Greetings all,
I know this topic has been discussed before, but I did a search and all the hits I got were from several years ago.
So I’m just wondering, as a newcomer to the forum, is there a general consensus on the usefulness of these?
Has any particular one emerged as the “one” to use?
I’m just getting back into riding after many years away. I find that my “sit down” isn’t what it used to be. Just looking to increase the “comfort factor.”
thanks,
Lance B
Welcome to the uni forum. Suspension seatposts are totally useless for drops, or whenever you’re off the saddle. When in the saddle, the up & down of the seatpost constantly changes the length of the pedal stroke, robbing the rider of power. You get all the suspension you need from a high volume tire and your legs.
I have 2 very powerful suspension struts with 4 actuators each when I am on my uni … actually I take them everywhere I go 
I put a good amount of time and effort into making one work and it was not successful for a number of reasons:
The suspension portion of the seat post takes ~100mm of exposed seat post to work, some require even more.
The suspension posts are not designed for the lateral torque that a uncyclist generated from grabbing the seat and pulling, so they can get loose/break.
The idea behind the suspension post is that it suspends the rider, but on unicycles we don’t rest on the saddle as long or as solidly as a cyclist, so the posts are generally too stiff to be effective shock absorbers.
They are also heavy and it’s hard to find one that will fit the 25.4 and 27.2mm frames.
Good info, folks, thanx mucho.
I guess I’ll just stick with a fat tire and a soft seat.
LanceB
Padded riding shorts are also recommended.
If you did a search then you’ll have presumably come across this:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1146197
though intriguingly when I did my search on google to find that (which I remembered seeing on here) I also found this, which apart from being a recumbent appears to have a multi-speed hub, oh and clipless pedals and long cranks. It’s a photoshop job isn’t it? 
:
Probably. If it isn’t, the drivetrain won’t work and I don’t recommend those pedals. However, the designer may have solved the suspended seat problem. Looks like the distance between seat and pedals will remain relatively the same when bouncing around. And I think you would bounce a lot…
Those two made by Lobbybopster are uber-cool, to say the least. It looks like they should be in a science fiction movie.
Actually, I was originally just thinking along the lines of the “thudbuster” seatpost, which my son once had on a bicycle and liked it. But with the collective anecdotal experience detailed above, I can see that a big tire and soft seat (along with the padded shorts that were mentioned) go a long way towards increasing the comfort, without going to a lot of extra hassle/expense.
That recombent-bicycle-looking picture looks unridable to me. (That said, I’m sure there’s someone who would do it, just to prove the point.)
An other suspended muni test : Thierry bouché’s1997 prototype
BodyFloat
http://www.cirruscycles.com/pages/gallery
I’ve put a few hundred miles on one in a couple of different configurations. First, last December I rode one in my first effort in a cyclocross on a KH 24 Schlumpf. Then a couple hundred miles on a KH 36 Schlumpf including the two day 160 mile trip from Bellingham to Winthrop. Now I’ve been testing it on a KH 24 Schlumpf on road, interurban tails, and single track.
I really liked it on the cyclocross. While standing in the seat it was nice to have the seat follow up to just short of seating on any bumpy and technical sections. Total weight on the pedals and firm seat contact made for good rider stability and excellent control. It was also a breeze to ride over bumps in high gear.
Unfortunately I did not have a BodyFloat available to try during this spring/summer xc/mountain bike racing season which I did on unicycles.
On the KH 36 Shlumpf finding the right configuration seemed a little complicated. Short stack clearance and starting with tension arrangements set to low caused some difficulties with doing steep climbing. But with a little changing of configuration my good friend Larry who also rides unicycles and is CirrusCycles master machinist and a tool and die maker got me setup for climbing and the Bellingham to Winthrop ride. I found it a little different to ride and have my feet carrying over the bumps and road vibration while the seat remains ‘still’. The normal tendency to stand in the saddle prior to and during bumps is not necessary. And when standing/un-weighting the saddle for large bumps and chuckholes I find it nice to still have a secure saddle position with the seat extension that comes with the un-weighting of the saddle. Took awhile for me to adjust my methods and trust the BodyFloat more. Riding in high gear is nice and smooth unless pedal force becomes excessive and the BodyFloat starts to give me a little floating lope. The normal shock loading of my knees when resisting steep down grades without use of the brake are smoothed out as the BodyFloat compensates for the pedal loading on the upstroke.
Interurban trails and single track on the KH 24 Schlumph are really nice. In high gear I loose all of the floating lope that I usually find when mashing heavy on the pedals. High gear steep descents powering through the brake through bumps, rocks, and roots are one of my favorite parts of xc/mountain riding. The BodyFloat really excels here. Leg fatigue on multiple mile descents is reduced and body bounce disappears. I favor a stiff BodyFloat configuration and it pays out dividends in the downhill. I think this setup was made for xc/mountain riding like the Fat Tire Series put on by ViciousCycle.
This is very interesting. It’s the first I’ve seen where a company, although bicycle-centric, has at least considered unis in their design/development cycle. I will look into this more closely. It would be worth supporting the company, just to show support from the unicycle community.
Thanks for reporting on this.
LanceB
BodyFloat
Here are a couple of pics. Larry has a next generation seat post which does not require a rail adaptor and mounts directly to the seat base.
…
That’s really interesting. I would be curious if the post would be strong enough against torsional stress to allow for a KH bar.
The website says they are planning on production this month. Do you happen to know how they are progressing? Do you happen to know what they expect the production price to be?
thx, LanceB
I don’t use a bar but I’ve banged mine around. It will take a beating. They are load and shear tested. I’ll ask what the torsional stress limits are. It would be easy enough to set my seat post clamp so it would move before the post bent or broke if I added a KH bar.
The Kickstarter pledge price for the 2.0 model was $199 and the 3.0 model was $300. Retail pricing is expected to be more than the Kickstarter pledge pricing. 52 3.0 model backers are expecting a Dec. 2012 delivery. A total of 67 (63 +4) 2.0 model backers are expecting a Feb. 2013 delivery.
I’m not sure what pricing or availability of the unicycle seat base adaptor will be.
That was the last one I tried, it didn’t provide anything worthwhile, was heavy, and was hard to adjust in order to keep a appropriate nose up seat angle.
It sounds like Joe has a feel for his, maybe it’s worth trying…
Just keep in mind that a bike suspension is suspending the bike and rider independent of the wheels, whereas a suspended seat post is not really suspending anything, only cushioning the seat. A good seat would the better first investment.
The “jolts” that wear me out are the ones that come via the pedals, which I am working around by using higher volume tires, a 3" tire (coming soon) on my 29er and a lighter weight 4" on my 26er.
I dont know about just using the tyre for suspension, its nice having a extra 3" of travel ,especially when your a lazy rider like me,I like to sit down on trails.
Hey Jimbo, why are you running your frame backwards?