We wanted to share this note from William Benner, President and CTO of Pangolin Laser Systems Inc.
"I recently got into biking and have been liking the sport very much. My riding is mostly on roads, but some are pretty rough. While poking around on bike forums and YouTube I ran across your seat post and decided to give it a whirl. I also purchased a set of the Black springs, just in case my original purchase wasn't quite right.
I just installed the seat post tonight and rode around some of the rough places that really gave me a hard time. WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! I really can't believe it!
As I said, my company manufactures precision high-speed motors, so I know great engineering when I see it. My hat is off to the team who developed this fine product.
Keep up the great work there at Cirrus!”
Santa Fe, NM
First of all I want to thank Kelly Steelman, for seeking me out to review the Kinekt Active Suspension Seatpost. I agreed to do this review because I thought that I could offer an unbiased report. I’m often jaded because I have been around bike culture long enough to see many “innovative products“ come and go. Therefore, the reader should know that don’t have any skin in this game.
To offer a little background, I’ve been a bike geek, since the mid-1970’s. I raced as an USCF Junior; went up through the NORBA ranks in the 1980’s and continued to race mountain bikes with some frequency through the 1990’s. I managed to win some races, and had sponsors but I became only ambitious enough to ride in the middle in the field most of the time. When I ended competing a decade ago, I was racing Nationally in cross country and cyclocross; receiving call-ups in the Open Masters category. Now, I ride what I call, “long and slow”, mostly alone and mostly on trails, gravel, on bikepacking and multi-week tours in the Western, United States. So now, I can now be described as a member of the “subtle crowd” because I’m just in it for the ride.
I have been using the aluminum, Kinekt Seatpost for about two months now, riding it in a multitude of conditions on my work horse, a 2022 Kona Rove DL. It’s primary purpose is a gravel touring bike; however, I use it as daily transportation, fast single track and a genre I call “underbiking” where I like to push its trail capabilities.
When the seatpost arrived, I wasn’t certain about it, it looked a little unusual but then I was reminded of a Herbert Spencer quote:
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. This principle is contempt prior to examination”.
The first thing I did was to pick it up and it did feel like it was a little on the hefty side. However, once I compared the weight of the stock post with my attached Brooks B-17 saddle, to the Kinekt post with a WTB Volt chromoly saddle, the weight difference was insignificant. If I were competing, I’d may consider the lighter, carbon version but for me the weight distinction was nominal.
On the first ride, I had to make a few adjustments to accommodate for my weight and account for where I would be riding. I did explore a wide variety of terrain and surprisingly it didn’t take long to adjust to the feel. Once I was on to the dirt, I noticed a difference from how I ordinarily rode and my bike seemed more comfortable, yet more efficient. When I took it out on some of the relentless washboard gravel roads outside of Santa Fe, I was able to keep a smooth spin. I didn’t have to adjust my weight off the saddle and the suspension allowed me to sink deep and apply power to the cranks. Places where I would have to normally picked my lines and interrupt pedaling, I could just spin through. What really pleased me is that usually when I ride this gravel road, I the feel harsh impact on my buttocks, but the Kindkt post really resolved the discomfort.
After this impressive performance, I decided to take it on some familiar single track and once again, I found myself sitting in the saddle more and able to keep my acceleration in sections where I hadn’t using a traditional post. On steep descends and more challenging technical sections, I didn’t experiencing the same advantages, but that is to be expected since I was stretched off the saddle. Yet again, once I was riding planted in faster sections, I felt like a hero, able to hammer. Finally, it really delivered, while on loose surface climbs because I was able to stretch in the saddle and keep my weight planted on the rear wheel.
On the tarmac however, I did experience some of the anticipated bob, that I thought would be an issue before I rode. However, once I adjusted the springs to a stiffer setting, it created a pleasurable ride on the road and the bobbing became a non-issue.
After this first experiential ride, I have been using my Rove with the Kinext post as a daily town bike and have found myself riding it more for long day rides. As I go on routine rides and explore to places new, I find myself even more impressed with the way that it helps my ride. I do in fact feel less fatigued after longer rides and I don’t have to hunt my lines on chunky gravel roads. Also, I would be remised if I didn’t mention something that has occurred in the past two months. I’m not claiming that a did a scientific correlation study but before I started using the post, I had been suffering with saddle-sores for the past year. Now I don’t have them. Is there relationship? I can’t say for sure because many factors I didn’t control for, but it is true.
Who is this seat post for? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, everyone. Short of the road competitor obsessed with weight or mountain biker that is use to a dropper post, I think everyone has a bike that this seatpost will make a difference. Especially gravel riders and particularly those competing in multi-day events. If you live somewhere where the gravel roads are washed out, rocky and have rough washboards, you will like this. It would be very useful on a touring bikes crossing the Continent. It may be problematic trying to use a soft bikepacking bag on the saddle, but there are other creative ways of carrying your gear.
Of course, I think it is helpful for the aging cyclist with old injuries that is trying to stay comfortable and economize energy. In other words, this seatpost is for my demographic.
With that revelation, I’m going to continue enjoying this new subtle ride.
