Are there any videos of technical riding with the saddle right up? Personally I just can’t do it and have no desire to learn. I’m sure the combination of long legs and big feet makes for a higher COG.

Go watch some high level XC raceing on a good course. I think a tendancy to show photos of riders on fire road (as it’s mass start raceing, I guess it’s hard to convey how close a race is with a photo of one guy on some simgletrack) has given some people a false perception of how ‘gnarr’ XC raceing can be. The ‘group of lost roadies’ stereotype is wrong IMO.

If you’re in the area you can ride most of the Dalby XC course, it makes the Red seem like a walk in the park! One section is effectively a straightline down a bank of already quite steep switchbacks!

Not at all. Lets me ride properly. I could could never be bothered to drop my Thomson from xc climbing position unless it was a proper proper down. Now I can have proper climbing height for climbing, proper dropped for steep gnat, or a slight drop for a bit more bike hustling clearence in fast rough stuff. More difficult to get bike in the car now the post is plumbed in though imo. Used to just pull post out all together.

I have absolutely no doubt there are very skilled XC riders,but I personally hate trying to ride with the saddle right up on descents.

I think it depends on where and what you ride.

I live in Kendal and up this way I think they’re bloody useful. When you’re not on the fells round here the trails are steep up, down, up, down, the dropper post means you can have the best of both within a second. You don’t have to choose between a downhill setup and crawl up the hill or a XC setup and get pushed off the front of the bike on the downs. Better riding IMO.

I bumped into a fella on a racy 29er from the south and he was saying that previously he’d not seen the need for a dropper post, big bars and flat pedals but after a week up north he could see what it was all about.

It’s not exactly proof with a sample of one but I reckon it’s valid.

I think it depends on where and what you ride.

I live in Kendal and up this way I think they’re bloody useful. When you’re not on the fells round here the trails are steep up, down, up, down, the dropper post means you can have the best of both within a second. You don’t have to choose between a downhill setup and crawl up the hill or a XC setup and get pushed off the front of the bike on the downs. Better riding IMO.

I bumped into a fella on a racy 29er from the south and he was saying that previously he’d not seen the need for a dropper post, big bars and flat pedals but after a week up north he could see what it was all about.

It’s not exactly proof with a sample of one but I reckon it’s valid.

I occasionally ride with a guy who looks like you typical xc rider, shaved legs, seat up in the air, narrow bars.

When you ride with him you quickly find out he is anything but a typical xc rider, he is faster than the majority of guys riding full on Dh rigs. (He used to race DH at nation level, so this helps)

He rode a mini DH race recently, and won his cat with his seat dropped about an inch from xc height.

Last week we went to ride some proper DH (steep, offcamber and loose) and he dropped his seat.

A good rider can ride most things with the seat up, but dropping the seat allows you ride a greater variety of terrain and move about the bike more, which can only be a good thing.

Generally the people who dont see the value in dropping their seat, ride xc, don’t jump and are mincers. Of course there are exceptions to the rule (top xc racers and the guy I ride with) but they are in the minority. These guys could ride anything and still be pretty damn quick.

Euro – I guess what I mean is that they do 2 things that can lead to you becoming a better rider

They allow you to drop the seat for singletrack annd that in turn allows you to use body movement more to control and move the bike underneath you particularly on sections you would not have adjusted your saddle for in the past

They significnatly reduce faff time on rides and as such allow you to cover more ground with less stops making you fitter

Can they transform your skills – no of course not 🙂

I don’t think that they make you a better or wors rider; they just make life easier.

Personally, I hate riding with my saddle up because it gets in the way on the fun stuff. I much prefer to be able to get it out of the way, as a result I used to faff endlessly with my seatpost which meant lots of stops. Now I can put it up and down at the push of a lever, things flow more (although I do sometimes miss the excuse for a stop!). I’ve found my Reverb to be intuative to use, so its not really a distraction.

The XC guys amaze me; people take the pee but most are a lot faster than the rad kids. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfy with a high saddle any skinny bars (although that is where I started riding).

Generally the people who dont see the value in dropping their seat, ride xc, don’t jump and are mincers. Of course there are exceptions to the rule (top xc racers and the guy I ride with) but they are in the minority. These guys could ride anything and still be pretty damn quick.

I think that’s a falacy.

I think 90% of people ride stuff 90% of the time that would make for a fairly tame XC race course.

Or to put it another way, if someone actualy said they rode XC I’d assume they were both more technicaly skilled and fitter than someone who said they rode Trail or AM which seem to be (despite the marketing otherwise) more of an excuse to be slow on the ups than faster on the downs.

The remark about the steep seat angles is interesting. My Sov has a relatively slack seat angle. When you get on the pegs, the saddle is mostly behind you and less of a nuisance even when up.

But if you have to get back when braking on steeps/nadge, you have really drop your torso flat and bend your arms to keep your bum high enough to avoid the saddle hooking up on your privates.

Buzz – my SX is the same. I find that the slack seat angle makes for a very wandering climb, I have to make a real effort to get weight over the front end when the seat is up.

The steeper seat angle (and longer top tube) were two of the things that I really liked about the Banshee that I demo’d. Even with a very slack head angle, the steeper seat tube kept my weight over the front. The slack head angle came into it’s own on the descents.

They allow / teach you to move your body around the bike to maximise traction.

I gave up long ago telling people “move the bike, not your body” if dropper posts mean that more folk can do this, then it probably means they have more fun and are a more confident rider, more confident riders crash less

More fun less hurt, seems all good to me!

Don’t use one personally but I can see the benefit for the folk that do, and yet again the whole haterz thing leaves me a bit bewildered

I’ve just bought a reverb, it can’t make me worse than I am already – HOPEFULLY. 😕

if your on a full suspension bike, you’re already a worse rider; faster maybe, but not as skilled, as line is no longer as important.

bigrich – Member
if your on a full suspension bike, you’re already a worse rider; faster maybe, but not as skilled, as line is no longer as important.

The reverb is for my FS but I mostly ride a rigid SS. Maybe that’s why I’m so bad on it as I’m always looking for a ‘line’.

Looking forward to the uppy-downy action though.

You just seek out harder lines. You are no worse. Arguably it gives you the confidence to then ride the hard lines on a less capable bike with the saddle at full height.

bigrich – Member

if your on a full suspension bike, you’re already a worse rider; faster maybe, but not as skilled, as line is no longer as important.

You can do that. Or you can use it as a tool not a crutch and ride harder lines or harder trails or the same lines in different ways.

I love my high saddle and never drop it, I know I’m having fun when I have my chest on the saddle going down a hill! Yes it’s not the fastest but that doesn’t make it unenjoyable!

3 weeks ago i got a dropper post.. ride xc and lot of trail centers & jump parks… in the past i had my saddle maybe 1″ lower than max height and left it there????
Now!! am always fiddling with the dam dropper post…
on hard steep climbs having your seat 1″ lower helps putting the power down but never felt like it was in the way on big jumps and steep descents..
it all in your mind!!
getting a bit lower on corners and off the back on descents??
just attack everything and enjoy the ride!!!!
dropper post and clipped in paddles are for roadies on mtb 🙂

if your on a full suspension bike, you’re already a worse rider; faster maybe, but not as skilled, as line is no longer as important.

That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.

That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.

Seriously? Take yourself to church tomorrow morning and i guarantee you a new benchmark 😀

if your on a full suspension bike, you’re already a worse rider; faster maybe, but not as skilled, as line is no longer as important.

I’d say there’s a nugget of truth in there. If you’ve only ridden FS bikes there’ll be ‘skills’ you wont have had to develop. Not sure if line choice is one of them though, but bending your legs effectively, is.

Seriously? Take yourself to church tomorrow morning and i guarantee you a new benchmark

OK, I stand corrected.

The thing about FS is how you use it: If you use it make things easier and more comfortable, then yes: You will probably miss out on skills. However, I don’t think you should ride a FS any different to a HT: You still need to pick a line; you still need to unweight the bike over rough sections; you still need to bunnyhop over obstacles; you still need to move your weight around.

There are also skills that are specific to FSers as well, such as pre-loading suspension.