Suspension Seatposts - anyone actually have experience with the varieties on Ali

[lantz]

Ali has a handful of suspension seatpost options:

Safort (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806048707134.html) which looks absolutely insane with a saddle on.
Suntour NCX (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806653305084.html) which is a more well known option - I think an actual authentic?
Cane Creek eeSilk (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806406741371.html) Not a big fan of the rubber bumpers? I think sprint suspension may be better for a bigger dude like me?
Kinekt (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807064063674.html) No idea what this is all about.
Redshift (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807064063674.html) this is kind of the top of the class, eh?
Satori Animaris (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802190578725.html)

Anyway - has anyone actually ridden any of these ali versions of these? Curious how they stand up.

[Serge_K]

As someone who's (afaik) the highest customer tier on Aliexpress, based in europe, i've just returned almost 10 items, about half of what i bought. Super easy process, and free. Very different from how it was years ago.
So, I'd say, don't shy away from ordering something, as soon as you receive it, test the hell out of it because you have only about 15 days to complain efficiently, and voila.

Edit: return terms vary per country. Returns in France & Germany are very easy. In Romania, they're de facto impossible. In Romania, Temu has great return terms though.

[KvotheTheRaven]

I've returned a bunch of stuff too, and that was nice to try out different stem lengths. But just a heads up, recently I had tried to return some items that were clearly marked "Free Return," but for some reason AE wasn't letting me return these for free. The problem doesn't seem to be isolated to just me; a quick google search shows quite a few reddit posts with the same problem.

[lantz]

I've returned a bunch of stuff too, and that was nice to try out different stem lengths. But just a heads up, recently I had tried to return some items that were clearly marked "Free Return," but for some reason AE wasn't letting me return these for free. The problem doesn't seem to be isolated to just me; a quick google search shows quite a few reddit posts with the same problem.

Same thing happening to me right now, getting run around trying to return some "free return" handlebars. Very annoying.

[TidyDinosaur]

Same thing happening to me right now, getting run around trying to return some "free return" handlebars. Very annoying.

Same here. Wanted to return some sunglasses because I got nauseous when wearing them so there was something wrong with the lenses... They refused at first because that was not a valid reason to return.
I than asked them WHY I had to give a valid reason when return is free. They refunded it after that.

[johnnyboy4711]

love to know the answer to OPs question!

[00Garza]

No reports about seatposts, but a while back I was curious about suspension stems and they started showing up on ali. CaneCreek, Redshift, etc.

I saw two negative reviews on a canecreek replica and a redshift replica that basically said they look the part but don't actually do anything. One said the different elastomers to tune it were all the same just different colors. Reviews then disappeared as the ali storefront closed.

I might take a shot at the suntour as it does seem more like a real oem part rather than a cheap replica.

[Tijoe]

I just ran across this shock post adapter.  Has anyone tested one of these?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805556278720.html

[jonathanf2]

I try to purchase Choice items if possible for smaller purchases, since the return process (in the US) is hassle free if there are any issues since I get a US return shipping label. For bigger priced purchases, it's better to buy from a legit store with good communication and positive customer feedback. The best stores are the ones that take pictures of the items before they ship and confirm correct shipping address labels, answer all questions, etc.

I would just narrow it down to the sellers that meet that criteria and have the item you want. Plus as long as you open a dispute direct to AliExpress, have ample evidence like photos/video that it doesn't work properly, I haven't had much issues returning stuff. Never cancel a dispute if the seller ask, because there's a good chance they'll ghost you!

[t2098]

I ended up getting one of the original eeSilk seatposts (not the eeSilk+) for ~$48usd recently:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006004691351.html

I compared it really closely to the photos on Cane Creek's website, and while it's missing the Cane Creek branding on the seatpost itself, it does have the logo on the elastomer part, and says 'eeSilk' on the side.

As far as I can tell it's an exact copy of the now discontinued 'base model' aluminum version: https://www.canecreek.com/products/eesilk

Have about 300km of use on it, and I love it so far, zero noise, zero creaks - it just works.  Weighs exactly what the original says it does in the marketing materials.

Apparently once upon a time these shipped with 3 different elastomers so you could tune the ride yourself, although Cane Creek's own website says in some places that the additional elastomers only come with the carbon version.

One thing even the alloy version is supposed to come with (but the AliExpress copy didn't) was the special rebuild tool you're supposed to use to drive the axles out and back in for lubrication and servicing.  I'm fairly certain I can bodge a way to sort that out on my own when the time comes, though.=

[eltel666]

just to relate my experience - BUYER BEWARE

i'll begin by saying that as a short 5ft 7in / 1.7m tall bloke & light weighing approx 10st 7lbs / 66kg (wringng wet) with normal length legs i :

    *     can just stand over the frames of my 2 x mtb's without squashing my dangly bits against the top tube
    *     ride 165mm crank arms (have to!)

across those two mtb's i have seatposts that are :

    *     30.9 (whyte)
    *     31.6 (ritchey)

both of which comfortably allow height adjustment well within safety limits / minimum required insertion points in seat tube as specified by manufacturer

i recently purchased two "zoom suspension" seatposts ie. pic enclosed is of the 31.6 widely available @ aliex

at no point was a minimum insertion length in the seat tube indicated

when they arrived @ 350mm they looked very much shorter than both my existing ritchey & whyte seatposts but in most of what i'd read pre-purchase are deemed very long

ignoring any potential issue with sag from just sitting on the suspension seatpost, ie. setting things with same height / fore&aft / angle settings as current i am massively disappointed that in order to use either zoom seatpost then i'd have to :

    *     find atleast 20mm to reach minimum insertion point in seat tube
    *     chop length of my legs
    *     stop wearing padded shorts
    *     ride bare foot
    *     buy saddles with greater stack height
    *     ride crank arms over 185mm!

i conclude they are hopeless for anyone :

    *     over a maximum of 5ft 5in
    *     doesn't have a ridiculously high seat tube

am therefore back to square one looking to find a version of suspension seatpost that is considerably longer than 350mm with better minimum insertion point