Adds a good dollop of seated comfort without much weight penalty, but it's really pricey

Canyon's VCLS 2.0 seatpost is its second attempt at designing vertical compliance into a seatpost, following on from the more conventional VCLS post. It uses an ingenious leaf-spring arrangement to give a more comfortable ride, a much more noticeable improvement than on most other "comfort-enhancing" seatposts. It weighs more than a conventional carbon post, but not that much more. It comes as standard on a raft of Canyon's bikes, but you can also buy it aftermarket, if your pockets are deep enough. The VCLS 2.0 isn't a new product, but as we've tested a range of comfort-oriented seatposts lately, it would be remiss not to include this popular option.

  • Pros: Clever design gives noticeable addition to seated comfort, decent weight for a "comfort seatpost", fore-aft adjustment and wide range of sizes and shapes, cheaper than a new bike
  • Cons: Very expensive if it didn't come with your bike, bit more fiddly to install than some, not best friends with Di2, clamp parts are specific to one saddle rail shape

There's a reason why the basic design of a bicycle is unchanged in over 100 years – the triangulated frame is a very efficient way of giving the required strength to hold your weight. It's incredible, if you think about it, that a frame weighing sometimes as little as 700g can support a rider weighing over 100 times that. The advent of road bikes designed to offer more comfort for longer rides has given us things like super-skinny seatstays, but there's no getting away from the fact that the triangle is not naturally a yielding shape, in structural terms.

> Buy this online here

The seatpost is a different matter – engineers describe it as a cantilevered beam – so it is attached at one end, and the rider's weight bends it. All seatposts bend under load, but some bend a lot more than others. The VCLS 2.0 post uses a unique (well, almost – see below) design to bend much more than other seatposts. Rather than a single round tube, it consists of two semi-circular sections bolted together at the bottom, which part towards the top and join separately to the clamp mechanism. These joints pivot, so the theory is that the saddle remains horizontal (or at whatever angle you set it) as the seatpost flexes.


You might be looking at this and thinking "that looks stiffer than just a regular post! What were you saying about triangles earlier?" but the reason why it flexes more is the same reason that a leaf spring is made out of layers rather than a solid lump of metal. The two halves can move relative to each other, which isn't possible (obviously) with a single tube. Canyon says that the VCLS 2.0 post can deflect by 20mm at the top. That is significantly more than other conventional seatposts, and this is the first "comfort" seatpost I've ridden where the effect is immediately noticeable, rather than something you have to concentrate to detect.

The VCLS 2.0 seatpost makes a real, noticeable difference to your seated comfort on a bike; 20mm might not sound like a lot, but think about it as the difference between 25mm and 45mm tyres. On towpaths and gravelly byways, I frequently found I could remain seated where previously I'd have stood to pedal. The effect is emphasised by the difference between what your bum feels and what's being transmitted to your hands and feet. Your other contact points still get rattled, but your bum gets a definite upgrade in terms of comfort. Of course, Canyon has a solution if you also want to make your hands more comfortable...

I've heard some criticism levelled at the VCLS 2.0 for its effect on pedalling. If you have an up-and-down pedalling style, you might find your torso bounces up and down a bit with it. A good excuse to practise a smoother style, I suggest.


Let's talk about fitting. The process is a little different to every other seatpost out there, as the angle of the saddle is not set at the clamp. Instead, it is set by altering the relative vertical position of the two halves of the seatpost.


As I mentioned above, these are held together at the bottom by a single bolt. If you want to change the angle of your saddle, you need to remove the seatpost entirely from the frame and loosen this bolt, and then slide the two halves relative to each other. There's a small scale on the side which helps for future reference once you've found your ideal angle. Once it's set and the bolt is tightened, you won't need to adjust it again.


The user manual suggests setting the saddle height 5mm higher than normal due to the flex in the seatpost – this seemed about right in my experience. Canyon supplies a sachet of carbon grip paste which you need to spread between the two halves of the post as well as in the usual places (on the outside where it goes into the frame, and on the clamp surfaces).

The saddle rails are clamped side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom, and if your saddle has oval rails you'll need to get hold of the matching clamps. You can flip the clamp front-to-rear to gain an additional 12mm of fore-aft adjustment.


It's worth pointing out that Canyon offers the VCLS 2.0 post in a choice of setbacks. I was testing the S15 version, which offers 13-25mm of setback, and the straight model (S14) gives 2-10mm of setback. Canyon told me that the curved S15 offers slightly more compliance (although both have a claimed 20mm of flex). If you've had a bike-fit then you'll know which suits your setup better, otherwise if your existing position suits you, just choose the version which is closest to what you have.

One point which literally didn't occur to me until I set out to fit this to my road bike: it's not immediately compatible with current-gen Shimano Di2, which locates the battery inside the seatpost. If your seatpost is split in two, then you can't put a battery inside it. That being said, I'm sure it's possible to lash something up where, instead, you just drop the battery further down inside the seat tube, and indeed Canyon offers a Di2-equipped Endurace with the VCLS 2.0 seatpost, so it can't be an insurmountable challenge.

There are other seatposts on the market which tout improvements to comfort. I recently tested the Ritchey Flexlogic post, which offered a much smaller improvement to comfort. At the other extreme is the venerable Thudbuster from Cane Creek, which offers significant cushioning at the price of a hefty weight penalty. Specialized's CG-R post is a little cheaper than the Canyon and offers a similar claimed range of movement. A new option this year is the eeSilk from Cane Creek, which is an elastomer-sprung linkage seatpost like a Thudbuster, but at a much more roadie-palatable weight point. We've not tested this yet, but it looks like a plausible rival to the Canyon in terms of range-of-motion and – ahem – cost.

> 9 ways to make your bike more comfortable

There are two more rivals to this seatpost which I haven't yet mentioned. Firstly, the Ergon CF3. This is essentially the exact same product (the bosses of Canyon and Ergon are brothers, apparently), and was previously sold at a lower price point, although it's currently hard to find in UK shops. Second – a new bike. Take the Trek Domane, for example. It has a raft of very clever technology built in to battle the inherent rigidity of the two-triangle bike frame design. Dave found that this worked brilliantly to add comfort both at the saddle and the handlebar. Not really a rival product, of course, but the point I'm making is that a £227 seatpost could be worth trying before concluding you need to buy a whole new comfort-enhancing bike for rather more.

I was really impressed with the Canyon S15 VCLS 2.0 seatpost. Sure, it is very expensive, but it offers a clear improvement to seated comfort for a pretty paltry weight penalty.




road.cc test report

Make and model: Canyon S15 VCLS CF Seatpost

Size tested: Length 345mm


Canyon says, "The S15 VCLS Seatpost achieves an ideal combination of lightweight construction, compliance, durability and torsional stiffness. This seatpost features a curved shape design and offers 13 to 25 mm of saddle setback - and it's easily adjustable thanks to the Flip Head. The floating seat clamp allows for the saddle tilt angle to remain constant when flexing. Riders can customize the saddle tilt by simply sliding each leaf spring up or down."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Canyon lists these features:

Category 2 road seatpost with 27.2 mm diameter and increased setback

Full carbon material

Vertical Comfort Lateral Stiffness: Superior comfort with a high degree of lateral stiffness

Offers 13 to 25 mm of saddle setback

Curved shape

Ideal combination of lightweight construction and durability

Construction provides up to 20 mm travel


Product Details

Length: 350 mm

Setback: 13/25 mm

Diameter: 27.2 mm

Category: 2

Weight: 220 g (claimed - we weighed at 239g)

Material: Carbon

Maximum weight (rider + clothes, backpack) = 100kg

Rate the product for quality of construction:

Nicely finished carbon and metal bits.

Rate the product for performance:

Clever design offers significant compliance without adding a lot of weight or bulk.

Rate the product for durability:

No issues in testing, and Canyon has shipped a lot of these out now. Provided you're under the weight limit, you should have no problem.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)

Either quite heavy for a carbon seatpost or very light for a compliant seatpost. I'll go with the latter, as you'd be buying this with an eye on comfort rather than for outright weight-saving.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)

Compared with other "compliant" carbon seatposts, this is a game changer. Offering up to a claimed 20mm of "travel", it adds an immediately noticeable quantity of give to the seat of your bike.

Rate the product for value:

This is one of the more expensive seatposts on the market, but it is offering something genuinely different to other lower-priced alternatives. It's expensive for a seatpost, but if your bike isn't comfy enough and you're thinking about upgrading, it's likely a lot cheaper than a new bike.


Very well. The first comfy seatpost I've tried where you didn't have to concentrate to notice the difference.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

You can stay seated over terrain where you otherwise would habitually stand.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Initial installation is a bit slower than with a traditional post; not easily compatible with Shimano Di2.


Compared to other carbon seatposts? Quite pricey. Compared to other seatposts which give this much cush and weigh this much? Well, there aren't too many of those about.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Compared with other "comfort" seatposts I've tried, this is the first that offers an immediately noticeable improvement. To do so with only a fairly minor weight penalty is really impressive. Only the "how much?!" price really counts against it. I suspect that 95 per cent of these that Canyon ships are fitted to its bikes.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 188cm  Weight: 78kg






jv- [2 posts] 6 months ago

This seat post came on my endurace CF and it's performance was suberb as long as servicing was done from time to time. Unfortunately maybe its movement generated a crack on my seattube, which Canyon warranty commited to solve, but after I sent them the frameset, they only sent back the frame, leaving me with no fork (!!!), and of course a useless frame and seat post. I guess this is what you get when affording such premium products...

r.glancy [29 posts] 6 months ago

It came on my CF SLX endurace too..luckily no cracks to be seen so far (fingers crossed!) 

I had a creak on my bike which turned out to be the post, a quick strip, clean and re-application of carbon paste shut it up again.

The comfort from this is second to none. You can buy a cheaper version off Ebay which I did for my commuter, it looks identical in every way so I suspect they come from the same factory..but this one was £50! 

mylesrants [472 posts] 6 months ago

specialized s works seat post. £100

thank me later

Mathemagician [61 posts] 6 months ago

You can pick up the Ergon CF3, which is basically the same thing, for about £65 less.

BlindFreddy [18 posts] 6 months ago

Have and like a CGR seatpost. Have an aluminium frame bike that could do with a little more comfort. Would greatly appreciate you testing the positively reviewed Redshift stem and seatpost so a full and proper comparison could be made.