Continuing their 20-year suspension seatpost legacy, Cane Creek recently announced the all-new, fourth generation Thudbuster ST (Short Travel). Designed with touring, commutes, and e-bike trips in mind, it features 50mm of travel—up from 33mm on the original Thudbuster ST—to smooth out bumps and bounces on multi-surface rides. Building on the original Thudbuster’s parallel linkage, it also got a redesign for a higher rider weight limit (now up to 330 pounds), increased durability, and more travel. You can measure the length of your existing stem as shown in the following picture. The length is measured from the center of the handlebar to the center of the steerer tube.

I tested the Kinekt Active suspension seatpost recently, and while it was a very comfy solution, the ‘springiness’ was very apparent (no matter what setup I tried).I also ran a suspension fork for this year’s event, and having a bit of front and rear compliance kept me fresh and comfortable, and allowed me to pedal through rough terrain.

Alternate method: Use a fabric or paper measuring tape (or print one at https://printable-ruler.net/ ) and measure the circumference of the steerer tube. You will need to remove the compression cap and loosen the two pinch bolts to get access to your steerer tube so be sure you are comfortable in doing so and then reassembling properly. 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. 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. At 150lbs, initially I went with their recommendation of the Main Spring only with preload at #3. This was way too soft in my opinion, especially for more spirited riding. The next step was to increase the preload with just the Main Spring. Eventually, I cranked it up to 4 which is the maximum recommended preload setting with just the main spring. It was better, but I found that it resulted in a ride that was still a little too active, and it was more prone to ‘topping out’ with a thud in certain situations. After that experience, I knew that level 3 was the best setting for me. Yet each of you will have to do all of this fine-tuning on your own to find the best possible setup.For maximum comfort, you can configure the spring stiffness and preload. To determine the spring stiffness, choose between installing just the main suspension or combining it with the included additional suspension. The preload can be adjusted by hand on the underside of the seat post. As we just saw in the test, if you’re riding on rougher terrain with larger forces coming from the rear wheel, you will benefit from more suspension travel as it can dampen more vibrations. I’d say most rough roads can be comfortably cycled with just 35mm of travel, but 50mm+ may be required if you’re hitting bumps at a higher speed (on an eBike, for example).

I've mentioned this before, but I'll recap: I love gravel bikes because they remind me of the rigid mountain bikes I was riding around on when I was a teenager. For me it's all about using your elbows and knees as the suspension as you hone your bunny-hopping skills for potholes and tree roots while keeping the bike upright on a surface that is moving around beneath you. The Thudbuster ST weighs in at 580g (31.6 version) and is built out of forged aluminum with threaded, hard anodized aluminum axles. Note that the new axles are serviceable, unlike those found in the previous version. This handy PDF from Cane Creek outlines the differences between the two versions of the Thudbuster ST. Weight: at ca. 500 grams (claimed 497 grams for 27.2mm one), it's on the light side, compared to competition: 7 out of 10. I don’t know if this is the effect of two springs working together or not but the feel changed for the better. There was no bottoming out and the suspension performance was quite noticeable. I put an extra spring into the post, set the firmness to level 2 (for 90kg riders), and went for another test ride. Big surprise!

Cycle Travel Overload has helped over 1 million people find, compare, and decide on their dream adventure bike! Nothing means more to me than getting more people out into the world on two wheels! Suspension seatposts allow you to pedal while seated on terrain that normally requires standing up. Compared to a rigid post on the same bumpy climb, I find that my legs often feel fresher simply because I’m standing up less. The vibration differences were smaller on the fast gravel road, but impressive nonetheless. There was a 21% comfort improvement over the FSA K-Force carbon and a 9% comfort improvement over the Ergon.