Famous for developing the highly innovative Thudbuster suspension seatpost, Cane Creek has launched a lighter-weight evolution of that design in the form of the eeSilk all-road seatpost.
Unveiling the new lighter carbon-shafted post at Eurobike 2022, Cane Creek also had the full production version of the accompanying eeSilk stem on display, designed to equalise the smoothness at both the front and rear of your gravel bike.
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The eeSilk seatpost, at just 334g (with the 5g seat clamp rail packaging retainers removed) for the sample carbon 350mm-length post we received at Eurobike, is 200g lighter than Redhsift’s excellent ShockStop. In fact, it’s not far off the weight of a standard alloy post. For example, Prime’s alloy Kanza gravel post in 27.2/350mm weighs 314g.
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Aside from being lightweight, Cane Creek claims the eeSilk post will give up to 20mm of vertical compliance.
Peter Gilbert of Cane Creek told us: “The idea behind the eeSilk post and stem [is] to help reduce fatigue on long rides; they’re even an advantage for endurance riders looking to reduce chatter and vibration from poor road surfaces.
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“Both post and stem [are] designed to work in harmony with each other (both have 20mm of tuneable travel).
“We think this gives you the best balance between comfort and performance without hampering control.”
The eeSilk post comes in two versions: the carbon-tubed example we’ve got our hands on and the more affordable alloy alternative announced back in May. The latter post is longer at 375mm. The alloy post has a claimed weight of 345g.
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The post is priced at £329.99/$319.99 for carbon.
Cane Creek explained the eeSilk post is designed to work with its gravel stem, also announced back in May. Like the post, it uses an elastomer to control its suspension travel.
Unlike the post, however, the eeSilk stem comes with three weights of elastomer as standard, so you can tune the feel to your own preference.
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Cane Creek, however, has simplified the design compared to rival suspension stems from the likes of Redshift and BMC.
Switching of the elastomers can be performed in situ, even out on the trails, because it’s only a matter of undoing a single 5mm hex bolt, pulling the stem down, popping the elastomer out and pushing the new one in.
You can even alter the feel on the go, thanks to a two-way switch atop the stem enabling you to run it in either firm or soft mode.
Gilbert explained: “It’s not a traditional lock-out, it just enables you to firm up the stem for, say, when you’re riding asphalt on the way to your trails or to firm up the front end for climbing out of the saddle.”
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Our 100mm-long test stem weighs in at 233.1g, which is lighter than the Redshift ShockStop (294g) and BMC ICS MTT (330g), and is priced at $229.99/£219.99.
We have the pairing in for a test, so look out for a full review soon.