I'm replacing the rear suspension units with solid struts so I can slam the bike down at the back end. The ride on a hardtail bike can be pretty rough going so I decided to try softening the ride by putting rubber suspension bushes in the struts and rubber mounting the seat. It's not going to make it ride like a Goldwing but it should take some of the harshness out of the ride. It's a bit of an experiment and might be a terrible idea and destroy the bushes in no time. It's common practice to reduce the rear tyre pressure a bit to soften the ride but that reduces grip and tyre life, and tyres are expensive, so if I can get the same effect while keeping tyre pressures standard I'll be happy. If a set of bushes last as long as a tyre I don't mind changing them at the same time. I got the bushes from Pete at Bike Shocks Bristol. He's a really nice guy and can supply shocks at really good prices, including lovely shrouded shocks with different lengths and spring rates. The bushes for both struts were only £7. Bargain. You can find him at http://www.400s3.com.

Here's a picture of one of the finished struts. The tube is 1" which matches the tube used on the seat rails.