Forum menu
Dropper Posts - Do ...
 

[Closed] Dropper Posts - Do they work yet and are they the future?

Posts: 14773
Full Member
 

I can stop my bike with V brakes 😕


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:22 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Are you serious? To get it back up, I lift it up instead of pushing it down 😯


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:33 pm
Posts: 215
Free Member
 

They are great - I have an old maverick with remote lever. The most useful feature is the ability to get the seat back up to the perfect height without having to think about it as that is more critical than how much it is dropped. If there is any possibility of mud I use a mudguard to keep it & my ar$e clean. No mudguard in the wet = asking for trouble imho


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:35 pm
Posts: 14171
Full Member
 

As with everything its personal preference but I cant see anyone who has spent £150 plus on one admitting it was a waste of money.

Mine was such a waste of money that a second dropper post was the first thing I bought for my new build...

It's reassuring to see how many people get the point of a dropper now - it being more for putting your seat up from a default down position than vice versa, it being at least as valuable for cornering as for descending. It's also a lot safer than having your seat up high when riding new trails at a good speed without being as exhausting as always have your saddle dropped.

I suspect the dissenters are either roadies, dirt jumpers or downhillers at heart. A dropper may not always help you ride faster but it'll usually help you ride better...


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:40 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

having to send it back after 3 weeks is reliable how? that was in 2010 has been used all year round 2-3 times a week since then with no problemS, It was one of the very first Reverbs, they did a mod it was there and back in 3 days great service and hasn't missed a beat since.


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:47 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Ha ha.. I'm a roadie, downhiller and dirt jumper but not a dissenter. I have a reverb for days when 125mm drop will do. (Ie. No sweet jumps or super steep/tech gnar)


 
Posted : 13/11/2013 11:50 pm
Posts: 66111
Full Member
 

mrvear - Member

As with everything its personal preference but I cant see anyone who has spent £150 plus on one admitting it was a waste of money.

How about all those folks who went out and spent more for a second one, or a third?


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 12:57 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

It seems to me that a predictor of how useful a dropper might be for you would be whether your saddle is higher or lower than your bars in your normal riding position.

A dropper came included with my latest bike, but I only lower it on steeper or jumpier trails by maybe an inch, and bring it back up as soon as I need to pedal more than a few strokes. The thing is, I was perfectly happy without one before and I wouldn't be that bothered without it now. I believe the reason for that is because I'm short with short legs and a long torso so my saddle is a bit lower than my bars. I have no problem dropping off the back of my saddle if it gets proper steep and plenty of room to move around when in the attack position. My other bikes don't have droppers and I have no burning desire to get them one.

I'm curious to know though if anyone has developed a dropper suspension post? That could be pretty cool for a burly hardtail where the suspension travels up and down between the point the post has been dropped to. I've got an old Alu Spesh P3 which is bloody uncomfortable on the hard trails here so I never ride it. If a dropper suspension post existed it could be reborn.


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 6:53 am
Posts: 14773
Full Member
 

If you don't need a dropper post ^^ why not just buy a suspension post?


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 7:10 am
Posts: 52609
Free Member
 

stevomcd - Member
They're not the future, they are now.

Watching our clients, we've gone from a handful of riders using them 2 or 3 seasons back to over 90% this year.

They're awesome by the way - I've done 2 seasons of guiding on a Reverb with no hassles at all, other than a pilot-error induced broken hose.

This, exactly 🙂 must have been 3 summers ago following Stevo and his merry crew down trials and being able to react to what was coming (in an ungraceful Michael Jackson Crotch grab way - lever operated KS) that mad the holiday even more fun. Popping it back up for the pedals was brilliant.

I have one fitted to my bike for about 3 years now, when I got the new bike the only reason I didn't move the old KS over was because I got a LEV. The remote triples the benefit.

I'm glad plenty of people can manage without or don't want to try them it's your loss. It just means now I can do a local ride that involves tough climbs, long pedally sections, jumps and DH sections without ever getting off the bike. I ride for longer and harder now I have it.

There was a day when folk would spend a lot of money to get the lightest seatpost they could. Now people are buying **** heavy ones.

True but I just weighed the missus 150mm full sus last night in the bike shop after changing some bits and it's 27.7lb with a reverb, it's not killing it really 🙂 It could go to 26lb and still keep the reverb.


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 7:24 am
Posts: 4363
Full Member
 

Plenty of people who spent £150+ have moaned about wasting money! just search for threads about CB posts, or the 27.2 Lev.
Just because you don't want one doesn't mean they are not worth having...


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 8:04 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

That picture from TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR perfectly illustrates my point. If you ride normally with the seat 10cm or more above the bars a DP will be a great benefit as this will drop the seat to the same height as the bars.
The alternative, as I do, is ride a frame the correct size for you and use headset spacers under the stem to raise the bars to the correct height.


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 9:02 am
Posts: 66111
Full Member
 

scottalej - Member

That picture from TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR perfectly illustrates my point. If you ride normally with the seat 10cm or more above the bars a DP will be a great benefit as this will drop the seat to the same height as the bars.
The alternative, as I do, is ride a frame the correct size for you and use headset spacers under the stem to raise the bars to the correct height.

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 10:56 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

My pennyworth is having been a little sceptical, I dipped my toe into the dropper post with an ICE V8 earlier this year - it was affordable enough that if I didn't like it, not too much outlay. It's simplicity also makes for easy and quick maintenance.

I'm now fully converted. It's all about lowering one's centre of gravity and feeling a subjective increase in manouverability. Whilst not an 'essential', for me it's very much a 'nice to have' bit of kit and given that the ICE is a 27.2, it's going on my winter HT.... Conveniently meaning I can look towards a KS Lev for the FS 🙂


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 11:39 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Fair point TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR, I haven't been entirely clear. Mainly because I'd have to get a post anyway, and if I did so the reason would be to push myself far further than I've done before since this bike is expendable to me, so then a dropper might become more useful to me.

Plus it would just seem elegant to me if there were a post that did both since they both go up and down. A dropper could be likened to a travel adjuster on a fork, so I'd imagine suspension could be offered too, particularly where the mechanism is already hydraulic. Like I said though, I'm just curious really. Given how much a Reverb costs it would probably be too expensive for a might as well if you've got it user like me.


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 12:03 pm
Posts: 14773
Full Member
 


Just because you don't want one doesn't mean they are not worth having...

Posted 7 hours ago # Report-Post

[b]scottalej - Member[/b]

That picture from TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR perfectly illustrates my point. If you ride normally with the seat 10cm or more above the bars a DP will be a great benefit as this will drop the seat to the same height as the bars.
[b]The alternative, as I do, is ride a frame the correct size for you and use headset spacers under the stem to raise the bars to the correct height.[/b]

Ahem - the bike is about as close a perfect fit as I could get (at least in that model). I can just about claim to be 6ft and that's a large. An XL would increase the TT length further and a medium (albeit reducing the TT) wouldn't fit me seatpost wise. It's been adapted over the years and see how high the bars actually are above the headset.

The dropper post puts the saddle a bit below when dropped...

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/9263713408_5d33d10b8f.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/9263713408_5d33d10b8f.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/9263713408/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

And isn't that far above when raised...

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/9238169543_65c954f89f.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/9238169543_65c954f89f.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/9238169543/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr


 
Posted : 14/11/2013 3:29 pm
Posts: 24440
Full Member
 

reverbs are ace http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/naughty-reverb


 
Posted : 16/11/2013 8:43 pm
Posts: 2067
Free Member
 

Okay...so I decided to order a Reverb from Merlin last week, a little earlier than planned. Rode with it for the first time yesterday and I was really impressed with it. There is a little play in the seat, but I think this is normal?

My ride was a mixture of long fireroad climbs and a good mix of natural trails. Steep bits, flat pedally bits and everything in between.

Next upgrade....2x9 to 1x10 😀


 
Posted : 18/11/2013 10:24 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Just ordered a reverb myself....... Can't wait to fit it!


 
Posted : 18/11/2013 10:27 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Really miss the dropper I had on the full-suss before is was nicked already. KS Supernateral, it never missed a heartbeat over the six months I had it. I'd buy another without a second hesitation for the replacement build when I've got the money.


 
Posted : 18/11/2013 11:07 am
Posts: 7972
Free Member
 

If anyone wants to try the future in 31.6 size then I'm selling my dropper as I changed frame so it no longer fits

pics of it [url= http://sdrv.ms/13bekqL ]HERE[/url]

I'm looking for 50 + postage. email in profile


 
Posted : 18/11/2013 7:40 pm
Page 3 / 3