Viewing 37 posts - 41 through 77 (of 77 total)
  • Who doesn't drop their…
  • GW
    Free Member

    Last I looked BMXs were pretty good for riding vert and you can’t get much steeper than **** vert can you?

    I suggest you lower your body and go and have a little lie down rather than worrying your head making up daft analogies.

    If you weren’t clueless you’d know the difference in stability between your 5 and patriot is NOT down to the slight difference in headangle alone! and you’d also know that each bike actually rides exactly the same no matter what height the saddle is at when riding anything technical/steep as you should be standing up! on technical/steep terrain the saddle is only needed for control, with your inner thighs.. it will however feel more comfortable to control at a certain height for each individual.

    Jim_Kirk
    Free Member

    High poster all the way here…

    M6TTF
    Free Member

    never drop mine – mainly as I had loads of knee problems in my youth – finally found a good seat height so I never move it! never really had a problem. Can fully see the benefit of it in tricky steep stuff but I can’t be arsed stopping, then stopping again to re-adjust.

    Militant_biker
    Full Member

    I’m a confirmed dropper and I’m partial to slipping a comfort inch on a lot of stuff. I’ve never been confident about getting behind the saddle. I do ride a bike that’s nominally too big for me, so I can get the saddle high enough. I’m cursed with long legs and a short body AND I keep my toes down most of the time so I need a silly high saddle.

    Nan Bield down to Haweswater? Aye – that’ll be the saddle on the frame and the rear tyre flossing my cheeks

    kudos100
    Free Member

    I often drop my saddle on downhill runs and jumps. I have jumped gaps and tabletops with the saddle up and it is a hell of a lot better with the saddle down……..

    I suspect you non saddle droppers are either xc mincers or riding gods 😉

    portlyone
    Full Member

    My body shape doesn’t allow me massive amounts of room to manoeuvre if the saddle is fully up. So I drop it on the down parts if I know I might need to move around a bit.

    M6TTF
    Free Member

    I often drop my saddle on downhill runs and jumps. I have jumped gaps and tabletops with the saddle up and it is a hell of a lot better with the saddle down……..
    I suspect you non saddle droppers are either xc mincers or riding gods

    somewhere in between 😉 not one for big airtime anyway!

    Stopadoodledoo
    Free Member

    So is it just me who finds cornering much easier and faster with the saddle down then?

    njee20
    Free Member

    Never tried dropping it, cant on the current bike anyway as it’s got a seat mast.

    Can see the merit, just don’t feel the need personally. I’m not going to drop it when racing, so I’d rather not get used to it being dropped when riding.

    langy
    Free Member

    Found a height that is not quite full up, that doesn’t cause me undue back or knee issues and is low enough that I can drop my weight and clear the saddle without worrying about catching on it on the stuff that I am happy to hit at speed.

    On the stuff I mince through, well, I’m usually worrying about more than saddle height.

    I may very well get a dropper if/when I build up something new though; been around long enough now that they seem to be here to stay and with RockShox and Spesh now going that route, I doubt the big, early issues will last too much longer.

    Hairychested
    Free Member

    I do but not very often, can’t be bothered with the pile of poo AKA Hope QR clamp. If I could afford one that fits my 456SS then I probably would but I can’t.

    kiwijohn
    Full Member

    Never. Same goes with lockout & talas, I don’t like changing my riding position.

    GrandWazooo
    Free Member

    I only really drop it for decents where I stop and check I rememberd my balls too – which isnt all that often – most of the time I dont ride anything steep enough – or its too short a stretch to really bother sorting the bike out for – so its bum on the wheel chest on the seat and cling on.

    missingfrontallobe
    Free Member

    I don’t drop my saddle, two reasons, I loose my “place” on the bike*, and second, if it is that steep my internal “shit, you’ll die” controls over-ride me anyway. So I just don’t bother dropping the saddle

    *I once broke a saddle clamp and had to ride down the Nan Bield pass – didn’t have a clue where the bike was in relation to my body, and was petrified I’d get a seatpost enema at any moment.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    out on a ride i almost mates touch it. But a play on a dual slalom course had of puttingit right down. Not so i could get down the course but to allow more body movement. I then found myself walking back up as i couldn’t be bothered to put my peat back up

    _tom_
    Free Member

    I don’t like changing my riding position.

    I don’t think it really changes your riding position much, just gets the saddle out of the way which I find gives you more confidence. I hate descending (other than easy ones) with the seat up, just can’t get used to the feeling of the saddle being there. Maybe because I’m from bmx where the saddle was always around knee height or lower when standing.

    Jamie
    Free Member

    ampthill:

    out on a ride i almost mates touch it. But a play on a dual slalom course had of puttingit right down. Not so i could get down the course but to allow more body movement. I then found myself walking back up as i couldn’t be bothered to put my peat back up

    On the iPhone mate? 😉

    molgrips
    Free Member

    If you weren’t clueless you’d know the difference in stability between your 5 and patriot is NOT down to the slight difference in headangle alone! and you’d also know that each bike actually rides exactly the same no matter what height the saddle is at when riding anything technical/steep as you should be standing up!

    Good grief, who pissed on your chips? Leave the insults alone!

    Firstly, the position of the saddle DOES make a difference, since you put your body in a different place. Otherwise what’s the point of lowering it?

    Secondly, I didn’t say that the Patriot is more stable than the 5 as a general statement. What I said was that when you drop the saddle, the Patriot remains stable, whereas the steering on the 5 gets more twitchy. The DIFFERENCE in stability is greater on the 5.

    I didn’t make up a daft analogy, I am telling you what actually happens when I do these things. I’m sure you’ll tell me I’m imagining it, but really, not everyone in the world is an idiot who imagines silly things. Some people are actually capable of experimenting with things and carefully evaluating the results.

    I still say BMX geometry is a red herring here because the bikes and the riding done are completely different. For instance, BMXs ride verts yes but there’s always a nice snooth curved run out. Would you like to bring your BMX along to my steep rocky trails?

    Be nice, for goodness’ sake!

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    with saddle down 3″ it makes controlling and pumping the bike much easier IMO . ESP. Cornering because the saddle doesn’t push you over when you push the bike over. Try it.
    I don’t think I ever get behind the saddle except briefly on very steep roll downs. How do you control the bike in that position?

    matthew_h
    Free Member

    I don’t put my seat down for descents. I do put it up for climbs though. There’s a distinction

    Northwind
    Full Member

    kiwijohn – Member

    “Never. Same goes with lockout & talas, I don’t like changing my riding position.”

    A few people have said things like this. I don’t get it. Are you dropping the post then sitting on it? My riding position while descending is much the same whether the saddle’s up, down, or the seatpost’s broken and is in my rucksack :mrgreen: Having it down gives freedom of movement when you move out of the neutral riding position but it has no effect at all when you’re in the neutral riding position.

    Ewan
    Free Member

    I don’t put my seat down for descents. I do put it up for climbs though. There’s a distinction

    Now that is the correct frame of reference! Who rides for the ups….?!*

    *Masochists that’s who.

    aracer
    Free Member

    xc mincer here

    I’m not going to drop it when racing, so I’d rather not get used to it being dropped when riding.

    This. Though I have to admit to wondering whether there is a real benefit to dropping the saddle in speed terms on the downs which would make carrying the extra weight of a dropper seatpost (which you lose no time adjusting) worth it.

    allyharp
    Full Member

    I drop mine quite often, but not every time. I do it moreso to make it easier to bale off the bike, rather than making it more manoeuvrable – I find it easy enough to hang off the back.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    sorry jamie. predictive text on a nokia. Oh the joy predictive text doesn’t know the word predictive.

    _tom_
    Free Member

    wondering whether there is a real benefit to dropping the saddle in speed terms on the downs

    I find it makes a difference, for me comfort and confidence = speed 🙂

    ibnchris
    Full Member

    never drop mine because no QR but wish I could after an incident a few weeks back…don’t think I’ll be having kids any time soon 😉

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    I find the height of the saddle that is good for me for climbing (very high) is really a big negative when descending – it really gets in the way when trying to get the C of G lower and keep the bike mobile on really technical stuff.

    OF course keeping the saddle up is THE way to go downhill, thats why you see all the pros riding their saddle 6″ above their bar, I’m just a clueless newb 🙂

    ononeorange
    Full Member

    Only recently been introduced to it. Find it a real faff to have to stop, fiddle around etc then can’t get clipped in before messing the descent up as I feel I’m all in the “wrong” position. Then can never find the right position afterwards plus the seat post keeps gently slipping. I can see the advantages though, even if I’m rubbish at descending. To sum up, I won’t be bothering as I’d rather get on with the ride than faffing.

    Edric64
    Free Member

    I can’t ride with the seat dropped it feels wrong and cramps my legs.If it is that steep I won’t ride it.I also can’t be bothered to naff about lowering the seat for the odd bit of steep stuff time you have done it you could run to the bottom

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I have to admit to wondering whether there is a real benefit to dropping the saddle in speed terms on the downs

    Doesn’t slow me down at all on descents in general. The only time I do it is when something’s really steep and it’d help to get my weight down and back. OR when it’s a load of twisty singletrack and I want the bike to be really manoevrable.. but I’d have to be really going for it to do that and it’d have to be a long descent to make it worth it.

    GW
    Free Member

    Molgrips – I was nice enough to give you the chance to STFU 8) If you consider “being clueless” as an insult, I’ll appologise, kiss (for the Tagger’s pleasure ^^ 😉 ) and make up.. 😉

    Happy New Year!!

    Anyone fancy riding this down anything steep?

    Before anyone says I have the wrong sized bike – no I don’t. I have long legs and a short torso, so a bigger bike would be too long. This also puts my COG high up and the short reach means I physically cannot get off the back of the saddle and remain in control.

    Jamie
    Free Member

    Before anyone says I have the wrong sized bike – no I don’t. I have long legs and a short torso

    TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR, and friend, earlier. 😉

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Well yes, clueless is an insult, but that’s ok 🙂 My 5 still feels weird with the seat down.

    MentalMickey
    Free Member

    I used to ride with it fully up at my optimum pedal position then stop to get it down a bit if nearing some tech sections.
    I now figure (whether rightly or wrongly) that I may as well drop it down just a touch, maybe an inch or so, just enough to make gusset clearance easier than normal, I think you get used to pedalling, no matter the gradient, in this compromised saddle position mode if you do it regular.

    I think of it as giving me an extra workout, just the same as I sometimes enjoy deliberately putting tyres on that I know will make me have to push that bit harder. It does seem to make life easier for when I need to throw the bike over something.

    Singlespeed and non QR clamps have been mentioned, my HT is SS and uses a non QR clamp, I carry the allen key required in my pocket (which happens to be the same size as the bolt to undo/tighten the chain tension device too, which is handy) and don’t find it that much of a pain to do instead of QR.
    I find myself spending far more time pedalling standing up with SS so not affected much there either.

    It’s a much harder decision with the full susser for the climb parts, for obvious reasons, tempted to get a dropper post one day so I can go all out on the susser, up and down without stopping

    But for me, seat down a bit is a must.

    adstick
    Free Member

    I put mine up if there’s a big climb. but mostly I enjoy riding the bike stood up so I’d rather have the seat out of the way. Obviously not great if your XC racing, but if you’re ‘just riding’ then the bike feels so much nicer.

Viewing 37 posts - 41 through 77 (of 77 total)

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