In praise of bike boingy bits.

[Cugel]

More than a decade ago now, I came to feel that riding my 90s racing bikes was getting to be a not-pleasure. The problem was the hard 23mm tyres, stiff racing frame and the nose-to-the-front-wheel position, all punishing my aging body. So I bought a cyclo-cross bike with added touring bits (fastening for racks and the like) which also came with 32mm tyres, a carbon seat-post and anti-vibration thingies called Zerts (bits of rubbery stuff in the forks and seat stays).

The added comfort seemed astonishing - probably mostly due to those 32mm tyres at only 60psi. But it was such an improvement that I went looking for other comfort stuff.

There was the Trek Domane frames with their pivoting seat tube, making it a big vibration absorber. That actually worked, even though I was sceptical. Then there were even more flexy carbon seat posts, with every-increasing "boing" in them. I have a Specialized cobble gobbler myself. But perhaps the latest stuff is the best yet - a boingy stem using elastomer inserts and a boingy seatpost using a large internal spring to support a cantilever saddle support.

The boingy stems, in the form of the Redshift items, have been on my bikes for over four years now. I have a bike without and it's very noticeable, when I ride that, just how harsh to the hands and shoulders a normal "unsuspended" front end can be in comparison.

Last week the ladywife added a Redshift seatpost to her e-bike, as she has an old spine injury (fell over in a hotel bath/shower) that flares up now and then, inflaming the old injury and making her very sensitive to road vibrations coming through the seatpost. She waxes lyrical about the smoothness of this new boingy seatpost.

On our ride yesterday, I did notice two things: an apparent increase in her downhill freewheeling speed; her increased inclination to keep thrusting at the pedals in a somehow smoother way that echoed the smoothness of her ride.

*****************
I suppose these things are all very subjective; one is wary of just echoing advert blurb. But have any of you other ole gimmers tried these ride-smoothing technologies and do you find them efficacious?

Cugel

[roubaixtuesday]

More than a decade ago now, I came to feel that riding my 90s racing bikes was getting to be a not-pleasure. The problem was the hard 23mm tyres, stiff racing frame and the nose-to-the-front-wheel position, all punishing my aging body. So I bought a cyclo-cross bike with added touring bits (fastening for racks and the like) which also came with 32mm tyres, a carbon seat-post and anti-vibration thingies called Zerts (bits of rubbery stuff in the forks and seat stays).

The added comfort seemed astonishing - probably mostly due to those 32mm tyres at only 60psi. But it was such an improvement that I went looking for other comfort stuff.

There was the Trek Domane frames with their pivoting seat tube, making it a big vibration absorber. That actually worked, even though I was sceptical. Then there were even more flexy carbon seat posts, with every-increasing "boing" in them. I have a Specialized cobble gobbler myself. But perhaps the latest stuff is the best yet - a boingy stem using elastomer inserts and a boingy seatpost using a large internal spring to support a cantilever saddle support.

The boingy stems, in the form of the Redshift items, have been on my bikes for over four years now. I have a bike without and it's very noticeable, when I ride that, just how harsh to the hands and shoulders a normal "unsuspended" front end can be in comparison.

Last week the ladywife added a Redshift seatpost to her e-bike, as she has an old spine injury (fell over in a hotel bath/shower) that flares up now and then, inflaming the old injury and making her very sensitive to road vibrations coming through the seatpost. She waxes lyrical about the smoothness of this new boingy seatpost.

On our ride yesterday, I did notice two things: an apparent increase in her downhill freewheeling speed; her increased inclination to keep thrusting at the pedals in a somehow smoother way that echoed the smoothness of her ride.

*****************
I suppose these things are all very subjective; one is wary of just echoing advert blurb. But have any of you other ole gimmers tried these ride-smoothing technologies and do you find them efficacious?

Cugel

Mrs Tuesday once spotted a "thudbuster" seat post on another's tandem, and a conversation extolling its virtues followed.

A stoker's comfort is the single most important thing in a captain's life, and sourcing and installation duly expedited, though not without challenges:
viewtopic.php?p=1239473

Mrs T now extolls its benefits, though I'm too tall to have tested it myself.

You can see it here in its natural habitat amongst the deer in Tatton Park at the weekend.

[rotavator]

Switching to Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tyres, in 42 and 50 mm widths, improved the comfort on two of my bikes over poor surfaces. I think running wider tyres at lower pressures, as on gravel bikes, is a good way of improving comfort for leisure/recreational cyclists.

Also for my road bikes I used to be under the illusion that running pencil thin (?23 mm or less) tyres at >100 psi would make me faster. I now use 28 mm tyres, the widest that will fit the frames, at about 60 psi and get a bit more comfort.

[TheBomber]

A goal within suspension design is always to reduce the 'unsprung mass'. Thus, on a bike, the near last places to apply suspension are the seat post and stem while the first place is the tyres. This is not to say that there can't be benefits to be had from Thudbusters and the like (of which I have no experience), but make sure you have done all you can with the tyres first (pressures, sizes, quality).

[rogerzilla]

All this stuff is a gateway drug to Moultons.

[mattheus]

A goal within suspension design is always to reduce the 'unsprung mass'.

Hence lightweight tyres are highly desirable, yes??

[Cugel]

A goal within suspension design is always to reduce the 'unsprung mass'. Thus, on a bike, the near last places to apply suspension are the seat post and stem while the first place is the tyres. This is not to say that there can't be benefits to be had from Thudbusters and the like (of which I have no experience), but make sure you have done all you can with the tyres first (pressures, sizes, quality).

I can see that but ... the greatest unsprung mass on a normal road bike without boingies or other "suspension" will be the rider. Assuming that the tyres can only supply a certain amount of boing because of limitations on size/(lower) pressure .... and assuming that a road bike can't really benefit from suspension types used by MTBs .... the next best thing to try to "spring" would be the rider, is this not so? Boingy stems and seat posts attempt to do that.

As I understand it, the objective of suspension (of any vehicle) is the get the greatest amount of the vehicle/passenger load isolated from the up/down thrusts of the road bumps and gravity. Looking at the ladywife from behind (always a pleasure) when out on the bike, I do notice that she doesn't bounce up and down nearly so much on the bumpier roads when she has her boingy seatpost in. And she tells me that she can detect no bouncing of herself when pedalling, either.

******
Larger and best-quality tyres do seem the first thing that should be installed to improve both comfort and rolling efficiency, though. (By "best-quality" I mean supple sidewalls that can flex much more easily than the likes of Marathons, yet nevertheless offer some protection from cuts or other causes of punctures). Road bikes can limit the tyre size, though. 28mm that are actually 32mm installed are the limit on two of my bikes. On the other hand, many current road bikes provide for much larger tyres than that - up to 40mm or a bit more when smaller wheel diameters are used.

Cugel

[531colin]

You are supposed to "ride" the bloody thing.

[bgnukem]

I'm quite interested in those Redshift suspension stems. Getting fed up of my hands taking a battering from stiff front forks designed for disc brakes, plus lousy road surfaces, and that is using 32mm (700C) / 1.3" (26") tyres as well......

[mig]

You are supposed to "ride" the bloody thing.

about ten years ago i'd sometimes coincidentally ride towards manchester at the same time as a friend who'd come from further afield. if i tucked in behind him then it always struck me how little he did "ride" his bike - merely crunching through and over even significant potholes and other deformations. he just sat on the seat and took it. the back wheels didn't fair so well though...

[simonineaston]

All this stuff is a gateway drug to Moultons.

I was going to tell all that in my case, I went straight on to the hard stuff - but realised that was a lie...

[Cugel]

I'm quite interested in those Redshift suspension stems. Getting fed up of my hands taking a battering from stiff front forks designed for disc brakes, plus lousy road surfaces, and that is using 32mm (700C) / 1.3" (26") tyres as well......

Having used them on my most-used bikes for some four years and a bit, I'll recommend them. They don't isolate you entirely from the road bumps & vibes but they mute them a lot. They get rid of those high-acceleration kicks that the bars can give your hands, at various frequencies depending on the road surface degradation.

They use elastomer inserts, which come as a set with a bit of paper having a table about how to select the right two of five options for your weight. Personally I select one softer setting than that recommended as I ride in a more upright position than the racy position, with nose on the front tyre. The trick is to set the boing such that the worst road bumps still don't bottom-out the stem's downward movements.

A softer setting mean you can feel the bars move up and down if you honk. The "correct" setting for your weight seems to eliminate that.

The things are expensive but, for me, still worth it to avoid the numb-hand syndrome I was beginning to get from even mid-mileage rides - due to combination of aging plus greater degradation in road surfaces, these days.

Cugel

[PH]

You are supposed to "ride" the bloody thing.

I've put a Thudbuster ST seatpost on my delivery E-bike, it's transformed the comfort which I thought might be due to the stiff frame, but it's more likely I do "ride" it less. I'm sat on it, the objective is to make a delivery rather than go cycling.
Whatever the reason, I'm impressed by the difference it makes, even though it's only the short travel version. I feel no need for it on any of the bikes I'm already comfortable on, though I wouldn't hesitate to suggest anyone not comfortable try one.

[bgnukem]

I also have a Thudbuster ST (short travel) on one of my bikes, and it definitely moves during normal riding, with visible 'droop' just sitting in the saddle. Certainly seems a better idea than a telescopic post where the bending force on the seatpost might cause stiction in the sliding motion.

Don't notice the movement as wasted energy when climbing either. Recommended.

[esasjl]

I'm happy to praise boingy bits. Big, supple tyres at low pressure absorb high-frequency vibration and a suspension seatpost helps with the lower frequencies. Combining them works very well in reducing peak loads on rider (comfort) as well as bike frame and components (reduced fatigue failures?). I wonder if efficiency is better with the reduced suspension losses.