A Couple Of Changes

I promise this is THE seatpost now!

 There has been a couple of tweaks done recently on two of my bicycles that I thought bore mentioning. They aren't a big deal, necessarily, but I have my reasons that some might find interesting, or at least amusing. 

I will admit I may have a bit of the "Princess and the Pea" syndrome going on here, so please bear that in mind as I detail these changes. 

So I had a bunch of issues with the original seatposts I was trying to use with the Honeman Flyer and found out later that one, especially, was undersized. That slipping seat post thing drove me mad for a bit until I settled upon using a PRO Discover post I had when I realized that set-back seat posts weren't unusable with this new single speed bike. 

Then the Redshift ShockStop Endurance Pro post came along and next thing ya know I am swapping out seat posts with a "boing factor" left and right for a bit. I really thought I might have settled on the Redshift post, the PRO Race model, actually, but I just never really warm up to sus posts. I guess its the changing saddle height thing. It eventually gets on my nerves and I finally couldn't take it anymore with the Honemann Flyer. Especially because I do seated climbing on it more often than not, and you are mashing teh gear then, of course, which activates the post. Not good for me. (Remember - Princess and the Pea!)

So, I was scrounging around for something and came across my "extra" Salsa titanium Regulator post. Yes! It was an extra one because I have four of them! Anyway, I was appalled that it wasn't being used and as I had a search on for a post for the Honemann Flyer I was only too happy to swap the Redshift post out for this titanium one. Now seated climbing is great! 

It's titanium grey, and a bit out of place, maybe, but I don't care at this point. This is THE post now going forward. 

You cannot really see the stem, but it is different. Oh! And there is another Regulator post!

Then I had the case of the Singular Gryphon Mk3. Originally I had this bike set up with the Ragley Luxy Bar which determined the full-length housing runs for the brakes and derailleurs. Then I got that Tumbleweed handlebar, which was nice, really wide, and stressed the cable lengths badly. 

Eventually even a shorter stem wasn't going to help, and then I got the Redshift Short ShockStop Stem and while I was installing that I decided the Tumbleweed bar had to come off. I was not about to re-cable the entire bike for a wider bar. 

So, now I am back to that Luxy Bar and the cables and housings are all happy again. Plus I have the boinger stem on there which makes things extra-comfy. So, there is the Gryphon Mk3 as it stands now. 

Time to ride.

Review: Redshift ShockStop PRO Endurance Seat Post

The Redshift ShockStop PRO Endurance Seat Post

 Note: Redshift Sports sent over the new ShockStop PRO Endurance seat post for test and review to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I was not bribed nor paid for this review and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Today Redshift Sports announces "officially" that their newest seat post is available. Called the Pro Endurance, this post was designed and intended to compliment Redshift's previous two post range in their ShockStop series of components. 

This post looks just like the other two, but the difference is on the inside. The original ShockStop "Endurance" post has a coil spring, 35mm of travel, and an adjuster mechanism. The "Pro Race" has an elastomeric spring, 20mm of travel, and the springs are not user adjustable. (The springs are interchangeable) The new Pro Endurance combines the coil spring and elastomers which gives you more options for set up using the swappable springs and elastomers. The new post also has the full 35mm of travel on tap. These springs can also be adjusted with preload to further fine tune the ride feel. 

Comparison chart provided by Redshift Sports.

Looking at the comparison chart above, you can see how the three choices in Redshift's seat post range differ. Note that the most options for lengths and sizes are with the original Endurance post. The new post has a limited length choice range and the weight limit is the same as the Pro Race, both a bit lower than the Endurance weight limit. There should be a post here that will satisfy most riders needs. 

Other than that, the basic design using a parallelogram pivot mechanism and two-bolt seat rail clamp design are the same throughout the range. All have the magnetic splash guard on the backside of the pivoting mechanism to protect the pivots from splashing water and debris. 

The Pro Endurance post is available now at a cost of $279.00 USD. You can check it out at Redshift's site HERE. 

The familiar splash guard and two-bolt rail clamp are here.

First Impressions: 

Redshift sent over a 350mm version of the Pro Endurance post with the preconfigured set up which included the two springs, an upper elastomer (red medium), and the "green", softer elastomer in the lower position. A stiffer, "red" elastomer comes as an extra which can be swapped in to tune the post for heavier riders or if you prefer a stiffer set up. 

As with all ShockStop posts that I've seen, this component looks great and everything seems to be well executed, as usual with Redshift's products. The PDF set up file walks you through the set up of the post clearly and tells you how to tune it, if need be. I've never had to use Redshift's support beyond the simple instructions provided, so I cannot speak to that, but this is because their information provided online is pretty thorough. 

I mounted my saddle to the post and installed the post as it was sent out into the seat tube of my custom King Fabrications single speed gravel bike. The graduated scale printed on the post will come in handy if I need to pull the Endurance Pro to tune it or swap out elastomers. I love it when companies provide useful details like this to make things easier for us riders.  

My King Fabrications gravel bike with the Redshift ShockStop Pro Endurance post installed.

I also set up my bike with the complimentary ShockStop Pro stem to give the bike the full Redshift treatment. (Thanks to Redshift Sports for providing that at no charge) Now I was ready to see if this post was all it was cracked up to be and how it might measure up to the other posts in Redshift's range.

My experiences with Redshift's previous posts should be shared here before I get into the new Pro Endurance. So, the original post was first. It is super-compliant, but it has no damping. This means that this post can be a little too bouncy at times. Meanwhile, the svelte, minimalist Pro Race version is really set up to work over the sharper hits and the chatter and higher frequency vibrations are not damped out like they are with the Endurance post. 

The Pro Endurance post is really a more damped feeling Endurance post that can get pretty close to the Pro Race's stiffer feel if you can tune it that way for your weight. So, in that sense it kind of sits in the sweet spot as far as traits for these suspension seat posts. 

Initially my experience was that the post is the "Goldilocks" in the range. It has the suspension action which erases a lot of vibrations but it doesn't bottom out hard either. Best of all, it never felt too bouncy, but it had a more damped rebound which was nice. 

This was with the post set up as sent with the preload set to its stiffest setting. Next I tried swapping out the elastomer for the stiffer red one sent with the post. There was almost no difference, in my estimation. I was expecting the red elastomer to allow me to back off the preload a bit, but the difference from where I had my sag set to where I needed the preload adjuster to achieve the same setting with the red elastomer was little different. So, I had a very marginal gain in adjustment by switching the elastomer out. Perhaps because I am at the extreme edge on weight limitation for the design it causes this to be the case. 

The ride is excellent none the less. I get a sensation of floating and isolation from the surface with some vibrations making it through to me. Some sharper bumps come through as well, but if I am bottoming out, I can't feel that. I imagine that I am, but it isn't apparent. 

So Far....I think this version of the ShockStop seatpost is probably the best for most people. By that I mean that if you are within the weight limitation on the post, you should be able to tune the Pro Endurance to your liking. I feel that a stiffer elastomer in the package would go a long way to getting an even wider range of folks on this, but of course, I am not an engineer and there may be a very good reason why that wasn't offered up front. 

Regardless, this Endurance Pro post should prove to be versatile, light enough for most folks, and provide the kind of damped ride feel that cuts a middle ground between too compliant and not compliant enough. Of course, the Pro Race is there for those that only want the post to act over larger impacts and the Endurance is the go to for erasing almost all vibrations. All that said, these posts are not a substitute for a dual suspension MTB! No, these are for road, gravel, commuting, etc. So let's not get confused on that point.

As with previously tested Redshift products, I would expect no issues and hardly any maintenance beyond keeping the post free from debris and mud. The simplicity of the design sure helps in that regard. 

Stay tuned for an update on this review in about a month or so.