Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As others have mentioned... in "addition to" the initial cost of Thudbuster LT you may incur additional expense if you weigh less than 145 lbs or more that 195. This is because you will need to adjust the your Thudbuster by "purchasing" additional elastomers depending on your specific weight. (see photo of weight chart). Unfortunately I had to purchase some additioanal elastomers. On the plus side, the Thudbuster 3G LT comes "with" an assortment of elastomers as needed to adjust for a range of body weights from 143 to 195 pounds. Also on the plus side... my wife and I have two relatively expensive, but old, hard tail mountain bikes (i.e. bikes with no rear suspension). We've had the bikes for over 20 years, but paid close to $1000ea when purchased so we didn't want to consider buying new bikes just to rear suspension. Long story short... the Thudbuster LT fit the bill! MORE INFORMATION: Our bike riding is no longer that aggressive. Over the years we've mellowed our mountain biking to park trails and greenways (both dirt and asphalt.) Although maintained, these trails still have the occasional tree roots, pavement cracks, expansion joints etc., that can send a jolt up you spine and make your butt sore by the end of your ride. We were looking for a way to soften the ride. We tried multiple gel saddles, padded covers, wide seats, leather seats and even the old school spring loaded seats. BTW... hands down, the best saddle for comfort we found (i.e. no more sore butts) was the Bell Memory Foam Saddle, Recline 800. Its a great saddle(when you can find it) Hint: We found ours at our local Walmart. Once we had our sore butt issue resolved, we went looking for relief from the back jarring jolts delivered by our hardtail bikes. I first tried one of these spring loaded XLC Suspension Seatpost. For the price, the it was a big improvement but because the spring action is linear, the distance from your seat to your pedals keeps changing as your seat goes up and down. It was also a little noisy (squeaks and pops) and it had a tendency to "stick" (i.e., not fully rebound) As a result I found I was not always getting a full leg extension when seated. That said, the noise and sticking issues were resolved after disassembling and greasing. If you are interested, there's a great "how to" video on the disassembly and greasing on Youtube. Just search for "XLC Bicycle Suspension Seatpost Greasing". The XLC Suspension Seatpost, is a good option if don't weigh much more than 180 pounds, and have trouble justifying the price of the the Thudbuster LT. Personally, I was not excited about the idea of spending close to $150 for the Thudbuster LT... that may or may not work for... but I was still looking for a way to salvage our old hardtail bikes. The reviews for the Thudbuster are great, but over the years I've been disappointed more than once by buying based on positive reviews alone. So... considering Amazons excellent return policy, (and to be fair to Amazon) I only purchased "one" Thudbuster so the two of us could do some real world testing. TESTING: (real world, not scientific)... Last weekend we went for a 40 mile bike ride... all paved asphalt trails but loaded with tree roots, and suspension cracks as the trails transition from pavement to bridges etc. We took turns... on each others bikes, switching every 5 miles so we could effectively concentrate on evaluating the difference if any between the two rides. NOTE: The transition between bikes was seamless because both bikes are identical in size and setup. The only difference was one bike had the Bell Memory Foam Saddle, Recline 800 and the other bike had a stock seat with the Thudbuster LT. (I wanted to judge if the Bell Memory Foam Saddle did the job good enough job as to eliminate the expense of purchasing the Thudbuster LT.) After reading tons of reviews on the Thudbuster LT, one common thread I discovered was many owners said they couldn't say the Thudbuster made that big of an improvement. (not sure if they could tell a difference) So... heading out to do 40 miles, I started out on the Thudbuster LT. My first impression was, "Hmmm, I can't tell if its doing anything or not... does the ride really feel any different?" Even though I'm on asphalt, I'm still feeling tire hum and vibration of the tires on the road. However, since we do not have front suspension I acknowledged some of the vibration might be coming from the front end and handle bars. But, I was not convinced the Thudbuster was actually making the ride smoother. Five miles later, we switched bikes. Now my wife was on the Thudbuster. Within the first 500 feet she said "Wow, big difference!" I was now riding the hardtail with only the Bell Memory Foam Saddle I can say my butt was very happy to move to the softer seat, but I was immediately aware of a much stiffer ride and more vibration! Still not 100% convinced (and thinking the pavement conditions may have changed), I dropped off the pavement onto a side dirt trail, littered with small rocks and occasional roots and rode for the next 5 miles. Then, while still on the dirt trail I switched back to the Thudbuster and rode the next 5 miles. Wow! Big Difference! After 5 miles on the Thudbuster, I stayed on the dirt road and switched back to the other bike. Yikes... I went a couple hundred feet... no contest, the Thudbuster LT definitely smoothed out the ride. Period! My wife road her entire 40 miles on the asphalt and she said even though the asphalt appeared smooth for the most part, the transition from bike to bike was night and day. RECAP/NET: Prior to the testing, we hadn't rode for a week so when I first got on the Thudbuster, (like some reviewers have said), I can't say I noticed much of a difference. If I bounced on the seat I could tell the Thudbuster was flexing, but couldn't justify the cost for what I thought was little or no improvement in the ride. Or so I thought. After 40 miles... I declared the Thudbuster LT a winner. So did my wife. We have since purchased "another" Thudbuster LT. Both our bikes now have a Cane Creek 3G Thudbuster Long Travel Seatpost as well as a Bell Memory Foam Saddle. SIDE NOTE: You may notice (if searching reviews) your will see the Thudbuster LT and the Thudbuster 3G LT. Basically they are the same design and have the same functionality. The primary difference is the 3G LT can be rebuilt (pivot bushings can be replaced) via an aftermarket kit from Can Creek... whereas the non 3G version was not made to be rebuilt. CONCLUSION: Yesterday we did another 40 miles, both on and off road. No butt or back pain at all. (FYI: we're both newly retired to give you an idea of our ages) If you have a older mountain bike, a bike with no suspension, or a beach cruiser and you are looking to smooth out the ride, get a Thudbuster. If you're also looking to eliminate a sore butt... get the Bell Memory Foam seat as well. NOTE: If you are a weight weenie (someone who is concerned with every gram of added weight they add to their bike) then the Thudbuster LT (at 565-585 grams)or the Bell Memory foam seat (at 740 grams) are probably not open for consideration. The LT is a 5 star product but I had to knock off a star considering petite and/or heavier riders are not forewarned before purchasing that they will get hit with an added expense if they want to adjust the Thudbuster for their weight class which will require the purchase of additional elastomers.