REDSHIFT ShockStop Suspension Seatpost for Bicycles

Product Information

The air seatpost showed little difference from the typical carbon seatpost in this test. Choosing The Suspension Travel The Cane Creek Thudbuster LT (left) has 90mm of vertical travel, while the Thudbuster ST has 50mm. It costs virtually the same as the Redshift, but again is a lot lighter. The downside is that you can't adjust it for rider weight to get that perfect ride feel. Conclusion Ride faster - feeling refreshed from the energy that is normally wasted suspending your body as it is converted into forward motion The Kinekt 2.1 Aluminium Seatpost is a spring-loaded suspension seatpost that makes a welcome addition for your gravel or adventure bike. It takes a bit of playing about with to get it set up, but once done it is effective – as long as you don't mind the weight increase. But it’s not perfect. It’s a spring-based suspension setup after all, so the saddle will move down and up on a bigger hit, and you really need to fine-tune the effect to get the most from your rides. And the installation could be a bit more user-friendly – but that’s a minor thing.

But in Ergon’s defense, the Argon 18 Dark Matter gravel bike has less exposed seatpost compared to my usual benchmark bike (Jamis Renegade). A longer lever will always flex more, so the suspension effect of the Ergon was a touch limited. But honestly, I don’t think a 30mm shorter seat tube would get the Ergon close to the Redshift’s comfort. What Else Should You Know Before Buying One?The best way I can describe spring seatposts is that they’re very springy! This makes them exceptional on off-road terrain, as they’re super responsive to bumps. joeegg : I have the Canyon seatpost and can't detect any difference to a rigid carbon one i have. Biggest difference to the ride is lower tyre pressure and wheel type. Tried Specialized's COBL GOBL-R Carbon seatpost but I weigh too little (under 80kilo) to have any effect and talking to other people say the same, they weigh too little for it have any effect on them.

The ThudBuster ST (gen. 3 and earlier) has so little effective suspension that it barely smoothens the ride at all. There's surely marginal improvement compared to a rigid seatpost, but it's barely perceptible. The Brooks C17 is a very comfy saddle that can flex a lot while you ride. But in combination with the Redshift seatpost, the Brooks shell was moving a bit too much for my liking. So I swapped it for a firmer saddle (Prologo Scratch RS) and it felt a lot better. Perhaps, spring-based seatposts work better with firmer saddles…

Suspension Seatposts Wrap Up

These seatposts are particularly active or ‘bobby’ in the initial part of their travel, so they tend to be better suited to rougher trails, rather than smoother roads – in my experience. If smooth roads are your thing, you’ll likely find spring seatposts a bit too active. This brings me to elastomers… The Cane Creek Thudbuster uses an elastomer to provide more damping than a coil spring.

I *think* my knees are happier for getting rid of the suspension seatpost also, it seemed to be aggravating some ITB syndrome or something in my left knee, but perhaps I just never got the saddle position right. The practical upshot is that you get a decent amount of travel and the Kinekt 2.1 is highly adjustable, but it ain't cheap."I used to laugh at people with suspension seatposts. Like a couple of commenters here, I felt it was an issue of proper seat adjustment and tire pressure. As a KOM-chasing, overly competitive maniac that frequently destroys equipment, I felt I was NOT the use case for these items.

This air spring system has been tested by GravelBikes.cc to be much less active than other suspension seatposts, but it’ll still take the edge off those bigger hits, and performs well on gravel roads too. Here’s where it gets interesting though. I’ve been suffering from some knee pain recently from a noncycling incident, and thus have been spending a little more time seated while pedalling than I may have liked.

It’s constructed from FACT carbon fibre to a 27.2mm diameter with a cylindrical aluminium head for easy saddle adjustment. A suspension seatpost is a great comfort upgrade, as it will both absorb bigger hits, as well as dampen vibrations coming up from the road. This essentially means you’ll feel fresher at the end of a long ride.