suspension seatpost?

Pros: ??? Not too many. You don't usually land on the seat
when dropping. It might help a little bit on MUni rides if
there are some minor bumps. If you land a drop and are
sitting, it will probably bounce you of the saddle.

Cons: heavier, expensive, not exactly needed... someone else
may continue.

--
joona - )-O <--Neat

'Aaaargghh!!!' (tinyurl.com2snl6Open ↗)
Don't click the link. It makes your head hurt. It tells you to count the
black spots.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's a matter of taste.
They say beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes way down to the bone.
-Tatsuya Ishida
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cons (cont'd)

The effective distance between the seat and hub will vary
constantly.

next?

--
Sofa - You Tu Tu Tuni?

'Unicycle Product Reviews'
(brianmackenzie.comunicycleReviews.aspxOpen ↗)

'London Unicycling Club Website ' (brianmackenzie.comLUCOpen ↗)
version 3.0

'when I'm at the limit of my endurance, 5% extra resistance could be
enough to stop me in my track. ' - MikeFule

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I'd invest in an air saddle rather than a suspension post.
I'm amazed at how much better I feel after a ride since I
installed my air saddle on my MUni

--
Krashin'Kenny - Crash Tested

If you ain't crashing, you ain't going fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!

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cons (cont'd)

They aren't desigbed to take the twisting forces that the
rider applies while unicycling

--
nickjb - one wheel short
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I have suspension posts on two of my MUnis. Perhaps I
am better qualified to comment than people who don't
have any. 😉

One is a Thudbuster Uni-Pivot on my carbon MUni. It was a
great post but they don't make it any more. The name was
very cool by the way! I think the newer Thudbuster products
are better than the Uni-Pivot though, and don't have a
twisting problem.

Other advantage to the Thudbusters I'm familiar with, they
don't have mechanisms going to the bottom of the post, like
telescoping posts do. No length problems.

My other suspension post is this one:
unicycle.comshopexd.aspOpen ↗ At
$25, you can hardly go wrong. Drawback of this and similar
posts is that the mechanism takes up the whole post. You
can't just cut off the bottom on this one, because that's
where the preload screw is. I cut off half the threading
to take away about 3/8", but my seat is still a little
high for the rough stuff. However, the post has held up
fine, and it works.

The amount of benefit you get from a suspension post depends
on your type of riding. If you're doing trials, you don't
really sit down that much, and suspension would just be
extra weight. I guess it boils down to how much sitting down
you do. Suspension would probably be really good for road
riding, if you can get it to work with your Coker or other
road machine.

My Pyramid post paid for itself in one day at Moab. The
harder the riding surface, the more you're going to
appreciate it. Moab is solid rock. On the Sacramento area
trails, the dirt is pretty soft and pliable in the winter,
when it's damp, but it's very hard during the summer months
when it doesn't rain. Suspension matters more then.

So you should consider suspension only with a comfy seat.
The seat is going to matter more no matter what your type of
riding. But you can still improve the ride with a little
suspension. The more aggressive your riding is, the less
you'll get out of it. For example if you ride very
challenging terrain with lots of drops and hopping, you
don't use the suspension. But if you do lots of seated
cruising, that's when you use it.

The Cane Creek Thudbuster is an excellent design, and does
not seem to be susceptible to the twisting forces of
unicycling. It does add extra weight to the cycle, and you
have to make sure you have enough clearance for it to fit.

The last thing to consider is how cool it will make your
unicycle look. Mountain bikers ask us about suspension all
the time. My main suspension is my 3" tire, but the post
helps too. Do I really need it? Mostly no, except for on
slickrock. But I leave it on there because it adds "zoot" to
my unicycle. (Plus I don't have an alternative one I like at
the moment, but that's another story)

--
johnfoss - IUF Director

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I went to the Liberace Museum and the Elvis-A-Rama Museum on the same
day! This is not for everyone."
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JC and the rest, I'm mainly a road rider. I am not planning
to get a suspension post any time soon, but I have a few
questions none the less. Does the variable distance between
the seat and cranks affect your riding at all? I would think
that it wouldn't after a bit of practice.

If it came down to getting a suspension post or brake set,
what should I get? I have a 26er with 127's. A lot of the
riding I do is on hills, all of it on road. The roads here
aren't all that well taken care of so there are a lot of
ruts. A lot of the time I don't even see the imperfections
in the road.

Thanks Daniel

--
daino149 - How's it going, Texas?

there ain't enough body armor in the country for me to try that. -- Ken
on the mtbr forum in reference to MUni
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Thanks for all the info. You guys have been a big help.😉

--
stinkster
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daino149 said:

*Does the variable distance between the seat and cranks
affect your riding at all? *

It never affected me. You don't want your suspension too
squishy, because it'll just bottom out when you really need
it. The idea is that it only really moves when you hit bumps
& things. The two posts I have compress slightly when you
sit on them, but don't go up more than 1/4" or less when you
stand up. This is not noticeable to me.

If you're unsure of what to start with, try the Pyramid.
You'll need a rail adapter on your seat, but I think this
may be true for any of these posts. The Pyramid or Rock Shox
will only work if you have enough room for all that post.
These posts cannot be shortened wihtout compromising their
usefulness. When measuring the 350mm, remember to include
the height of the rail adapter.

If you don't have room for one of those, you can go all the
way and try the Thudbuster. I think it would be excellent
for road riding, and you can control the amount of preload
(squishiness) with some kind of included adjustment. The
fact that the seat moves rearward as it goes down is not a
big deal, this just means the frame will move fractionally
forward as you go downward. Even if your seat handle is
attached to your frame instead of the seat, it should not be
a big deal.

Just make sure you have enough room to fit the mechanism
above your seat clamp. Be advised you may not have any extra
exposed seatpost to attach things to.

Daino, where do you live? We're coming to Maui in Feb.

--
johnfoss - IUF Director

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I went to the Liberace Museum and the Elvis-A-Rama Museum on the same
day! This is not for everyone."
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johnfoss said:

*Daino, my wife and I are coming to Maui in Feb. Do you
ever get over there? Know of any good trails? There's a
chance I might bring a unicycle if there are. *

Great to hear you are coming! I wish I could tell you if
there are any good riding spots, but I don't honestly know.
My guess would be yes because there are some nice hiking
trails. If you have brake on you Coker, you might try the
Haleakala decent, but I doubt you would bring a Coker with
you. I don't know of any specific trails or areas to ride,
but there are plenty of hiking and MTB books around. You
might want to pick one up on Amazon before coming down.

Are you going to straight to Maui, or are you going to be
spending time on Oahu? If you do come to Oahu, I'd like
to meet up.

Daniel

--
daino149 - How's it going, Texas?

there ain't enough body armor in the country for me to try that. -- Ken
on the mtbr forum in reference to MUni
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We're getting off the subject but...

For those not familiar, the Mt. Haleakala descent on Maui
(bikemaui.combikemaui.comOpen ↗) is an awesome way to coast 36
miles, almost nonstop. A must-do for any cyclist going to
Maui. We did it last time we were there, in 1999.

I can't imagine it being that fun on a unicycle though,
especially without brakes! But I'm more a MUni than a road
guy. 36 miles with a 10,000' descent is perfect for
something that coasts. For that I'll use a bike, thanks very
much! I highly recommend this ride to anyone thinking of
going to Maui.

I'll have to look up trails there if I decide to lug
along a MUni...

--
johnfoss - IUF Director

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I went to the Liberace Museum and the Elvis-A-Rama Museum on the same
day! This is not for everyone."
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