If mainly asphalt roads lie before you, shocks from below are usually no problem. On cobblestones or gravel, the same looks quite different. Many cyclists give up in frustration when every ride is accompanied by back pain. Before you write off your bike altogether because it's too uncomfortable for you, give a suspension seatpost a chance.
Make your bike more comfortable!
Only a Fully has a suspension rear end to offer, all other bikes have little wiggle room when it comes to keeping shocks and bumps off the rider. A suspension fork can provide some relief, but it's mainly the shoulders and arms that benefit. Thick tires would be another way to soften the ground, but a trekking bike or city bike usually doesn't have enough tire clearance for the really big slogs. This is where a suspension seatpost comes into play.
How a suspension seatpost works
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Just like a rigid seat post, a suspension seat post is attached to the seat tube of the bike frame with the bottom end and a saddle clamp. At the top is the saddle clamp, where the saddle is installed. A damped seatpost, however, has a damper between the tube and the seat clamp, which responds to shocks and compresses.
By the way, there are special suspension seatposts for Citybikes and trekking bikes. Also for mountain bikes you can buy suspension seatposts, but here is then but rather on the combination of Fully and Dropper Post. For Race bikes there are particularly light models. But generally you can drive the suspension seatposts here from the online store on all bikes that have the appropriate seat tube diameter.
Parallelogram damper or telescopic seatpost
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Most suspension seatposts have a parallelogram damper. Here, a parallelogram of two movably connected struts not only lets the saddle compress downward, it deflects downward and rearward. Thus the system dampens particularly efficiently. In the core of the parallelogram, an elastomer damper or a spring determine how much force the seatpost moves. The joints of the parallelogram you should keep clean and lubricate now and then!
In a telescopic post (please do not confuse with a retractable telescopic post!), a smaller dip tube springs into a larger stand tube and is braked by a steel spring or elastomeric damper.
Elastomer damper or steel spring?
An elastomer damper consists of a synthetic material that can be compressed by the application of force. There are elastomer dampers in different degrees of hardness. If you buy a suspension seatpost with elastomer damper, you must make sure that the damper fits your body weight.
A simple, low-maintenance and inexpensive solution is to install a steel spring that allows the damper to spring back to its original position. These springs are also available in different degrees of hardness. You can increase the preload of the spring and thus influence the response.
Sprung seatpost ≠ flex post!
A suspension seatpost has some component that provides damping. A flex post is made of a material that yields. Mostly, this is undirectional carbon (also UD carbon). Here, the carbon fibers are arranged in such a way that they spring horizontally, but provide good stiffness vertically.
What does "stroke" mean here?
While the stroke of a lowerable seatpost refers to the distance between the highest and lowest seating positions, the stroke or travel of a suspension seatpost is the distance between maximum load and rest position.
It's likely that the saddle will already give a bit due to your body weight when you climb, so you should take that into account when adjusting the saddle height. So if you're switching from a rigid seatpost to a suspension one, you'll need to fix the saddle a little higher.
How do I find a suitable suspension seatpost?
- You must first know the installation dimension, the outer diameter of the seatpost must fit into the seat tube of your bike frame.
- There are spring seatposts in different lengths.
- A damped seatpost can also be purchased with offset, then the saddle is positioned offset to the rear. The offset (or setback) is noted in the item description
- Due to the spring element, the projection height (minimum distance of the saddle to the seat clamp) is higher than with a rigid seatpost.
- Your body weight must fit the shock. If you often travel with a shoulder bag or backpack, you should take this into account!
- Springs or elastomer dampers can be changed.
- Also, most suspension seatposts have a maximum user weight specified.
- The alternative to a suspension seatpost would be a suspension saddle.
Buy suspension seatposts online for cheap
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Here in the online store you can order different seatposts, we have suspended and unsuspended models and of course retractable vario seatposts. You can filter by stroke, diameter and length, so you can quickly find the right bike part!
