OneUp Dropper Post V2 240mm review

The dropper was born, and progression was made. And now we have this – a OneUp Dropper Post V2 240mm with a frankly enormous drop.

• Brand: OneUp
• Product: Dropper Post V2 240mm
• From: OneUp Components
• Price: £229.50
• Tested: by Barney Marsh for 3 months

Pros

• All of the length. ALL OF IT.
• Reliability to the max.
• Nice modulation of post speed at the lever.

Cons

• Remote lever ain’t included and ain’t cheap
• Uh – won’t fit every frame? Honestly clutching at straws here. Could be lighter?

There are a great many inventions for which the human race should be grateful. The wheel. The compass. Vaccines. The catflap.

But standing proud among them is one more, at least for those of us who
a) ride bicycles off road, and
b) wish to continue possessing functional unmentionables.

I am, of course, referring to the dropper seatpost.

Drop and Roll

From initial experiments in the 1990s (and, yes yes, before – I’m aware, pedants) involving winkie-pinching springs, things really took a turn with Paul Turner’s Maverick Speedball dropper in the 2000s. Modelled after the mechanics of an office chair, it offered somewhat less than 80mm of drop, and necessitated a Michael Jackson style crotch grab of the saddle lever to actuate it.

But an idea was born, and progression was made. And now we have this – a OneUp Dropper Post V2 240mm, with a frankly enormous 240mm of drop.

The Long Drop

Now, it’s worth bearing in mind that Canadian brand OneUp do make a wide range of dropper posts, if your frame (or your body, come to that) can’t accommodate such a substantial length as 240mm. From the cute, piccolo sized 90mm nubbins, all the way up to this protracted protuberance, in 30mm increments. And what’s more, each post can be further tweaked, should you desire, by reducing the length by 10 or 20mm. In this way you can get a dropper from 70mm length in 10mm increments all the way up to 240mm, in a range of diameters from 30.9, 31.6 and the increasingly popular 34.9mm.

Impressive.

Go Narrow

They also do a 27.2 version, for gravelleurs or retro-istas who feel the need for some smooth post lengthening betwixt their legs. This one isn’t adjustable internally though; you’re stuck with either 90mm or 120mm of travel, and it’s internal routing only, mind – so if you’re hoping to endropperise your ancient Dogs Bolx you’ll be attacking it with a Dremel first so the cables will work.

Oneup also claim that they offer the most rise available in the shortest overall post length, which should ensure maximum bike compatibility. I’m sure many of us have been left bereft and sore when it becomes clear that our carefully lubricated shaft just isn’t going to fit into the hole of choice, no matter how hard one pounds. But no more, friends! There’s also a handy fitment gadget on ONEUP’s website that tells you which is the longest drop post that will fit in your frame.

All of the length

However, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a stonkingly, hugely, achingly long post, at 610mm in totality. I came out of the packet with rather long and gangly limbs, and my current bike is a thoroughly modern Deviate Highlander II, with an equally modern – and borderline preposterous – amounts of standover, and a correspondingly diminutive 450mm seattube. So the deep 340mm max seatpost insertion on the bike can happily accommodate the OneUp post with no whimpering whatsoever.

Installation

As my review post didn’t come with a lever (although one is available) I elected to use my extant (and excellent) 9point8 one, which mated up with no issues whatsoever. Setting it up was simple, although I did have to fettle with cable outer and inner internally to ensure it was the appropriate length – as you’ll imagine, a post of such enormitude means that the relevant cabley internals are nestled deep within the frame when it’s functioning, but they need to be pulled out a looong way for installation and general fettlage. Setting it up outside the bike and then getting it to work when it’s properly installed can take some fiddling, therefore. But this is pretty much the same for every other post on the market.

Riding the length

It’s funny, on the first ride out it almost felt like there was too much drop. Pedalling to and from the trail head in my usual louche manner, saddle dropped and kneepads around my ankles in a vain attempt to belie my 50+ years, my knees protested somewhat at the amount of bending they had to do at its lowest extension.

Happily, there was plenty of progression at the lever – a gentle press had the post rising at a relaxed pace, so I could select my desired saddle height with ease. This is in marked contrast to many other dropper posts of my intimate acquaintance, which allow the activation lever to move a substantial amount with no saddle movement whatsoever, before suddenly attempting, with some success, to forcibly nestle the saddle between some of my rather surprised internal organs.

Tech ensmoothening

All that lovely drop has marked benefits on the trails hereabouts, too. It’s extremely useful on the common-or-garden high speed jumpy whatnots too, of course, but those are somewhat scant hereabouts. For the slow speed finessing, for the cautious rollover, and the back wheel scurfing on the shorts sort of technical riding that West Yorkshire possesses in abundance, getting the saddle as low as you possible can is a boon.

Long live long

I’ve been running the seatpost for three months now, which have included trips all over the UK in a variety of – uh – entertaining weather conditions. The post has held up (pun intended) beautifully thus far, but should fettling be required, then home servicing is a straightforward affair, with plenty of instructional videos available online.

Overall

The OneUp Dropper Post V2 240mm is a superlative post – reliable, smooth and oh, so very long. Almost an entire foot of sleek, shiny extension, right where you want it. Boom.

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Review Info

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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