Have just bought a new FS frame and they’ve thrown in a free dropper post from Giant (called ‘Contact’ i think?)…i’m sure if they’re giving them away then they’re not great but maybe that’s my natural skepticism…anyone on here with some real world experience of this post?

Yes, I bought it in preference to other brands as it gets great reviews, is relatively cheap and works.

Its on my full susser which only gets used for weekends away a handful of times a year. As it always rains when I go away 🙄 its been hauled through some horrendous conditions, given a clean and squirt of GT85 and left sitting for a couple of months. Has worked perfectly each time.

Certainly no complaints from me and would definitely recommend.

I have one, put it on a Cotic BFe in May. Does the job well enough. Couple of minor gripes. There is a bit of up/down play if you grab the seat and wobble, bit annoying but not a functional issue. The fit of the post in the seat tube is a bit loose and the seat clamp bolt needs over tightening, this may of course be down to my particular combination.

Had one for a couple of years now, always surprised that they are mostly overlooked. Mine has been completely reliable.

There is a bit of side to side play on the seat but it hasn’t got any worse and I don’t notice it when I am riding.

Chris

I’m pleasantly surprised by these responses, i was expecting to hear that i should throw it in the bin on arrival….cheers chaps.

Quite looking forward to getting it all built up now!

Had mine a year n half,Its been a good post,apart from the slight play in the post,saddle wobbles slightly,it does get sticky and non functional from time to time,some fork juice and a few ups n downs and it seems to work again,can find something to untighten the disk on the bottom though to give it a good clean out,anyone any suggestions…

Had mine almost a year now and all good, just a bit of lube now and again. I’d definitely buy again.

@bullroar my kids have these on their giant bikes. We had one replaced in warranty for the very problem you describe. The new one the hat supplied is actually nicer being the all black one.

Apart from that decent enough piece of kit for the money.

Yep had one for 18months and only stopped using it due to reverb coming with new bike, been on another bike for 12 months and still going strong.

Has the usual problems with cable actuation I.e. Clean and lube the cable every few months and tighten bolt etc in the head but that’s no major issue, and whilst doing that unscrew the top collar and have a good clean and lube of all that as well.

Every 12 months or so take the bottom out, the cartridge unthreads clean all the internals and grease and reassemble. No service manuals I could find so its a bit DIY but fairly simple once you get used to it and a lot cheaper than a reverb to buy and maintain.

Oh and bizarrely I use a pair of beaters from a kenwood hand whisk to open the bottom up, put the pointy ends in opposite holes, cross over and twist. Would be simpler to use an appropriately sized socket and grind the sides flat to leave 2 prongs.

Had mine for a year ish now. Bloody brilliant for the price. Mags don’t seem to rate them, but from personal experience I think it’s better than any reverb I’ve had. Totally reliable as well and super simple to service quickly. Love the fact you can swap it from internal to external routing. That’s genius.

Had mine for 6 months or so, seems fine so far but I’ll reserve judgement on longevity until it’s done a winter. Only problem I have with it is that the strange clamp design only takes standard round saddle rails so if you’ve got a saddle with oval rails (like my favourite saddle) it won’t fit.

From my experience of one of the original posts, they do not last more than two years before failing, and this is after taping up the holes as Giant recommends and taking apart and cleaning regularly.
Mine failed at about 20 months, at least three others I know of at failed about the same time in the same way- the button that operates the strut is un anodised aluminium and it corrodes to the point the strut sticks either up or down.
Crap gets into the top of the strut because it is impossible to prevent water etc. From seeping past the single bolt holding the saddle on, and the button mentioned above is right below this.

To be fair, Giant, via LBS, replaced gas strut even though out of warranty,but I was told they only do this once…

The newer ones might be better, but when mine fails again, I’ll be replacing with a Reverb or Thomson

Mine has developed about ten degrees of side to side play after just over two years use, doing about 30 miles a week and used in truly crap muddy winter conditions. Been re cabled about four times and taken apart and cleaned five or six times. It does work well though for the money and I use it a lot, to help with confidence as an old fart who still want to push stuff a bit.
Taping round the front of the actuator does keep some of the crap out.
After cleaning my bike, a drop of fork oil round the wiper seals and a couple of ups n downs and a wipe round gets the worst of the crap out of the seal.
To undo the disc in the lower I use a pair of long nosed pliers .