Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Cirrus Cycles Body Float: Reviewed On Snow

The Cirrus Cycles Body Float seat post: Under the protective shroud!
The Winter is starting to show signs of change here, and I fear that fat bike conditions are going to deteriorate to the extent that I will be switching over to some gravel travel again soon. Since that seems to be the likely case, I thought I would download my current thoughts on this unusual Body Float seat post for now. You can go back to my original introduction of this post on my fat bike HERE, or see a bit of an update I did back in December HERE.

I've done a lot of miles on this post this Winter in varying conditions and in temperatures ranging from sub-zero to the 50 degree mark. I've been in deep, unconsolidated snow, packed in snow, ice, mud, pavement, and dirt. Terrain has ranged from very muddy to frozen ground and frozen, post-holed snow, which resembles riding on uneven, rough concrete more than anything else. In the following paragraphs I will relate my fat biking experiences, but I also intend on continuing these comments after I have had the post back on a Fargo and perhaps a gravel rig as well.

So, for now here's the views I have on this device. I have had really good experiences so far with the post and its workings. There have been zero issues with the mechanism, the way it functions on a day to day basis, and it does what it is advertised to do. The bottom line here is that, while the post is a fair chunk of change to purchase, it lives up to its billing. The darn thing works and it makes me want to ride the Ti Mukluk it is installed on more and more.

It is hard to portray in a picture, but the trail here was hard, frozen, uneven, and pock-marked snow. Like cement, basically.
The defining ride in the last month or so was the past weekend where conditions had turned our trails into cement with an undulating, pock marked surface. Well......okay, not really cement, but frozen so hard it was like cement. You get the picture here, I'm sure. It was rough, and not at all like snow usually is to ride on. There was no forgiveness in the trail surface whatsoever.

I went out a bit easy at first to feel out how much grip there was. It was a tiny bit slick, but not too bad. After I passed a couple of guys on the way out to my turn about point, I hit the gas and went about as fast as I would dare to any other time on a dry trail on a 29"er. So, pretty darn fast. So fast that the trail was jack-hammering my rigid front end so hard that I had numb hands and I thought I might get tossed off the bike by the rough surfaces. In fact, I went off-line a couple of times, it was so rough. A front suspension fork would have been the ticket here, but alas- I don't have one for the Ti Mukluk.

Conversely, the rear end, while it was by no means less bouncy than the front end, was damped in a beautiful way by the Body Float post. In fact, I felt it bottom out a couple of times on hard hits, but the bottoming out wasn't harsh at all. During the rest of the ride it was getting worked really hard. There was no time during my two and a half hour ride that the Body Float was getting any reprieve from the constantly undulating, rough trail surface. I suspect it was cycling through almost all of its travel during most of that time.

Post ride pose. The Body Float post has proven its worth on a fat bike.
Verdict.....So Far: Worth every penny. Basically that's the bottom line. On a fat bike, where slower travel and undulating, uneven trail surfaces are common, especially on soft snow, or hard, crusty, frozen snow, the Body Float will not only absorb those compressive hits, but it allows you to stay on the pedals, spinning, and maintaining momentum.  This is crucial in many situations on a fat bike, and if that was all it did, I would be happy. However; the Body Float also smooths out the small to medium trail chatter that can end up making you go numb, or fatigue your body prematurely.

There is also some minor traction benefits and in some situations where you are seated and climbing, the Body Float, allowing you to have uninterrupted pedaling, also keeps your body from bouncing off the post/saddle on trail irregularities and causing your tire to lose traction. Obviously, if you are out of the saddle, the Body Float has zero benefits, but for a fat bike, where being seated is often the case the majority of your ride in soft conditions, this post pays big dividends.

As stated above, there are absolutely zero mechanical concerns, and the post worked at sub-zero temperatures exactly the same way as it did at 50°F. The post shows no signs of loose pivots or hardware failure. The saddle clamp and position of the saddle during the review period has been stable and unmoved since installation. The post fits into the Ti Muk's seat tube perfectly and hasn't slipped. I should mention that this is the Titanium shafted Body Float post. I am going to continue to utilize the post in other bikes soon and I am confident it will have a long service life.

Stay tuned for another update later into 2016......

Note: This post was purchased with my own damn money and I am not being paid nor bribed for this post.

1 comment:

Tyler Loewens said...

I have watched one of these in action a few times under MG. Amazing how much they move, even under normal pedaling on paved trail. Really makes me want to try one out, but that price tag is daunting.