I’m thinking of taking the rather expensive (for a seatpost crossed with an office chair) plunge BUT…… do they make a considerable difference to your riding???

User input please!!

Yes

They make a huge difference, bought loads of nice things for my bike this year and the reverb is the best purchase by far. Currently you can get reverb for about £180 from Germany and you will be covered under the warranty.

2 weeks in and I’d say yes. Much more confident across varying terrain as I know I can the saddle down and then back up for the climbs

Currently you can get reverb for about £180 from Germany and you will be covered under the warranty.

Which apparently you will need if my mates are anything to go by. Which annoys me as I really really want one.

Having been someone who never dropped their saddle at all, I borrowed a dropper post (thanks Pauly!) for this years trip to the Alps and found it not only really helped on the steep tricky bits, but also on fast downhill bits where I just had so much more confidence. I now have a Reverb on my FS bike and it’s great. I really wasn’t expecting it to make such a difference. I now also have a Gravity Dropper on the Inbred – would have had another Reverb if it had fitted.

This is the thing, heart says reverb, brain says gravity dropper…not the prettiest thing but it’s meant to work

ruscle, which site please?

I wasn’t convinced it would make much difference…was too lazy to keep faffing with getting the saddle height right once adjusted and managed to land some money to burn a hole in my pocket.

It’s brilliant…it hasn’t made me faster (yet) – but I’m not riding enough to get faster…what it has done is made me realise how long I’ve been gripping the saddle between my thighs and getting a proepr skelping in the undercarriage going over rougher stuff and ‘drops’ (‘drops’ would probably be classed as small kerbs for most competent riders!).

Initially it made my bike incredibly twitchy but that was because I wasn’t anchoring myself to the saddle…now I’m feeling more confident with it and I am going slightly quicker…not much yet but that will come. Rougher stuff is still rough but again, that will improve with more riding.

I thought I’d have it for 2 months and sell it…5 months now and it is really really good.

Rock Shox Reverb – no issues with it in terms of performance but just the last 10 days it makes a sort of fizzing noise when compressed or extended.

Has anyone tried one of the Giant contact Switch (or switch contact) posts? I want a dropper post but am waiting on opinions or feedback on one of those before committing to anything!

Brilliant and yes, find it weird riding without one now!

Someone posted up a ‘review’ of the Giant Switch…said it was good but the cable itself ended up needing replaced as it was sticking after a gritty ride a few days prior…think the cable wasn’t greased when it was installed (or something).

I’m sure I’ve seen a dropper where they were moving the cable routing too the collar rather than the seat post clamp? Anyone remember who?

Having got an Epic Evo recently as the first move from a hardtail it’s been difficult to work out whether I really prefer having a full susser but the Command Post aspect is the no-brainer. That said, I’m probably a more nervous rider and it gives me the confidence pointing downhill without the faff of stopping to drop the seat.

p.s. have had to set up a bit of old inner tube to stop grit getting in the mechanism as it got sticky very quickly to the point it felt the handlebar switch was so stiff I though it would snap off.

Here is the report I was thinking of…

I’ve been toying with the idea of a Giant contact switch, but was told they’d come back in stock in 6-8 weeks 😕

Got a Reverb a few days ago from the German site for £176, bike-components.de it says on the box, which doesn’t fit the hardtail I most wanted it for (who would have thought it was a 30.0 ffs 😡 ) so have bought a x-fusion hilo too (£175 – £10 discount from Wiggle + shim from CRC).

Can’t be bothered returning the Reverb so it’s being used for all my other bikes. Tbh it’s got a much more positive action and feels a lot better than the hilo but I was on the verge of buying a new steel frame instead of getting the second one!

The reverb came with the remote attached, the hilo needed it fitted which was more difficult than expected.

Haven’t actually tried it out yet but it has to make riding a lot better, there’s a lot of times I don’t drop my saddle so it doesn’t stop the flow and it would have been better to have done it. My hardtail comes with the seatclamp bolt being part of the steel frame so no QR option meaning every seat drop needs an allen key (maybe should have bought a new frame!!).

They are ace… Gravity Dropper if you want light and reliable and don’t care about ugly.

I got my reverb from Hibike for £190 but as mentioned above cheaper at bike-components.de

Yes – of course it won’t make any difference to the downhill or up hill bit if you get off and change the seat height (your bike will be heavier, so technically it’ll be worse) – however the fact you can roll up to a descent and be ready with no interruption makes general riding much more enjoyable for me as I can just keep going.

I do tend to have the seat quite high for general ‘flat’ riding, so would previously often get off to adjust to suit, or end leaving it in a position I wasn’t entirely comfortable with for the other 60% of my riding.

I’m sure I’ve seen a dropper where they were moving the cable routing too the collar rather than the seat post clamp? Anyone remember who?

KS Lev
http://interbike.mtbr.com/ks-lev-adjustable-seatpost

(though the good ol’ Gravity Dropper is the same layout isn’t it?)

So who would recommend a Gravity dropper?…. (sorry not intending to hijack a post) 😉

I would. Very reliable and easily serviced. Got a slightly home made feel and the gaiter is horrid to look at, but works well, doesn’t get sloppy and has really useful pre-set drops (in my case 1 and 4″) which means you always know where the saddle will end up. I haven’t tried a Reverb, but can imagine that infinite variation could be a faff.

I ordered one a few weeks ago, to fit on my TranceX. Hoping it will arrive in time for Christmas.

I’ve always been one for keeping my saddle at one height as i’ve got short legs anyway and just trying to ride everything like that.
However, after a week in the Alpujarras with Ciclo Montana i’m now a convert to the idea of dropping your saddle for steep and tight techy sections – i even managed to ride some of the techy stuff!

Now, which post for a short (< 100mm) drop and reliability???

New Reverb with the travel reduction kit that comes in the box. Takes it from 125mm down to 100mm.

Biketart have them for £249 in stock.

I thought it was a travel limiting collar? It turns out I am about 15mm short of the reverbs 190mm exposed post height

Liking mine after I took the financial plunge.

boxxer7 – Member

I’m sure I’ve seen a dropper where they were moving the cable routing too the collar rather than the seat post clamp? Anyone remember who?

It’s KS- What Mountain Bike (I think) hilariously announced it as the first to do this in the latest issue… Considering that the Gravity Dropper has always done it, and was the first remote dropper made, that’s a bit off.

I’m a recent Gravity Dropper convert and have to say I’m loving it. But it’s not only just great on steep techy stuff, it’s flat twisty singletrack, where you can really swing your weight, hips and bike in the corners unhindered. For me it’s brought the bike to life not just the ability to descend safer and quicker.

ive got a gravity dropper

6mths in and its still running smooth and slop free, was brilliant for the mega and a week in the alps, surprised how much fun it was for regular xc stuff too
even when i cycle down to morrisons i pop it down to drop down the steps outside the courthouse 🙂
only 200 grams heavier than a regular seatpost(ive got the ibeam version so bit lighter)

FWIW, I have a KS i900 and a Gravity Dropper, they’re fairly equivalent. The KS is heavier but has the infinate adjustability. GD is very easy to service (and very rarely needs it), parts are easily available.

KS, a wee bit more complicated and you can’t buy the wear items seperately as far as I can tell (Superstar don’t sell individual parts even if you ask them nicely). Seatclamp is bloomin awful, which seems strange- all that effort on the rest of the post. People assume the seals will be poor but we just opened 3 up last week with between 1 and 2 years fairly constant use in all conditions, and only a tiny amount of ingress in any. It had to be returned twice under warranty to get it to work in the first place but it’s been fine since.

I’d buy either again.

I got a new bike with a spesh commmand post. It is superb. I always used to stop and drop my post for anything technical and I dont miss the faff of stopping, I am also riding the flatter sections with a much higher post than I used to knowing I can just drop it if anything interesting happens. Brilliant, I would never do without one now, despite the extra weight

just took delivery of a x-fusion hilo from action sports, £150 and 500grams.(without the remote) only been out once but very impressed so far.

I’ve owned a few of them, except the Ks so can’t comment, and a number of mates have them now also. Definitely make a big difference to riding, especially to a general increase in speed and skillz on the techy downs.

If you really don’t do tech, don’t bother. If you do, essential. Only issue I had was at passportes du soleil, I had my suspension set soft so really needed platform damping, and at the bottom of every hill there was a manic few seconds of seatpost lever pushing, front and rear gear selecting and reaching for propedal lever. Daft.

Quick summary of them from me:
Joplin- good but fails (in a number of ways)
Command post – good but fails (mostly cable related)
reverb- seems ok so far, deffo works the best, but needs frequent bleeding
GD- butt ugly, but absolutely zero issues that a bit f lube hasn’t fixed

HTH
Kev

Had both Joplin and Maverick, very similar designs, Joplin is 2 years old and has just failed terminally.
I really looked after it and I got 2 years use from it but I’m disappointed with its failure.
The Maverick was second hand but in excellent order, but the seal has just let go.
I found them great in use both were lever actuated and I will replace them with another dropper type post.
In use they gave me more confidence on steeper terrain.

gravity dropper. simple and effective. also the original and best.
awesome after sales \ warranty service as well.

and as for all this ugly stuff, what do you want in a seat post?????

form over function – its the stw tag line

+1 for the gravity dropper