Sport Today

> I rode a bicycle with a suspension seat post (I think it was a "gas-spring"
> like the ones used on car hatchbacks - they are preloaded by gas pressure
> so they don't move until you exceed the preload - then it is like a
> spring/damper....   Anyway, the point is IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!
> I would have run right out and gotten 2 for my tandem, except that they're
> not made in the same small diameter as my Schwinn seat post tube.
> Uhhhh, and they are over $100 each!

>> I rode a bicycle with a suspension seat post (I think it was a "gas-spring"
>> like the ones used on car hatchbacks - they are preloaded by gas pressure
>> so they don't move until you exceed the preload - then it is like a
>> spring/damper....   Anyway, the point is IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!
>> I would have run right out and gotten 2 for my tandem, except that they're
>> not made in the same small diameter as my Schwinn seat post tube.
>> Uhhhh, and they are over $100 each!
>This has been discussed among several of the mountain uni brigade, and we are
>all very interested to know if they would take the hammering.  Some of the
>makes have a reputation for exploding! and others for twisting slightly.  Both
>features are not desirable.  We believe that it would work superbly but none
of
>us have had the guts to try it yet.  We believe that thet main problem is that
>uni's have a lot more rotation on the seat than there is on a MTB seat.  There
> are
>several different types that vary in cost considerably from GBP 25 to GBP 200,
>the cheap ones use elastomer ***s like some MTB front forks.
>> Use one on a uni?  It would probably work.  I often wondered about
>> building a uni with a mountian-bike fork (the kind with shocks).
>If you intend to use the standard fork legs I think you will have problems
with
>the two legs not moving together (MTB bikes have this problem and it will be
>worse with uni's).  If you are very serious about trying talk to ActionTEC who
>are based south of LA and talk to Russ, He is a great guy and would be game.
>His forks use a ridgid fork leg and a single hydraulic damper (similar to
>Browns in the UK)in what would be our seat post.  If anyone does get in touch
>with him say "hi" from me.

>I'm a bit stumped here.  Shocks make sense in a bicycle fork because they
>go between the frame and the wheels.  On a unicycle the effect would seem to
>be that the seat would go down when landing or hitting a bump, requiring more
>leg effort to pedal, since your knees would be bent more.  If the goal is to
>have springy shocks to help with jumps, this won't work because the crank is
>part of the wheel, not the frame.  What am I missing here?

>Thanks,
>Beirne