>From: "ttp44" <ttp44@...>
>Reply-To: bentechriders@yahoogroups.com
>After 16 years of bike commuting on my trusty road bike, compressed
>cervical disks and arthritis in my neck have become a major source
>of pain.

If you're having pain already a 'hardtail' bent might not be a good idea. On
an upright you can kinda soften the impact by standing up when you encounter
broken pavement or speed bump. On a bent without suspension you WILL feel
those bumps especially transferred through the seat stays. You might want to
look at modifying the rear of the bentech plans for suspension.
This could be done in a couple of different ways. You could modify the seat
stays and insert a compression spring to make mini shock absorbers out of
them. I’d weld a bridge between the rods of the seat stays connected to the
seat so that the compression would be evened out and not have one side or
the other diving independently. Ace hardware has a large selection of
springs to choose from - I’m working on this for one of mine right now.
On another board I read where someone replaced their seat stays with a set
that were slightly curved inward toward the seat. That would seem be less
complicated but it was pointed out that getting the right curve for seatback
angle and rider weight might be the tricky part.
The best way but very tricky, especially for a first time builder, would be
to modify the Bentech plans to include rear suspension. Look at other mono
tube bents for ideas – the HPV Street machine would be a cool adaptation.
http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/sm/gt/details_e.html
I own both a hardtail and a suspended bent and enjoy riding both. However
if I had the least bit of discomfort in my back I wouldn’t touch the
hardtail.