[Closed] Leaving yer saddle height untouched throughout all of your riding

Well not reading the argument above. Until recently bouncy seat tending to stay lowish, and I'd stand a lot to climb. New build has a dropper.

long travel hardtail it stays in medium position and much of the time I leave it there, and XC bike its up and it stays up, part of the bike for me. that said I am fancying a dropper for the 456 - will depend how much of a game changer I find it once I get the new bouncer finished.

Depends where / how you're riding as well, around gentle hill no need to change it much, but with sharp techy downs and long grindy ups I do tend to give in and start adjusting it. But I hate the constant stopping of doing it so prefer to avoid if poss.

Some folks will argue about [i]anything.[/i] A benchmark doesn't have to be the best, it just has to be a well known, well understood quantity to compare other things against.

Some folks will argue about anything. A benchmark doesn't have to be the best, it just has to be a well known, well understood quantity to compare other things against.

Agreed, but it has to be relevant and Thompson isn't for most.

it has to be relevant and Thompson isn't for most.

err.. this is STW

are you new..?

Jeez, is there nothing that can't get argued about on here?

are you new..?

i was here before stw, back in the gofar days,

And i have never understood the love in with thompson, Chris King and certain other brands

I guess dropping the saddle becomes less necessary if you're riding low-tech XC. But for general trail or mountain biking it's a necessary part of good bike handling. Ok maybe it wasn't done 20 years ago but riding technique is far better understood these days.
I was taught it on a skills day by a professional coach.

If you just want to ride low-tech, then saddle up is ok but if you want to:
Pump
Manual
Front-wheel lift
Bunnyhop
Drop heels
Jump
Stand on the outside pedal in corners
Nail berms
Steep techy descents

Then saddle down is essential to get the technique right.

Riding actively, moving your bike around/moving yourself around the bike, you need saddle down and out of the way.

Obviously, back up again for the climbs

Seat dropper here although today I didn't bother. I'm not looking forward to sitting down...

Interesting that folk who need to drop their saddles seem a bit threatened by those who don't...

Nope I don't.

Ya know, this thread is really missing its GW input.

chortle @ Northwind, his thread-radar must be broken.

brooess - Member

I guess dropping the saddle becomes less necessary if you're riding low-tech XC. But for general trail or mountain biking it's a necessary part of good bike handling. Ok maybe it wasn't done 20 years ago

NOOB!

It's a stupid idea! Up for uphill and down for down.
With a fixed post you have to find a happy medium so you can still pedal and get behind the seat.
you can have your saddle 2/3 inch's higher with a dropper,
you cannot ride a steep/tech switchback with the seat up your ass.
Fact ask Jedi.

NOOB!

[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/world_olympic_dreams/9237920.stm ]Even Mr Absalon drops his post sometimes[/url]

brooess - Member

If buying your first MTB in 1994 and nearly 20 years' experience counts as noob then so be it

You're only a noob for presuming you know what went on 20 years ago. People have been dropping seatposts since the mid 80's - products even existed to make it easier:

[img] [/img]

I guess dropping the saddle becomes less necessary if you're riding low-tech XC.

such as?

But for general trail or mountain biking it's a necessary part of good bike handling. Ok maybe it wasn't done 20 years ago but riding technique is far better understood these days.

yes it was but it was a QR and maybe a hi-rite, some stuck with it, others came to the conclusion it was more hassle than it was worth. Which as said, i suspect will be the fate of the telescopic seatposts.

I was taught it on a skills day by a professional coach.

Who taught the coach?

yes it was but it was a QR and maybe a hi-rite, some stuck with it, others came to the conclusion it was more hassle than it was worth. Which as said, i suspect will be the fate of the telescopic seatposts.

Did you say this about suspension? You were wrong then too...

To be fair though, Hite-Rites are about as equivalent to modern droppers as flexstems are to suspension forks. Even Joe Breeze gave up on them and got a gravity dropper 😉

somafunk - Member
A few years ago i sat the Trail Cycle Leader exam then quickly followed it up with the Mountain Bike Leader exam and the instructors at the time tried to batter into me the importance of dropping the seatpost for difficult sections but i had a major disagreement with them regarding this as surely on a ride when your blatting along and you come to a downhill or drop-off section of trail you do not have the time nor stopping distance to halt and drop your post before carrying on, you have to learn how to get your arse over the back of the saddle and feel comfortable and confidant adjusting your body position as you see fit dependant on the trail conditions - where is this rant going?,

i dunno really but if you feel the need to drop your saddle every time you come to a tricky section then perhaps you should learn or get taught some basic bike handling skills rather than rely on a dropper post or waste time by dropping it manually.

So you chose to completely ignore the advice given by the instructor, that was a waste then!

I suppose Jedis doing it all wrong as well 😆

Maybe you should start running some skills courses, the experts could learn a lot from you.

If you just want to ride low-tech, then saddle up is ok but if you want to:
Pump
Manual
Front-wheel lift
Bunnyhop
Drop heels
Jump
Stand on the outside pedal in corners
Nail berms
Steep techy descents

damn I can do all these on a rigid steel hardtail singlespeed. If I get a newfangled machine with boingy bits and droppy wotsits I'll be a riding god!

(you may all bow down to my divinity now and I'll bestow gifts of gnarr and shred to my chosen disciples)

Northwind - Member

To be fair though, Hite-Rites are about as equivalent to modern droppers as flexstems are to suspension forks. Even Joe Breeze gave up on them and got a gravity dropper

Have you used one? Mine worked pretty well, to me that's not a valid comparison at all.

Yeah, I wish I'd kept it tbh for retro cool but it went in the bin ages ago. Really clever idea but I just never found it really worked as intended- too dependant on frame/post fit I reckon.

(my flexstem went on to a better life as a motorbike video camera mount, where it was much more succesful. Or at least, I never again impaled my balls on it)

Unless you're actually racing, please don't use the "XC racers have em up all the time" excuse!! They're not having fun, they're there to win a race at all costs that doesn't involve really any proper technical features.

Only reason I've joined this debate is I just feel some of you don't know what you're missing out on. MTBing means different things to everyone but to me it's hooning off drops, finding things to jump off, manualling the dips scaring myself etc while out in mad countryside. Permanent saddle up to me is just road riding with a varying surface..

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

some beardy bloke on a rigid bike with a fixed seatpost jut "road riding with a varying surface" 😆

Riding anything remotely interesting with saddle up is just making do when the saddle could be down makint things rather more enjoyable.

This may sound like trolling, but i genuinely believe a bike cannot be ridden properly with a saddle in your chest or stomach.

nah.. not seeing a raised seatpost in those pics Tazwaz.. although those lovely smooth drops with their lovingly crafted transitions could probably be ridden comfortably on a road bike 😉

yunki, look at the jumpy piccy and Jeff either has a massive boner or he's off the back behind a saddle 😀

although those drops with their lovely smooth, well crafted transitions could probably be ridden comfortably on a road bike

yep, but probably not by most of the dropper seat post for a red run brigade on here 😆

boner.. definitely 😀

Yunki I love you! you are a mentalist, but fun....have my babies please 🙂

This may sound like trolling, but i genuinely believe a bike cannot be ridden properly with a saddle in your chest or stomach.

Lets see you complete a XC marathon Race with your saddle down?

Horses for Courses, different people have different ideas about what mtbing is about. If you want to use a dropper do so, i will choose not.

I ride to ride, to go places, others ride to play about do jumps, drops etc. Which is "proper" riding?

I spend average 12hours a week on a bike but obviously i can't be riding because i would never drop y saddle...

32 miles across dartmoor today without dropping my saddle. Does that get me in with the riding heroes?

I even set a PR on the widowmaker. Rad huh.

This thread is hilarious...the AM/Freeride brigade honestly believe that the XC riders can't ride down,steep/techy stuff,corner etc with their seat up??? Deluded,or what??

This thread is hilarious...the AM/Freeride brigade honestly believe that the XC riders can't ride down,steep/techy stuff,corner etc with their seat up??? Deluded,or what??

Is it so difficult to understand the word "better"? The defensive posturing by all those that never drop their seats is quite embarrassing. Get over yourselves!

I don't care if you want to ignore the benefits of lowering your seat at times but it's simply bad advice (and potentially dangerous) to make out that everything should be ridden with the saddle up at XC height. Almost everything can be but I guarantee you'll crash more with a high seat than with a low seat if riding all the same features at the same speed.

[img] &hmac=7e8bd7882cf5c609714312cf9d77e935[/img]

So, in summary: you don't *have* to drop your saddle, but many prefer to do so. Cool.

I even set a PR on the widowmaker. Rad huh.

not even a tiny bit..

but answer me this, do you, out of preference ride the descents in and around lustleigh and manaton with your seat up..?

Two more thoughts:

1. How many riders that crashed on the Olympic XC course may not have done so if they'd had a dropper post?
2. On that course, would dropping your seat and being able to move more fluidly and with less tension result in sufficient time saved and muscles rested downhill to make up for the ~200g weight penalty uphill?

but answer me this, do you, out of preference ride the descents in and around lustleigh and manaton with your seat up..?

About halfway....

Interesting that folk who need to drop their saddles seem a bit threatened by those who don't...

Interesting that those that don't like dropper seat posts feel the need to justify why not and willy wave about how much better they are than the losers who do.

Let's not forget that people here are not just usernames, we're all humans, so try and reply with respect to all fellow cycle enthusiasts!

It has degenerated into the usual 'You're wrong' crap.

Your sneery condescending OP set the tone tbh.

Can you really NOT ride stuff without hitting that button on the heavy expensive post, or stopping to do a twist 'n' drop?

Glitchy bump 🙂

One of the shittest threads ever.

Fact.

I think this is the problem - I wasn't being sneery and condesdending! I was highlighting my opinion on dropper posts. Some people get very touchy instead if taking things at face value 🙂 Enough insults eh?

grum - Member
Your sneery condescending OP set the tone tbh.

One of the shittest threads ever.

Fact.

Bah..! typical.. pretty much my funniest posts ever are contained in this shitty thread..

🙁