I very much appreciate TK's comments on the rough ride I could
expect with a 'hardtail' bent. (I presume that a hardtail is a bent
w/o any suspension.) I'm seeing my Dr. tomorrow to review a recent
MRI, so I can get her professional opinion whether the ride would be
a problem with my back.

I looked at the HPV Street machine on the HPV website. That is a
really sweet bike, but the price tag is pretty steep. Their
suspension systems looks very good. I would think that wheel
suspension, like the HPV, would be better that putting springs under
the seat, but would be much more difficult for an amateur to design
and build on a Bentech. It might actually be cheaper to just buy the
HPV.

I'm curious if anyone out there has designed and built a suspended
Bentech. One idea that occurs to me would be to buy a mountain bike
with a rear suspension, cut that off and adapt it to the bent. I
kind of like the idea suggested by John Neiswinger

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/bentechriders/message/138

to buy a mountain bike just to scavenge the components. Perhaps one
could buy an better mountain bike and get the suspension as well.
However, the spectrum of mountain bike designs out there is immense,
and finding a suitable one could be difficult.

Terry


--- In bentechriders@yahoogroups.com, "T K" <tamasic1@h...> wrote:
> >From: "ttp44" <ttp44@c...>
> >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.