Has anyone done it? My X-Fusion Hi-lo has died and needs replacing and I'm thinking about just getting a standard seat post.
Looking around, they all seem to be pretty expensive and I'm not sure it's worth it. Back in the UK, I was a serial dropper as my riding consisted of short downs and short ups (Swinley, Surrey Hills etc). However, here in Canada, my local riding is more like climb to the top for 90 minutes, stop and re-group, and then ride down for 20 minutes, ride up a short section of fire-road, and continue descending etc. At the bottom of each trail there is a chance to raise my seat post.
I'm going to try it and see how I get on but has anyone else done this (especially anyone living in Canada)?
I had one bike with a dropper and one without. Thought the one without would be ok as for xc rides or playing on a pump track. I found it really annoying and it soon had a dropper on it. That has just started playing up (old RSP plummet mechanical post) so I started fitting a 150mm dropper Brand X Ascend today. My next task is to run the stealth cable routing for it.
Think it was £110 delivered from CRC - with 1x style dropper lever. For the money those posts are hard to beat based on my 125mm drop one I’ve had for a year and 6 months now with no maintenance required.
I just bought a titanium seat post - nothing old school about it. It's just a regular seatpost.
I'll expect it to do the job I want it to do of holding my seat at the height I want it - I use bolt up clamps as I move my seat pin so little.
I have got a dropper on my "enduro" bike I've tried to like it but I feel it was an answer to a problem I never had. I know some folk need the seat out the way but if you don't then a dropper just seems to add Extra complexity and un reliability....."my reverbs dropping" is a popular shout on cold winter nights in our group.
Worth buying a 20 quid cheapo post and trying it out see if it works for you.
I had a KS Lev dropper on my last FS, I now have a fixed Hope carbon post on my HT.
Being honest I am looking at droppers now as thinking of going back as they do help when riding trails.
No idea about Canada, but I still ride Swinely with a rigid seatpost, mostly without dropping rather than stoping to drop it.
Means riding differently (wheels on the ground, weight back rather than hopping about weight low attacking), but I never really found my dropper a necessity, I was probably quicker down a trail with the saddle dropped but it wasn't the be all and end all, and £200+ and some maintenance to beat some imaginary guys on STRAVA isn't value for money in my book!
You tried servicing it - they are easy to service. £20 for the seal kit.
KS do a mechanical seat post that is kinda aimed at hire bikes but I run one on my enduro as I hate cluttered bars. Mine has 180mm drop via a small lever under the seat. No hydraulics, no cable or bar lever, dead easy to strip and clean, ~£80.
Perfect for winch and plummet style riding.
£200+ and some maintenance to beat some imaginary guys on STRAVA isn’t value for money in my book!
I wish people would stop citing Strava as the reason people want to go fast. You know we were trying to go fast way before Strava was invented because it's just plain fun.
Hmmm thanks Folks. That KS mechanical one sounds interesting. I haven't yet explored how easy it is to buy stuff from CR out here so I may check that out, thanks.
Just to confirm: The riding here is definitely seat down stuff: We're talking steep all the way down, with even steeper steppy bits in between the unrelenting steepness. Not to mention the drops, ladders, jumps and log rides. It's definitely a seat down-type environment.
I wish people would stop citing Strava as the reason people want to go fast. You know we were trying to go fast way before Strava was invented because it’s just plain fun.
True, I enjoy going fast as much as the next person.
But why not get a motorbike in that case? "Mountainbikes" are just an arbitrary set of restrictions people have come up with that form the written and unwritten rules of a game we all like to play. Is it more fun to go a few seconds faster with a dropper, or 5x faster on a CRF250? If I'm happy enough denying myself a CRF250, or less happy by a quantifiable percentage, then the incremental difference to a dropper seems inconsequential.
Don't do it! After the second-hand KS Dropzone I had picked up for £50 died, I reverted back to a standard post. It wasn't the end of the world, obviously, but getting the saddle out of the way without having to stop just means fewer disruption to your ride. Although, having re-read your post, sound's like you may be fine with no dropper. But one would still give you more flexibility during the ride. You can manage where your saddle is on the go. And OneUp components do a mechanical dropper also. Or you could buy a Reverb and convert it to a mechanical one with the Wolftooth ReMote Sustain.
Can't agree more with molgrips
The reference to motorbikes is odd, it's not the same thing at all! Might as well say if you wanna go fast stick yourself on an aeroplane.
A dropper lets you drop your post and enjoy riding Downhills more. It might be faster, it might not. If it makes you more comfortable doing so, then that's a brilliant thing.
That said my winter beater doesn't have a dropper as its 27.2 and they are proper expensive. I also bimble in the dark on that bike over winter so no big downs. But droppers are definately worth it.
“Mountainbikes” are just an arbitrary set of restrictions people have come up with
Motorbikes have motors, bicycles have to be pedaled. That's not arbitrary, it's what defines them.
But why not get a motorbike in that case?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 whataboutery in extremis! Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
My xc race bike doesn’t have a dropper because lightweight.
My other bike does.
Some bits of trails and getting on & off at stiles, gates etc are better with a dropper. Others are no different either way & I sometimes find on stuff that is gradually climbing but with technical bits and/or droppy bits in that I’m actually quicker with the post left up, possibly because I spend less brain power on deciding when to drop/raise it.
Either way, both bikes are fun.
But why not get a motorbike....
Because your not allowed to ride motorbikes in the places you can ride bikes and its just totally different. Very weird post.
Also I have droppers on 2 bikes and have never used strava.
FWIW I remember riding in the Alps on up/down/contour techy trails and finding I only needed to drop my saddle about 50mm from normal XC height (eg Lemond method, so not that high to start with) to be able to ride pretty much everything with minimal compromise. Climbing was 50% out of the saddle, pedalling on flatter sections was OK, descending wasn't compromised and only the truly steep, on the limit / pucker-up stuff needed a fully dropped saddle - the amount of that you ride may make the difference.
"Motorbikes have motors, bicycles have to be pedaled. That’s not arbitrary, it’s what defines them."
Boom bingo.
Bicycle with a motor
I use my dropper 2-3 times a year. Outside of the Alps/BPW they're mostly pointless
@coomber - CRC do their Brand-X dropper in 27.2mm for £120 - https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-ascend-cx-85mm-105mm-dropper-seatpost/rp-prod159175
Haven't seen the KS mechanical dropper mentioned above, who sells it?
Bicycle with a motor
A bicycle can have a motor, but it still has to be pedaled. If it doesn't need to be pedaled, then it's a motorbike.
Thanks whitestone. Will check those out
I’m new to this dropper post malarkey, only getting one in May on the SolarisMAX.
Just bought one for the Sherpa as I’ve run at a comprise height for decades (dropped it a bit after a Jedi coaching session...).
I’m happy running it at the compromise height until I head uphill and that’s where I miss it the most... much more important to me than being able to drop it for the downs (although I’m grateful for that on occasion). I’m a bit of a mincer though...
I've not run a dropper for a year and a half, but I used to ride mostly tweed valley which is pretty much up and down and now live in a very flat place. The only time I've missed it is on more rolling group rides where it's a pain to stop and quickly adjust height. Certainly don't miss the damn things failing!
Id rather have v brakes than no dropper
I love a dropper but I’ve still not got round to fitting the one I bought for my winter/nightride hardtail. Just don’t ride the sort of terrain that justifies one on that bike.
This guy seems to manage just fine: https://m.pinkbike.com/news/high-post-shredding-with-jason-blodgett.html
“I use my dropper 2-3 times a year. Outside of the Alps/BPW they’re mostly pointless”
For you, maybe...
Does anyone with decent skills jump or corner as well with their saddle at full pedalling height as with a dropped saddle?
For you, maybe…
Well yes, that's why it was my answer not yours.
Maybe i'm not as Gnar or as wonderful at corners as some, but i seem to manage my way down things fine 🙂 I simply don't feel a need or find it beneficial in 99% of times, possibly even 99% of rides.
Id rather have v brakes than no dropper
dunno stopping mid ride to change out worn pads on a winter ride wasnt particualrly pleasing.
for the small inconvenience not having a dropper saddle is - its miles away from having brakes that dont last 5 minutes in the muck.
its miles away from having brakes that dont last 5 minutes in the muck.
Come on, no need to exaggerate. You could get 7 to 8 minutes out of a set of pads if you rode sensibly.
🙂
I still run v brakes on my fixie.
Funnily enough the pads on that last plenty time seeing as it lives on the road and you don't really need the brakes.
Haven't had them on an off-road bike since the early 2000s
brakes? on a fixie?
as in 3 brakes?
m'kay
My name isn't Charlie.
Full compliment .
As in front and rear.
The other two (left and right) are the preferred option. But since other road users are unpredictable at best having emergency grab handles is good ....plus as it's not a track bike drop bars were a bit shit without hoods.
Only recently got a dropper but **** me it's made a difference. I'm just over 6ft 4 so not having the ole flagpole seat post is good for me.
Comments of "Jesus, look how high his seat is" from non- cyclists/pedestrian & dog walkers used to be nice.
Id rather have v brakes than no dropper
I'm on this side of the argument. Droppers are awesome, I'd sooner have a rigid bike with a dropper than a full sus without one.
And TBH, I think people that don't see the value of droppers probably don't use their body properly on the bike (and I realise that sounds judgemental). Or they simply ride trails that don't need them, i.e. either flat or one-big-up one-big-down, like the OP.
I put a dropper on my (ex)partner's bike a couple of months back and she couldn't understand the point, but this was because she was riding with her body so rigid that it didn't make a difference if the seat wasup or not. A few weeks later though, she really got it.
I can’t live without a dropper on my MTB. Both from a confidence perspective - I’m just much more comfortable over tech with the saddle down, so mine is up and down constantly; but also from a practical perspective - the saddle is pretty far from the ground on a 140mm FS and at 47 I’m not flexible enough to reliably get me leg over the thing. It’s become a crutch to mount my bike. I can just manage my road bike without a dropper.
duncancallum
Subscriber
Id rather have v brakes than no dropper
No way could I say that. Well, perhaps to a mate down the pub after a few..... but after a couple of winter rides on V's I'd be begging to swap the dropper out for disks.