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| I had to nick this pic from ChainReactionCycles.com as I don't have a close-up picture of my suspension seatpost |
I have learned this long ago (during my RC days). Constant racing
normally forces you to look into your technique and endurance. This
means you (I mean me) tend to spend on just the necessities like gels
and recovery drinks.
No racing means boredom and no training ... and hence more time
checking out stuff in ChainReactionCycles.com
To make the story short, I ordered this suspension seatpost
from USE through CRC because I wanted to use my aluminum
hardtail more. Especially in Malaysia Jamborees.
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| It says here that I did get the USE Sumo XCR ShokPost 27.2mm in diameter, aluminium, 390mm in length and medium spring |
I ordered the one with Medium spring rate because it says
there in the CRC website that it can accommodate a person who
is 120 to 170 pounds (or 55 to 80 kg). I am around 66 kg, so just
nice. Anyway, without further ado here are the pros and cons of
the seatpost :
PROs
1. bouncy bouncy boing boing boing - supposed to be 2.5" of travel !
I used it in T15 and Tampines YOG Trail and you really can
pedal on the places with small stones and your butt will
thank you for it.
2. relatively cheap - I get the impression that the alternative
for this seatpost would either be a Syntace P6 Carbon Hiflex
CONs
1. very heavy - this is the price you have to pay for comfort.
How heavy? I didn't even bother weighing. Just heavy. Trust me.
2. When you mount this on your bike, be prepared to give some
allowance for the saddle height. Remember that this is a suspension
seatpost ... and therefore there will be some sag. So when you are
NOT on your bike, there's no sag ... when you seat on your saddle
then there will be sag. How much sag? Not sure ... there's nobody
to measure it for me ... but maybe 10mm?
3. Related to #2, imagine you are seated on your bike, pedalling
happily along T15. In this situation there is sag on your seatpost.
You then see a downhill section and you go and stand on your
pedals and get OFF your saddle. What happens? The seatpost will
extend. Now, pretend the DH section is over. You want to get back
to seating on your saddle ... just remember that the saddle is now
higher than when you left it and that your shorts may snag on it.
4. Related to #2 and #3 ... this is not so bad ... pretend you are
spinning. But you are a bad spinner. If you are on your full sus bike,
maybe the bike would begin to bounce. BUT if you are on your
full sus bike, the distance from the saddle to the BB does NOT change.
Using a suspension seatpost, that distance from your saddle to the
BB changes when you bounce ... I didn't feel any negative effect
but know that this might play havoc on your knees.
So with sooo many things going against this suspension seatpost,
will I use it again? Hmmmm I already bought it, so most probably
I will play with it. But now that you know all these things, it's up
to you to decide if this seatpost is for you.
By the way, I first thought of buying this seatpost when I saw
one of my friends have a seatpost on his Ragley hardtail with
a rubber accordion on it. I immediately assumed that he had
a USE ShokPost on his bike. I didn't even ask him about it.
Now that I wrote this ... did I really see a USE ShokPost on
his bike or was it a Gravity Dropper Turbo ??? Both have
rubber accordions?! Argghh
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| The USE XCR ShokPost mounted on my aluminium Brand-X frame. ... and yes, it is mounted backwards |
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| Do you guys still see this at the PCN in T15? I haven't been there for a while. |
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