Suspension seatposts and comfort

villesucker

Couple of years back my wife and I purchased a second hand orbit tandem. Ride was OK but steering was very twitchy, so decided to convert from drop bars to straights with ergon grips. At the same time converted both seatposts to suspension ones as thought it would help out the stoker if the captain hasn't told her of the bump she is just about to ride over.

Took it out for the first time on sunday and both of us were in absolute agony from about half way through a 17 mile ride.

Could this be the fault of the seatpost as both saddles were ones we'd been perfectly happy with on our singles?

Nuts still numb(ish) two days later!

FyPunK

I would say no, but I am sure someone more experienced would go into greater detail. My argument is simple, for my commute I use a sus post and swap it for a non sus post when I am out with little one on the tag-along, we cover a good few miles, she is keen and twenty miles is nothing to her. I dont notice any real difference between the two post regarding comfort. To be honest I am not convinced that the suspension does a right lot anyway.

downfader

I've switched from suspension seatpost to fixed in the past year and I never notice a difference either.

Could it be that your roads have just become worse, Villesucker?

nielsamd

FyPunK wrote:

I would say no, but I am sure someone more experienced would go into greater detail. My argument is simple, for my commute I use a sus post and swap it for a non sus post when I am out with little one on the tag-along, we cover a good few miles, she is keen and twenty miles is nothing to her. I dont notice any real difference between the two post regarding comfort. To be honest I am not convinced that the suspension does a right lot anyway.

Hmm that is interesting to me as I have been thinking of putting a suspension post on my son's Burley tagalong...he can't see any bumps/ridges coming and isn't able to use his legs as suspension the way I automatically do. But him not weighing that much compared to an adult is it unlikely even an adjustable one would be able to compensate in any meaningful way?

blu3cat

Did you both have drops before? Could it be that you swaping the handlebars has altered your riding position and consequently putting pressure on more delicate areas?

Put it this way, if the only things you have changed are handlebars and seatposts - gotta be one of 'em!

What about having one position with the suspension seatpost and one with drops and see who's in agony at the end of a ride?

biondino

blu3cat wrote:

Put it this way, if the only things you have changed are handlebars and seatposts - gotta be one of 'em!

Also saddle position - it's a different bike with different bars and the saddle position will be another of the variables. Worth keeping in mind.

CiB

Undo one change - either bars or seat - and see what difference it makes. Pin it down to one change at a time to identify the cause.

My guess is it's the bars - your seating position has changed so the load has moved. Not sure why the other half would suffer though. Is she awake throughout the whole performance? [insert actress / bishop joke here ]

John Stevenson

The big difference between riding a tandem and a solo is that you spend far more time seated on a tandem. A saddle that seems plenty good enough on a solo, because you get off it and move around far more than you realise, can turn out to be agony on a tandem.

I'd suggest trying different saddles, as well as the riding position tweaks others have suggested. You may also be more upright on the tandem than on solos, especially the stoker. That will also put more weight on the saddle and give comfort issues.

But it may just be a matter of getting used to it - saddles do break you in eventually.