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davidtaylforth - Member
and a Met parachute
This is the essential part of riding somewhere as gnarly as Glentress.
Glasgowdan
No offence meant but I've seen you ride a mountain bike and you're not qualified to come on here giving your advice on how to ride techy trails without a dropper post when you can't actually put it into practice.
People, please don't take anything this man says as good advice, he once put a 500lb spring on a heckler to turn it into a 'hardcore hardtail', I poop you not. That's why he had to take a break from mtb, he went off a drop, bottomed out the suspension then the rebound catapulted him into outer space where he came up with his theory on dropper posts.
Again, no offence intended Dan.
😯
The irony is that I've seen the OP (Dan) crash over his bars here on our local trails on tricky steep sections...!!
My riding buddy never drops his saddle and claims that he didn't like it when he's tried it.
He also faceplants over the bars reguarly 😀
This thread has taken a turn for the better. David taylforth can always be relied on for some premium trolling, and the first hand accounts of the OP are gold. 😆
David taylforth can always be relied on for some premium trolling, and the first hand accounts of the OP are gold
+1, I chuckled at both.
they are good, but I tend to ride my mtb without unless I'm going on big days out. dont like the weight and the added wires and fuss. plus I'm a XC chap 😉
Quick question. How is a dropper post a skill compensator? The only thing it does is replace the [s]need[/s] want to stop and lower your saddle. So the skill that it would be compensating for is the ability to use a qr lever or an allen key.
I can't believe we have 7 pages of arguing about if somebody wants to put their saddle down for a descent or up for a climb. Actually I can, this is STW.
Surely it is more efficient when climbing seated to have your saddle higher I think everyone can just about agree on that. And when descending a bumpy hill it is best to be stood up is it not? It is up to the rider to decide if they want to drop the saddle for this or not, not for the big hitters to tell him what to do.
its a form of weakness
I_Ache - MemberI can't believe we have 7 pages of arguing about if somebody wants to put their saddle down for a descent or up for a climb. Actually I can, this is STW.
Surely it is more efficient when climbing seated to have your saddle higher I think everyone can just about agree on that. And when descending a bumpy hill it is best to be stood up is it not? It is up to the rider to decide if they want to drop the saddle for this or not, not for the big hitters to tell him what to do.
+1 so lets hope we don't need another 7 pages!!
although i use a dropper post (have had issues with reliability so have come and gone on them), i must say i do actually think its a form of cheating so to speak...
if a bloke and myself were to ride the same techy section against eachother and he got down it with his saddle up his arse, and i got down it with my dropper post down, i'd say hats off to the bloke as hes got more skill than me.
thats about as easy as i can sum it up. i do think its easier/better dropping your post, but on some sections that are super techy peak stuff i would NOT like to have my saddle up arse, and thats where my point above comes in, if they can ride it the same as i can with the post down then they clearly have better technical ability than me...
that said most of the stuff we ride is techy and i dont know one person i ride with that doesnt drop their post (even if QR)...
i've ridden trail centres long before i had a dropper (ie, cannock, llandegla, coedy brenin) and i kept it the same height all the way around the black sections...
but on some stuff in the peak, where they are a technical slow challenging section (often off piste etc) i must say ive always ridden with my post down...having a dropper means i probably do it a bit more often, and i couldnt go back now ive got a decent reliable one...
i do think those xc racers who have the seats right up there arse are ultimately highly skilled, as not only are some sections techy, but also the speed at which they do it, takes some massive gonads that.
Oscillate Wildly - Memberif a bloke and myself were to ride the same techy section against eachother and he got down it with his saddle up his arse, and i got down it with my dropper post down, i'd say hats off to the bloke as hes got more skill than me.
Bit like suspension?
We're going to need some sort of universally agreed spreadsheet to calculate all the relevant skill-massaging factors. How do we rate my Carrera? It's a £300 halfords bike with rigid forks, but has a gravity dropper fitted. I'm going to go out on a limb and rate that as a -7
I'm sure I could get down a lot of trails with my saddle up that I usually ride with my saddle down. However I am certain that I would be a lot slower with the saddle up.
Its riding the same section at the same speed that would decide who has more skill. I can't see anybody being able to ride Fort Bill at the same speed on the same bike once with saddle up and once with it down. Hell forget Fort Bill, I bet its not even possible on False Teeth at CyB.
The thing that everyone seems to be missing is that it's much more fun to ride with your saddle not smacking you in the arse/balls.
[i]The thing that everyone seems to be missing is that it's much more fun to ride with your saddle [s]not[/s] smacking you in the arse/balls.[/i]
ftfy 😉
The sport has evolved since the 90s. Or have you never bothered to take a look at whats going on in MBUK?
Top trollage
I lower my saddle for the same reason I don't use a spiked metal ball as a saddle
Jeez is this still going on ..... , my mate has marin high clearance bb its like climbing aboard the deadwood stage, you f***wits are missing the point completely -dropper posts make it easier to mount and dismount without spoiling your holiday money.
committed saddle dropper here and stuff I normally speed along with the saddle down is taken slower and in less control with saddle up. With that in mind there's stuff I wouldn't even attempt with my saddle up, the kind of trail/line that's on the limits of my abilities. So yeah it does affect my riding a bit.
Even stuff that's not that technical I can ride faster without the saddle in the way, I can hunker down, lower CoG, more space to move, better weight shifting, hopping and cornering.
Currently manage with QR, really should fit a dropper post.
First decent answer for a while, thanks! So there's someone who won't attempt something without adjusting the saddle, obvious benefits in doing it for them. In riding, confidence is a big thing and if something can help that confidence that can only be a good thing.
I admit if I was doing an uplift type of thing where the focus was solely on a big technical downhill, I no doubt WOULD put the seat down a bit. My point is that I am trying my hardest to hone my skills and be able to ride steadily without doing it so will try to leave it alone at all times. This still means I wouldn't use a dropper post as I rarely do that type of riding. I keep it where it is for trail centre stuff, if DH became something I did then that's another story.
D0NK - Member
committed saddle dropper here and stuff I normally speed along with the saddle down is taken slower and in less control with saddle up. With that in mind there's stuff I wouldn't even attempt with my saddle up, the kind of trail/line that's on the limits of my abilities. So yeah it does affect my riding a bit.Even stuff that's not that technical I can ride faster without the saddle in the way, I can hunker down, lower CoG, more space to move, better weight shifting, hopping and cornering.
Currently manage with QR, really should fit a dropper post.
First decent answer for a while, thanks! So there's someone who won't attempt something without adjusting the saddle, obvious benefits in doing it for them. In riding, confidence is a big thing and if something can help that confidence that can only be a good thing.
Confidence is all well and good but it won't magically keep you on your bike once your CoG is heading past the front wheel axle - as I gather you've frequently found!
Caveat first of all - I have virtually non-existent technical skills.
26"
Presta
Turn bike upside down
SPDs
I would like to try a dropper but my bike has a 27.2mm seat tube and 1. I'm not changing it and 2. I'm not aware that anyone makes a reliable and affordable dropper in that size (happy to be corrected of course).
Without a dropper I just cannot get on with dropping my seatpost as I find I cannot get my feet in the clips for some reason owing to feet / brain interface malfunction, and then cannot pedal through anything so just end up flailing hopelessly before stopping on the first large obstacle.
I have nothing more to add.
I'm not changing it and 2. I'm not aware that anyone makes a reliable and affordable dropper in that size (happy to be corrected of course).
Gravity dropper.
This thread is dull dull dull dull. At least back in the days the XC vs Gnarcore use to be funny
I think we have to salute Glasgowdan for carrying on regardless here!
ononeorange - Member2. I'm not aware that anyone makes a reliable and affordable dropper in that size (happy to be corrected of course).
The original and still the best, Gravity Dropper. Highly reliable, but because it looks like a dalek's knob everyone buys unreliable pretty ones instead then complains when they break 😉 Juan is spot on.
Just thought I would add to the argument further by saying I have just fitted a Specialized Command Post to my bike. I used to have a ks but it went wrong a couple of years ago.
This is on a 160mm FS
26" wheels
Flip to remove wheels
9 gears and
big discs.
I haven't even bothered with a quick release seat clamp on my last 3 bikes, just Allen bolts.
I can't work out if that makes me very right, or very, very wrong.
I got a dropper post and hated it. Most of my rides I have my saddle low anyway and pedal standing up a lot. Took the dropper post back to the UK and fitted it to my Patriot and thought it was great. But I don't need one here in Sweden as I ride mostly steep technical ups and downs, rocks, roots and Sweedshore [img] 
[/img] where having a seat way up high does not really help most of the time.
So I have come to the opposite conclusion to everyone else that dropper posts are for mincers who do long fire road ascents followed by techy downhills (Like I was doing in the UK, trail centres and my own creations). I only like my saddle high when going on stuff that is rather like a road otherwise both up and down it tends to get in the way.