In answer to the op, yes.

Went to Morzine for the first time in 2005, & just did mainly the d/h trails, so seat was down all the time. Went to Les Arcs in 2006, 90% singletrack riding with trailAddiction, & was forever stopping to down/up/down etc with the seatpost q/r.

Went again in 2007 but this time my bike was Gravity Dropper (with remote) equipped. Total transformation! Kept the ‘flow’ on the trail, no more stopping faffing, come over a ridge to a techy downhill, just push the lever, drop the seat & carry on. Its ace!

I never said seat up was the same as seat down

er.. you actually did:
“and you really should do the same stuff regardless of where your saddle is set”

only that there are lots of little details that can mitigate against going over the ‘bars. Heels down and head up for a start – you can and should do that stuff whether you have the saddle high or low, and even with a “pedaling” saddle you shouldn’t be going over the ‘bars all the time.

You’re wrong. you don’t even need to think about lowering your heels if your saddle’s slammed and you can squat down lower, even on rough steep descents I quite often only lower one heel (forward foot). With your saddle up at full extension (or even close to) it’d be impossible to squat enough to manage this and still grip the pedals without the help of spiderman shoe soles.

I don’t think you need to give it all the nasty sarcasm. But go for it if it makes you feel better.

No matter whether it’s down to a bad explanation or poor knowledge if you spout shite on a public forum but come across as all knowing, you leave yourself wide open to it.

best bit of kit in ages in my opinion.
optimum hieght for up and down. no comprimise.

see you soon bagstad

GW I should just ignore you, because you clearly are just argumentative for the sake of it.

But. You def should get your heels down, regardles of saddle height. Having the saddle down makes it easier to get away with, but doesn’t make it a good idea. There is nothing wrong with dropping the saddle, and it does open up new degrees of movement – that isn’t the same as saying that having the saddle up means you go over the ‘bars all the time.

You probably can ride well (at least I’ve no reason to doubt that you can), but I’ve done thousands (literally) of skills sessions and I use and understand a system that is very well proven. The physics of the system are exactly as used by other very well known skills coaches, including the most well known one on here. I was teaching to this system years before that person was qualified to use it. I don’t see you slagging anyone else off in the same way, so I guess it must be personal. So why don’t you just … go away.

Bagstard – Member

They make even more sense on trails you don’t know.

Killer app, that- people say “Oh, I’ve got a quick release, I can just lower it at the start of the trail”- but not if you don’t know what’s coming up. I think they’re great, but a lot of the time I wouldn’t miss it that much… But on new trails or ones I don’t know well, I wouldn’t be without one now.

glenp – Member

I don’t see you slagging anyone else off in the same way

Seriously? GW’s a consistent ball of internet rage

could do with one,try and keep mine up as much as possible thoguh,as i cant be arsed putting it up and down all time,too much faff!

we had a code of keeping our posts up as much as possible for a larf like.silly really

I don’t see you slagging anyone else off in the same way,

😆

so I guess it must be personal.

No, it’s not personal at all.

So why don’t you just … go away.

tell me to **** off if you like, you won’t be the first on here and it’ll barely touch the sides 😉 but I’m unlikely to go anywhere or refrain from commenting if you (or anyone else) make comments that I feel are inaccurate/stupid/blinkered etc.
I’m not after skills advice just now but thanks anyway. 😉 FWIW I actually agree with a lot of the techniques used in you and other skills teachers/coaches skills courses, it’s not the system you teach to I have a problem with but the closed minded way you advise others about what you have learned. like I said previously, it may just be down to bad (written) explanation.

I’ll let you know. i didn’t think I needed one, i can ride pretty much everything around this way with my seat where it is, and the few bits that I consider really steep it’s no hassle to lower the post at the start and then when I’m down and picking all the bits that fell off when i crashed / checking my pants for bits of poo, it’s no hassle to put it up again.

But then on my skills course with you know who, he put my seat down anyway even on the flattish bit of singletrack that we were working on, singletrack i would never have considered dropping for. And while it felt strange, it also felt good.

Since then of course I CBA to stop every few minutes to adjust every time I transition from fireroads and climbs into singletrack and descents, and like before, I get on OK. But i finally got one today, on his recommendation (it was the only kit comment he made on the whole of the skills session we had, pretty much as he said above) and I’ll be using it routinely from now on.

And to throw my hat into the ring for Glenp too – of course you should do the same things seat up or down – the basics of head up and heels down. I don’t see the XC pro’s over the bars that often, look at their technique and you’ll see it’s just the same.

wish they were a bit cheaper, must try it out on yeti’s bike, then maybe, just maybe…. group buy anyone?

Downhill- defo heels down! Gravity droppers- best thing since disc brakes! But thats just my opinion. 😀

First time out tonight with my x-fusion hilo. I’m a serial seat dropper and it was great not to have to keep getting off the bike. There’s a few places where I can’t normally be bothered, but having the option definitely more fun.

Mine’s a 27.2 and was a bit worried about the robustness of the unit. Time will tell, but one (muddy ish) ride in, very impressed.

Personally anything tech with a full seat post terrifies me. I’m 5’11” with long legs and a short body. My saddle at efficient pedalling height is higher than my friends, he is almost 6’2″ and doesn’t bother to drop his saddle at trail centres or similar.

It is less of an issue on my 29er, so I’m thinking it’s probably a centre of gravity thing. To all you non droppers I salute you, but do wonder are you doing much in the way of jumps? Drops? Fair play if you are, it wouldn’t be me.

I logged on this morning and sadly, page 3, you two are still arguing like school kids.

Cant you take it off line, its tiresome.

Agreed, the sexual tension is quite off-putting when I’m trying to eat my breakfast.

What is this “heels down” stuff on downhill?

Is it just another of the MTB over complicating techniques?

If i’m feel im going forwards, i get get back further and lower, you can do it any which way you want, as long as it works.

I’m a BMXer, ridden bikes for 10 years, been doing MTB for 6 months. I keep on coming across little bits of technique tips that people pick up, then concentrate too hard on whilst out riding. Tips that actually really bad.

Tips like this “heels down”, people who are learning to ride, will keep their body stationary and simply put their heels down. They don’t make the connection that it’s a whole body movement, not just one little move of the leg.

It’s like the whole pedal down thing in turns, people do it in turns without adding all the other ingredients, so it inevitably does not work.

Tips on forums are complete garbage in comparison to being out on a bike, trying it, and working it out for yourself.

I hope that little rant kind of makes sense.

I the subject of seat height, i have a 16.5″ frame and run it slammed for interesting stuff, im 5ft11. You can’t move around the bike as you need to, or IMO should do, with a seat sitting above even your knees.

shhhhhh dean, you arent supposed to talk sense on here…

For me I ride heels down when the going gets techy. Your right about it being a whole body thing though. I wish Id learned to ride BMX first. Its taken me years to learn to move my body around on the bike.

Heels down to me means that if the forward progression of the bike is likely to be resisted by rocks/roots/holes etc Im less likely to be pushed forward onto my hands or over the bars. My heels down position means my body weight tends to push the bike forward if it comes to a halt, rather than me going over the bars.

This is in conjunction with my body position being low and centered, hands light on the bars, wrists slightly down for the same reason.

After a while it becomes a reflex and not a thinking thing. Then it makes sence. It tends not to work if you have to think about it.

But I do still crash.

^trimix, that makes sense. haven’t looked at that point of view before.

I assumed that if you’re going into something that could halt progress of the front wheel, you lift your front wheel over it or bunny hop it. Well that’s just my BMX instinct kicking in then.

I have resisted this advance in technology, as I resist most ‘great leaps foreward??????’. Being cynical I think these dropper posts are made nescessary by poor bike design. Bikes with overly high bottom brackets and lower front ends make it difficult to get your arse out back to even out your centre of gravity on very steep descents. Bikes with long wheelbases/top tube lengths create a similar problem.

IE. I will probably get one in five years time! Ain’t gone tubeless yet though!!

Dean- my heals are down on really steep tech stuff to avoid my feet slipping off and also i feel its more of an attacking position, to me it feels right, i where flats, i suppose if you use spds you would’nt need to as much, but at the end of the day do what you feels right. 🙂

Agreed, the sexual tension is quite off-putting when I’m trying to eat my breakfast.

Oh no. I quite like it! It makes me feel all… hot.

Please – carry on! 😀