (on the road bike this is now) and is reported positively (aside from just the lesser diameter posts ehich is how Cannondale and Santa Cruz claim to aid comfort on their bikes) is some of the more comfy seatposts...

3 that spring to mind are

Canyon (this I have and is comfy as anything and also many people purchase seperately to put on their other make frames).

https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/25 ... osset-your

The one that I would go for is the Rose due to low(er) cost and doing the job well...

Also decent grips on the hands should prove a big boost/aid. I recently got the Pro Koryak Race and the some Ergon GA2. Got both for around 21 quid from CRC after gaining input from the Bonafitas on here advised.

Ultimately though. Going from 4 to 2.1 theres inevitably gonna be some discomfort and your gonna have to brace a little of it. I went with 3.0 Vittoria Bombolonis on Stan (the Sonder) first. Nice and comfy and cushioned (enough to get on with the ride and not have cheap Clarks grips bother me much). Then I went with a 2.4 and 2.3ish (real measurements although the stated widths were actually 2.5 and 2.6). Doing the MTL was pretty tough on the good old hands and straight as I got back I reordered some 2.8 to go on... and swapped out the brakes which were old and horrid.

Hope it works out for you buddy
[/quote]

[Bearbonesnorm]

Most of my riding is / was on a 29er with 2.1" tyres. it's really not that bad, low pressures and not holding on so hard will save you having to waste money on sh1te you don't need.

[dlovett]

Most of my riding is / was on a 29er with 2.1" tyres. it's really not that bad, low pressures and not holding on so hard will save you having to waste money on sh1te you don't need.

That Makes perfect sense, once they are ready i’ll give them a try on the shipwrights/sdw. Then i’ll Add in the carbon 27 post from the ht into the mix and see if that help much. I just wanted to check I wasn’t missing a miracle cure with the fancy posts!

Shorts and saddles to look at next as I feel that my bars/grips/gloves and shoes/socks/peddles are pretty good.

[wriggles]

Most of my riding is / was on a 29er with 2.1" tyres. it's really not that bad, low pressures and not holding on so hard will save you having to waste money on sh1te you don't need.

Very true that, the wriggles tyre mountain in the garage is a memorial to those words and "sh1te you dont need" seems to be what I say every time I see cheap rubber on the internets

Duncan as said though think a lot depends on terrain. Weight is also a factor. I am 90+kgs. 2.1 were fine on the WRT, and thats what I have used on the SDW, but for the Jennride i think I will put something bigger on as I know I will just end up damaging the tyre or rim.
Actually if you want to try a bigger tyre, give me a shout as I probably have something you could borrow.

[Wotsits]

I can vouch for the Syntace Hi-Flex post, i've got a 27.2mm & a 30-something mm. The 27.2mm is noticeably betterer!

There's one thing that has always put me off suspension seatposts, the ones that by their operation alter the seat to pedal distance anyway. I know how sensitive me knees are to this measurment over long (multi-day) rides, even 5mm can make a difference to me. I'm not sure that constant movement here would help..

[dlovett]

I've just checked my database and the HT the was no quicker but much more comfortable, runs a front Maxis Ardent 26x2.25 tubeless at 35psi and on the rear a Maxis Crossmark 26x2.1 at 30psi. Admittedly it has a Revelation upfront, but it is comfortable. TBH I thought it had 2.35-2.5 on it. I've found that after 100kms+ having slightly less wear on your body is better than 2km/h faster.

[dlovett]

That's a very kind offer, I'm 80kg +- 2/3 most of the time so 2.1 at about 25-35 psi, I hope will have some comfort in it without being too draggy. If it doesn't work to well, I'll msg you to see what I could borrow and try out.

Question for the engineers, a 650b ali gravel bike with 47mm semi slicks weighing about 12kg v a 9kg Ti HT 26" 2.1 with slight knobs. With the same amount of watts put in by me and the same gear ratios, would there be much difference in speed? From my single back to back comparision, the HT was fractionally faster but much more comfortable, does the sound right? Where does the 10kg carbon fat fit in with 29x2.1 in the scale of things, slightly faster the the HT?

Most of my riding is / was on a 29er with 2.1" tyres. it's really not that bad, low pressures and not holding on so hard will save you having to waste money on sh1te you don't need.

Very true that, the wriggles tyre mountain in the garage is a memorial to those words and "sh1te you dont need" seems to be what I say every time I see cheap rubber on the internets

Duncan as said though think a lot depends on terrain. Weight is also a factor. I am 90+kgs. 2.1 were fine on the WRT, and thats what I have used on the SDW, but for the Jennride i think I will put something bigger on as I know I will just end up damaging the tyre or rim.
Actually if you want to try a bigger tyre, give me a shout as I probably have something you could borrow.

[lune ranger]

That's a very kind offer, I'm 80kg +- 2/3 most of the time so 2.1 at about 25-35 psi, I hope will have some comfort in it without being too draggy. If it doesn't work to well, I'll msg you to see what I could borrow and try out.

I’ve been running 2.1 Nano’s at 22-25psi with an all up rider/bike/luggage weight of approx 100kg recently on mixed terrain with good results. They still feel ok on even prolonged road sections. I feel a bit beaten up when it gets rocky but thus far have avoided banging my rims.

I often use an old USE XCR suspension post. I like it. I hardly even notice the change in effective saddle height when peddling.
I resurrected the post quite recently. I have used it the past on a tour to South Africa with no reliability issues. The downside is that it precludes using a seat pack so it only really gets used on rides where a seat pack isn’t needed such as single push ITT. I’m consider a light rack for mounting a dry bag or a dropper compatible seat pack so I can use the suss post more often. Alpkit dropper bags are not compatible but US bag maker Rockgeist make something that would work.