Seat Posts

The rear triangle on Lectric bikes and many other hardtail ebikes are very stiff. This results in a very rough ride as the back wheel rolls over rough terrain or joints in paving and those vibrations come up through the seat post into the seat. A suspension seat post that helps to smooth that out will enable you to ride comfortably a lot further. Many seat discomfort complaints are resolved with a suspension post.  Even more seat discomfort problems are solved if you are an over 200 pound rider. The front suspension fork on many Lectric models has 40mm-50mm of travel. When you hit a bump with the front there is some movement down but when the rear wheel goes over that same bump it can make the back wheel leave the ground and come back down again.  This pitching movement of the nose going down and the rear wheel going up is especially unnerving as you get up to speeds over 20MPH.  A quality suspension post like the Suntour NCX will help mitigate that problem. 

Cost considerations: The Suntour seat post is a $80 - $125 price range seat post.  As far as size there are two approaches in getting a seat post size to fit your Lectric or other ebike: 

1. Purchase the post in the industry common size of 27.2mm and use a Cane Creek seat post shim that is appropriate for your bike. The good news - This would allow you the potential to use this post on all your bikes you own now and others you will own on into the future.  When you sell your bike someday just remove the Suntour post and fit the stock post you have saved for that occasion.   The bad news - If you are a heavier rider and are running the 400mm length on your bike there will be some additional strength in the larger 31.6 diameter. 

2. Purchase the larger 31.6 common size post and then use a seat post shim to get up to the size you need.  If you are installing this in a Lectric  1.0, 2.0, 3.0, Lite, ONE, XPeak, XPress & Trike) model of ebike you can make your own thin 0.1mm soda can shim  to take up the 31.6mm to 31.8mm dimension. That is what I use in my Lectric XPeak. There are many Lectric riders who have just installed the 31.6mm post in their 31.8mm frame and have had no problems. Others have had difficulties in getting their post to tighten up properly and found their seat slow sinking down or moving side to side.    

Technical note: The seat post size on Lectric bikes are generally 31.8mm (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, Lite, ONE, XPeak, XPress & Trike). The XPremium seat post is 30.4mm and the XPedition model uses a 34.9mm size.  The most common sizes of after market suspension seat posts are 27.2mm and 31.6mm.  If you want to fit a 31.6mm post like the very popular Suntour NCX suspension seat post, it is a very close size to the OEM size of 31.8mm and will probably be OK. This difference is approximately the thickness of a soda can and you can make your own thin 0.1mm soda can shim  to take up the 31.6mm to 31.8mm dimension.  Another approach is to buy a more common 27.2mm post and use  a high quality Cane Creek 27.2mm-31.8mm sized aluminum seat post shim.  The Cane Creek Shim is precision machined and very long for extra post support. Also, it has a machined groove in the shim that insures stronger clamping. Yes, there are cheaper seat post shims on Amazon but there are no better seat post shims. I have listed a number of seat post options for any Lectric model for you. 

As far as length - The OEM seat post on the 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 models is about 400mm long. Many seat posts available on Amazon will come in 350mm and then a fewer number in 400mm lengths. If you are a rider of under 5' 6" the 350mm will probably be fine. Always observe the minimum insertion marks on your seat post.      

Note: On Suntour suspension posts, unless the seller specifies it differently, they generally come with a standard weight spring which is supposed to cover riders 130lbs to 180lbs. There are two optional springs available that you can use if you are not able to adjust your post to be as hard or soft as you like, given your weight. The Soft Blue spring is rated for 140lbs or less riders and the  Hard Red spring is rated for 180lbs or more. Before you start ordering the $25 optional springs, ride your bike and try out the adjuster in the bottom of the post. If you can't get the adjustment to  meet your needs then start looking at getting an optional seat post spring.  Caution: There should always be at least 100mm of thread showing in the bottom of the seat post below the adjuster spring seat.  Check out your installation instructions on this.