Cushy by name and by nature, the Post Moderne Cushy SL is a low-priced but usefully controlled and comfortable seat post that's simple but active for a budget post.
Its travel is relatively smooth and easy for a comfortable ride. The price is low, but upgrade springs and tightening adjustment are still available as standard. However, you’ll need to add preload or a stiffer spring to stop pedal bounce and there is some rotation and knock from new.
It costs just 20 percent of the price of a Cane Creek Thudbuster, but Post Moderne’s Cushy SL is still a useful comfort addition to your bike, and one of the best telescopic posts around.
It’s a simple beast but then a suspension seat post doesn’t need to be complex, and the things it does it does well. For a start, the Cushy name is an apt description of the spring rate of the post. Its 40mm travel isn’t much, but the soft MCU elastomer gives up the full amount easily over medium-sized bumps.
It’s active enough to add some welcome comfort over small ripples and rough sections too.
The trade off is a relatively bouncy ride when pedalling, but the bung in the bottom of the shaft can be screwed in to increase preload enough to reduce initial movement. The Cushy also uses the same MCU elastomer as the more expensive Post Moderne Bracer and Solace posts, so you can use the same alternative spring kits as upgrades if you need to.
The low profile single-bolt seat clamp is more secure than the old Zoom ones it’s based on, and gave us no grief throughout the test period. It doesn’t bind as much as the longer-travel telescopic posts either, although you have to sit centrally to make the most of its smooth operation.
A square shaft helps to reduce rotation of the saddle too. There’s a little movement from new (which the tightening collar can’t dial out) but it doesn’t get noticeably worse with extensive use.
It’s a lot lighter than the same priced and otherwise similar Outland post too, plus it comes in two sizes (with extra shims available) making it the obvious cheap but cheerful choice.
