OneIsAllYouNeed

If this is for your new Calfee, I think you're obligated to use an Ergon CF3. Anything else would spoil the aesthetic.

JMarino

Ha! My wife wouldn't even consider it as an option for the Calfee. This would be for the gravel tandem.

FlatSix911

I have used the Satori Animaris and think it is a great value for the money.
A Full parallelogram suspension with adjustable spring damping for $59.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07113WT58/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=toponlinerevi-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07113WT58
SATORI - Riding fueled innovation

bakerjw

We have a Suntour SP12 on our mountain tandem. We've not taken it off road as of yet as I wanted to get my wife used to how it handles and feels on pavement. so far, she has not complained about it.

I will be keeping an eye out on the Satori ones though as they seem to have a lot of offerings.

twocicle

I had a long talk with the guys at Cirrus before buying the 3.1 version and was told the BodyFloat/Kinekt posts do not have "damping" or rebound control. I believe the gist was that they believed the 2 springs were effective in cancelling out excessive bob. However when I suggested it may still be desirable to have the ability to tune rebound rate, they did agree and said this concept is being thought over for perhaps a future model. Give them a call, you should hear the same thing.

The setup is definitely more precisely tunable than Thudbuster and the swingarm/parallelogram action is more subtle than the Thudbuster. Both have preload adjustments and both can be set to provide either a solid foundation level (zero bob) or a free floating experience somewhere between the upper and lower travel limits. In action, the BodyFloat/Kinekt posts are able to provide a plusher, linear travel and the sag tuning (foundation level) does not effect the spring rate, unlike Thudbuster which ramps up firmer very rapidly as the elastomers are compressed.

My wife is only 95lbs and when we tried setting up a Thudbuster LT with the recommended elastomers and various others, we just could not get it to function well at all. At her weight (and on a mtb tandem) the LT was either too off/on (stiff) or too sloppy (soft). We tried every tuning option and finally gave up. Plus my wife absolutely hated the travel path of the LT - she really disliked how it moved her so far backward.

Then we got the Kinekt 3.1 post on our Fandango MTB tandem (a hard tail Aluminum frame) on plenty of rough single track terrain. Incredibly, at those times when I asked my wife how rough it was back there, she always replied "great!". We quickly destroyed a set of rear hub bearings, but to my wife, the ride quality was really nice with the Kinekt 3.1. You've got to be impressed by just how good the 3.1 was in this case. For Linda on the MTB hardtail, we upped the spring set to using a white upper / purple lower and loosened the "platform" somewhat to let float a bit and to maximize the effective travel.

After ruining the rear hub bearings, I decided to switch over to a Ventana ECDM full suspension. That frame is so plush that nobody I know or surveyed online uses a suspension post of any kind. We have a few rides on the ECDM now and agree, in this case no suspension post needed - though I did "cheat" a little in the build and installed a Pave carbon post we had on the Calfee road tandem, installing a Specialized Cobble Gobbler (CGR) on the Calfee instead (post setbacks dictated which post when on which frame - the ECDM has a more laid back seat tube and so the Pave was needed for that setup).

End result of all this... the Kinekt 3.1 is a greatly effective, really tunable post. The "Cadillac" of suspension posts for sure. I can see why Craig Calfee recommends this post, even for his already nice riding carbon tandems. For us the Kinekt 3.1 on the Calfee would be way overkill. My wife was very happy with just the Pave carbon post and is now on the CGR for the Calfee.

Which means... the carbon Kinekt 3.1 post has been laying in the box for months now. Not sure if I'll sell it or hang onto it just in case we go ride some really nasty areas where it could be most effective. If anyone is interested, PM me. We have extra springs for it and the spring cover as well. For any other weight/tuning needs, you can get any desired springs from Cirrus and those are quite cheap considering this is a specialty product.

This pic is the 2.1 post. The 3.1 is virtually the same but has the very long carbon lower tube.

Stick69

Did you use a shim? How comfortable are you with a shimmed carbon seatpost, assuming the frame is steel. Problems solvers says not to use their shim on carbon frames and seatposts.

Carbonfiberboy 

Steel makes no difference. The possible issue is that the carbon post is more noble than is the aluminum shim. If the shim/post interface were frequently wet, especially with salt water such as sweat, the shim would corrode. In that event, the post could slip down, however the post itself would be undamaged, being the more noble material. We've ridden the tandem, with this post, in the rain for 5 winters and don't see any sign of corrosion, just as shiny as the day I installed it. I put grease on the outside of the shim and carbon assembly paste on the post. I have adjusted the post from time to time with no issues. So yeah, we're completely comfortable with this post.

Stick69

Thanks for the feedback. I went to a Specialized dealer at lunch and talked to the maintenance dept. They said they would install a CG-R with a shim provided the seat post would stay put without exceeding the torque specs on the clamp. I ordered a CG-R and a 27.2 by 29.8 shim.

Carbonfiberboy 

Gotta use carbon assembly paste, but they should know that.

Darth Lefty 

milktree

It's been a couple years, can you report on how you like the BodyFloat compared to the Thudbuster?

fitlerbend

Stoker thought it to be an improvement, however - does not articulate specific reasons. Best description I get is that the Body Float is springy vs. spongy.