Hardtail/Sus Post vs Softtail?

What are the tradeoffs of a hard tail with good suspension post like Cane
Creek's ThudBuster or even a sprung saddle vs a soft tail with solid saddle?

Seems like the soft tail has less travel than a ThudBuster.

Both lack any damping.

I'm guessing that any effect from the diff in unsprung weight is negligible.


How about efficiency? Does the soft tail soak up pedaling effort?

Is durability an issue with soft tails? The number of times something can bend
before it breaks and all that...
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
What are the tradeoffs of a hard tail with good suspension post like Cane
Creek's ThudBuster or even a sprung saddle vs a soft tail with solid saddle?

Consider the fact that your saddle to BB distance
is constantly changing when you use a suspension
seatpost.

Also consider that a softail's suspension still
works when you're off the saddle.

Per p e t e f a g e r l i n:
Consider the fact that your saddle to BB distance
is constantly changing when you use a suspension
seatpost.

Hasn't been an issue with me once I realized the frame hadn't broken in
half...but I definitely had a few "What the heck.!???" moments on the first
ride.


Also consider that a softail's suspension still
works when you're off the saddle.

Hadn't thought of that.

Has anybody - preferably somebody with less tolerance to jarring than most - had
a chance to A/B the two solutions?
--
PeteCresswell

Per (PeteCresswell):
Has anybody - preferably somebody with less tolerance to jarring than most - had
a chance to A/B the two solutions?

I should probably mention my agenda for posting this.

My bread-and-butter bike is an FS, but I still appreciate riding a hardtail.

In fact, I appreciate it enough that I'm thinking about replacing my current HT
frame (which is something of a crime against nature as I tried to tell the
builder too much about what dimensions to use) with something closer in
balance/fit/performance to my FS.

Long legs, weird proportions... so it'll probably be another custom, but this
time I will throw myself on the mercy of the builder.

On a hard tail, I always ride a sus post. Tried sprung saddles, but the
occasional 'surprise' bumps moved me to the sus post.

Now that I think of it, I guess my real question is whether or not a rider can
hit a bump that they didn't see (i.e. they didn't get off the saddle in time...)
with a soft tail and not get jarred too badly. That's the attraction of Cane
Creek's ThudBuster for me: saves that occasionally lower-back-strain bump.
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
On a hard tail, I always ride a sus post.


Do you take a shower with a raincoat on too?

JD

Now that I think of it, I guess my real question is whether or not a rider
can
hit a bump that they didn't see (i.e. they didn't get off the saddle in
time...)
with a soft tail and not get jarred too badly. That's the attraction of
Cane
Creek's ThudBuster for me: saves that occasionally lower-back-strain bump.


I thought soft-tails were all but dead. Maybe you should consider a FS bike
that is not so plush...like a Giant NRS or similiar.

Scott G wrote:
Now that I think of it, I guess my real question is whether or not a rider
can
hit a bump that they didn't see (i.e. they didn't get off the saddle in
time...)
with a soft tail and not get jarred too badly. That's the attraction of
Cane
Creek's ThudBuster for me: saves that occasionally lower-back-strain bump.


I thought soft-tails were all but dead. Maybe you should consider a FS bike
that is not so plush...like a Giant NRS or similiar.



Salsa Dos Niner. Not dead.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Per Scott G:
I thought soft-tails were all but dead. Maybe you should consider a FS bike
that is not so plush...like a Giant NRS or similiar.

That was in the back of my mind - and I was thinking maybe it's because of sus
posts.


My FS is anything but plush (Maverick link suspension) and has virtually no
rear-end bob.

But the hard tail has a different feel that I enjoy sometimes.
--
PeteCresswell

Per (PeteCresswell):
...I guess my real question is whether or not a rider can
hit a bump that they didn't see (i.e. they didn't get off the saddle in time...)
with a soft tail and not get jarred too badly...

No. You can't ride them like a full-suspension bike. You can't just
sit there and let the bike soak up the bump. You ride the bike like
a hardtail. And if you get a real softail, it has no damping. Just a
spring that helps the stays rebound. If you just sit there, a Moots
YBB will launch you up into the air after the compression slams
your package.

I rode a YBB for 5 seasons. The softail has benefit, but not in
terms of riding 3-dimensional terrain. You have to ride technical
just like a hardtail.

Oddly, I just took my 2nd ride on my new thudbuster yesterday.
Seems like it's going to work at least as well as the .75" softail
did. And the thing I used to justify buying the softail, that the
distance from saddle to pedals never changes, doesn't really
seem to matter. I like pedalling on the thud, and hardly notice
that it's moving.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/

Sus. post is for comfort; FS is for function, that also
provides comfort.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC USA
(Remove XSPAM)


"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
What are the tradeoffs of a hard tail with good suspension post like Cane
Creek's ThudBuster or even a sprung saddle vs a soft tail with solid
saddle?

Seems like the soft tail has less travel than a ThudBuster.

Both lack any damping.

I'm guessing that any effect from the diff in unsprung weight is
negligible.


How about efficiency? Does the soft tail soak up pedaling effort?

Is durability an issue with soft tails? The number of times something
can bend
before it breaks and all that...
--
PeteCresswell