timhines

Just curious on what people think about using suspension seatposts on road bikes. If you are touring wouldn't you want the most comfortable ride possible?

I was considering putting a thudbuster seatpost on my Specialized Allez.

timhines

anyone?

lala

The thudbuster sounds very good. I rather wished I had one for my Cleveland commutes! I'm considering on for my eventual mtb. Go for it!

Applehead57

It's a bit heavier than a standard seatpost, that's why you don't see them on road bikes, i.e. weight = slow.
There's no reason you couldn't otherwise.

Gtscottie

My wife concidered one on her road bike. She has one on her mountain bike so we switched it over for awile and her opinion was that you don't need it on tour but every butt is different so each to his/her own.

oknups

I put an X1 seat post on my commuter about 3 weeks ago, and a brooks b17 saddle.
I intend to do the same with the touring bike I am building.
I am not too worried about the added weight, as on a 3 or 4 day tour I lose more than that in body weight.

Did I mention that I found the comfort worth the weight?

Sebach

I have a Thudbuster 3G LT and a Brooks B17 on my hardtail mountain bike... decent setup so far. I plan to take my setup on a short 4-5 day tour this summer because I'll be riding on dirt and path for more than a couple days of it and I would like to take as little pounding as possible (why else would you suspend?). Don't see why you couldn't use the same on a dedicated touring or road bike unless you're a bit of a weight weenie or care about "image".

On a road bike, I'm thinking maybe the ST (short travel?) would be the more appropiate choice. It offers like 1.3 inches of travel versus the just under 3 inches of the LT (long travel?). It's lighter and lets you drop your seat further if you want but you don't have the 3 inches of travel... but you probably don't need it on a road/tourer anyway. If you're hitting anything on a roadie that afterwards makes you wish you took the LT's extra 1.7 inches of travel, you probably didn't mean to. Either that or you're my friend who seemed intent on killing his old road beater on single track jumps, crazy guy.

Flaneur

If you are considering the springy post with a Brooks saddle, you might also want to think about putting the springs and saddle together, i.e., a Brooks Conquest, or similar..............

Whenever I ride an uncomfortable bike, the frame and saddle come under a lot of scrutiny- maybe the tire selection?- before springy posts get a mention.

Sebach

A springy saddle might be a better way to go for a dedicated touring/road bike. Only problem is if you ride more than just one type of bike and don't want to have to get totally new gear for each bike. That and breaking in a new Brooks sucks.

I personally wanted to keep as much of my stuff consistent across all my bikes, especially the rider/bike interfacing parts, as much as I can anyway (e.g. stick my comfy B17 onto every bike I ride, use the same kind of pedals on all my bikes, etc). I thought about getting a springy Brooks on my MTB hardtail too but decided against it because I don't think it would help my rear enough on the trails after 8 hours, so I went with a post.

For strict touring only use, I would probably get a suspension saddles like Flaneur mentioned. Over short tours, a suspension post would probably be alright (let's hope so, I was going to do it)... but for long tours, it's probably just another thing that can fail.

timhines

good input. thanks guys. I'll probably just leave it in the box until I take a tour that is over night or several days in length.

hoss10

Get the Thudbuster I'm on my second been riding one for 5 years. Next to bag balm the grestest thing you will do for your butt.

Portis

I have the exact same setup on one of my MTB's. I am very happy with it, yet am not sure i will buy one for the other bike i ride. It is a nice ride but the B17 alone on a hardtail is pretty decent. The price is pretty steep for the LT Thudbuster.

mshattuck

For those that say "no" to the question of using the suspension seat posts on tour...do you think this b/c (as one person said) it is something that can break down. Or is it because of comfort over the long haul...added weight??

Just curious...was wondering the same thing as I'm trying to make our bikes pretty versatile. In Eastern Europe we're lucky to find a bike route...and when they're there, let's just say they're not too smooth. Yet, I don't want to add them without knowing that I shouldn't if we're touring because....[feel free to fill in the blank].

Sebach

Well, it was I who mentioned not using a suspension seatpost for long tours. Keep in mind I was thinking of "round the world" or "biking across the sahara" kind of epic journeys. My Thudbuster LT is rock solid (other than the way it is supposed to move) and I would personally not worry about it at all for normal tours of moderate length in "civilized areas." I just mentioned the reliability issue because there are some out there who are major advocates of the K.I.S.S. approach.

Weight is the only drawback for me personally but I think it is worth it for my riding conditions.

Kodama

My Safari came with a suspension seatpost and I did a short tour on it and about 2000 commuting miles. It was fine, but I ditched it when I put a spring Brooks b.67 on it. Felt about the same with that switch BTW.

Dahon.Steve

I just installed a suspension seat post on my Aurora and it made a better fit because it drops you below the norm. I still feel you really don't need that much travel because it will drop you too low. It's something you have to experiment.

mshattuck

I read a couple bad reviews about the Thudbuster seat posts breaking down...one guy had a problem with lateral movement also. Anyone else having any negative experiences with Thudbuster? Other than those few reviews everything else seems extremely positive (esp on this forum).

Thanks

ImaGoTourNow

Maybe a broken Thudbuster would be like a broken escalator...

Ya know? Escalators don't break, they just become stairs... So if your Thudbuster were to break on a tour, you'd just have a seatpost...

And speaking of touring, Tim, when are we up for that Winston Salem ride? Or maybe a trip up Balsam?

scoana

How about links to these seatposts and saddles y'all are talking about.

mshattuck

Here's one for the thudbusters:
https://www.thudbuster.com/products.html

Cyclist0094

I havent used any of the suspension posts made in the last 8 years. we tried 3 different ones on our tandem(for the stoker) and all wore out with-in 2000 miles. I would assume the posts have improved since then.
Eventually we put on a brooks B66 champion on the tandem and havent fussed with it since. I have a Brooks B66 on my 26" tourer and my MTB.

JoeLonghair

My bike, Claud Butler urban 200, came with a spring seatpost, I put a Brooks B66 and have done over 5000 miles . No probs on either of the equipment, would not now have it any other way, I can go for weeks doing 60-80 miles per day. The but bit does not present a problem anymore.