Is Nino Schurter a common reference ? I only picked him as he’s a household name in bike handling 🙂

Tbh although the reverb ref is tongue in cheek. As far as troublesome bike parts go – we have had much less dropper related mechanical issues since everyone in our group stopped using them… *My saddles dropping * *my saddle won’t go up * *my seats posts **** again*

Seems like they overly complicated the issue.

Is Nino Schurter a common reference

Christ aye, every time a dropper thread comes up, the curmudgeons cite that fella, ditto 29ers, ditto wearing lycra.

I had reverb on a few bikes, no real issues with it other than the odd bleed. The main issues were folk that thought they were fit and forget. You wouldn’t not maintain your brakes, suspension or gearing, dropper is in the same boat.

Edit – household name? Steady now! Come to think of it, I haven’t ever knowingly seen the guy riding a bike, watching XC is up there with formula 1 and horse racing in the dullness games.

Cable actuated droppers are even less faff than a reverb…

To the people saying they ride with the saddle quite low anyway to enable a bit more flexibility, what you’re actually saying is you ride with the saddle at a compromised height?! Too low for maximum pedalling efficiency on the uphill and easy stuff, and probably still a bit in the way on the descents.

With a dropper there is no compromise, you can have your saddle in the best position for each bit of trail without having to stop and without compromise.

I put off getting a dropper for a long time, seen them as expensive and pointless.

Now the bikes I have that don’t have one feel like they are hampered.

On my Arkose first ride I was heading over Whinlatter Pass and decided to duck in and try the blue trail, shit that was scary at speed being that high up. Still no dropper on that bike but I can see why gravel bikes would benefit if you’re linking up various trails with road.

Funny that folk would think their seatpost is fit and forget such as it has been for decades bar the yearly scrape and grease.

As for xc racing being dull…. It’s certainly more engaging than a downhill time trials.

But tbh watching downhill is ruined for me. It just makes me want to buy a dh bike again.

It’s all about making the riding experience better along with wider bars, wider rims , bigger tyres , shorter stems , slacker head angles etc etc . They are not essential but they just make the bike more capable . There are a lot of trails now that are being ridden today that were unrideable 15 years ago and that is mostly because of improvements to bike design .

There are a lot of trails now that are being ridden today that were unrideable 15 years ago and that is mostly because of improvements to bike design

Does that also mean that a lot of trails that were rideable 15 years ago are more dull because of improvements to bike design?

Possibly , or perhaps you can just ride those trails faster and have more fun on them . You could always get a 26″ rigid with canti brakes and semi slick 1.9 tyres pumped up to 40psi if you wanted a bit less dullness or alternatively get a gravel bike .

Why? NOt something I have ever felt a need for and I don’t have one on any of my bikes

TJ, as such an expert in all things automotive you will surely be aware of the aim to keep centre of gravity low to improve handling. Droppers do that on MTBs.

I didn’t buy one for years, never thought them important. But now I have two I have got used to being able to move around much more, so not being able to do so is limiting.

If you’ve never used one you won’t see the benefit as you’ll be used to not using them. But now I hate cornering with my weight miles up in the air to the point that I sometimes drop mine for a single sharp corner on a road.

MOlgrips – as above – the type of riding I do only needs the seat up or down once or twice a ride.

simplify and add lightness.

I have no issues with others using them. Its just not for me and the way I ride in the terrain I ride in

Yes to droppers.

Before having one I always thought it to be a gimmick. riding in the alps usually means 1-3 hour slog uphill, a break and something to eat at the top with plenty of time to lower your saddle.

However, dropper just works. Quick stop, drop.

Now having someone in the group without a dropper is tiresome if you’re riding a tail with lots of ups and downs. Constant stopping to lower the post. Another stop to raise it. Stop again because it’s not quite at the right height…. And so on.

I’ve even fitted an on X-Fusion post to my Bullitt….waiting at lights and getting off is easier. If I’m wearing flops rather than trainers or the GF wants to use it out can be ridden without faffing with the seat clamp.

All my bikes won’t have dropper posts, ever.

Yes I have tried one.

Isn’t freedom of choice great?

There are a lot of trails now that are being ridden today that were unrideable 15 years ago and that is mostly because of improvements to bike design .

There is one downhill that I look at these days and think no effing way.

I used to ride it in the 90s on a rigid bike with cantis.

Solid proof there that I was talking rubbish then .

Possibly , or perhaps you can just ride those trails faster and have more fun on them . You could always get a 26″ rigid with canti brakes and semi slick 1.9 tyres pumped up to 40psi if you wanted a bit less dullness or alternatively get a gravel bike .

Agreed (apart from cantis!) I have more fun on those bits of trail on a rigid 26 or the frankenbike. Can’t really ride them at warp speed due to other trail users.

I can understand how useful they are to many especially if you like having the seat up on climbs.

I fitted one before heading off to do Beskidy mtb trophy. Being able to drop on unsighted descents is great, and being a XC stage race, you have to go up too.

I know guys who refuse to fit them, and did swiss epic like that, so each to their own.

I use a Specialized command post, and really like the ability to drop 50mm for pedally, but technical or twisty trails. It is one concern I have going to a infinite adjust seat post, mine has been completely reliable, and the stepped drop works for me.

I might consider one if they only drop 50mm

You make one of the rare good points on the thread Shread.

And it formed part of a chat I had with Geoff kabush during a zwift event.

“All you Europeans come over here to do the BC bike race and you keep bringing your European race bikes with your heads down and your arse up. Bring trail bikes you’ll do better”

Match the bike to the terrain. Much as I might like to think I’m always riding gnarly new trails…..the bulk of my riding is done locally on trails I know well that are relatively tame just because the laws of geography and I dislike losing riding time to the car. So many people go nuclear and end up riding things like g160s* on towpaths when a lighter shorter travel bike would make a higher proportion of their riding more enjoyable.

*When I was 14 I often did my paper round on my DH bike but then I grew up and realised how idiotic it was

Terry, the change in bike geometry since your dh days means that even with a 180mm dropper on my Bronson, it’s at knee height when dropped and I’m stood up, same as dh bikes were.

Another 2 advantages are dropping an inch for pedalling through techy flat sections maintaining speed, and the ability to set your saddle height perfectly at your extended height, no **** about looking for marks on the seatpost and lining up the saddle.

XC racing is still dull, I’m not giving you that one! 🤣

I might consider one if they only drop 50mm

Most of them are infinitely adjustable, you can drop them as much or as little as you want. If you want, you can clamp something around the inner shaft to limit the travel (a reflector mounting bracket, for example).

Another thing to consider is steeper seat tubes. Lots of folk still riding bikes with seat tube angles at 74/75 degs, and the saddle position isn’t necessarily that big a deal when you start descending. Seat tubes have got steeper recently 77degs isn’t that uncommon, the saddle’s pretty much where you need to be for good decending, so a dropper post makes much more sense.

simplify and add lightness.

[toungue in cheek] says the man who extols the virtues of gearboxes… [/tongue in cheek]

🙂

TJ mentioned a trail at GT that’s been closed for years. That shows how often he does any kind of mtbing. As usual Northwind nailed it early on. I rode at Drumlanrig last winter and can’t imagine riding there without a dropper, well I can but it wouldn’t be as much fun or it’d be a lot more tiring. Lots of last minute saddle drops then pop it back up for the next pedally section.

Christ aye, drumlanrig is droppertastic, I reckon doing the full black I’d be onto treble figures on number of times I use it.

I tried one a few years back but kept forgetting it was there so rarely used it. I’ve still got it so might dig it out and try it again.

With a dropper you find more places to drop the post even on the same ride. For example, on my most local loop there is a long descent that’s not technical. But I drop the post at the top because there are steep hairpins, then I keep it low to duck some branches but there a short climb where I pop it back up. After that it’s down again for the next bit then in the middle for the last pedally section. There’s no way I would do that if I had to stop or get off each time. Of course I would ride it with my seat up all the time (and I have done hundreds of times) but it’s just much more fun with the dropper. Even though it’s not what you’d call technical, and you don’t NEED it dropped at all because you can still ride it quickly without. I don’t have one on my rigid bike and I still ride the same descent.

I’M feeling all nostalgic . It’s just like the old days of arguing about bar widths.

It’s as if the last 4 years never happened.

I think it does depend on terrain, but also how/when you learnt to ride

I’m not sure that’s completely true. First started messing around the woods and hills in 1987. Lots of my local riding has always been rolling – not long, technical, steep descents or endless climbs – although I have always loved them. I think I got my first dropper in 2011/2012. So around 25 years of non-dropper riding.

I love dropping the post – to chuck the bike about a bit, playing about, cruising over underrating rough ground and obviously descents and less obviously dropped a bit for technical climbs.

I think it’s more about how you like to ride and how much/easily you have modified your riding style.

oi grandads it’s not laps of a muddy field anymore – https://www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-checks-5-xc-race-weapons-from-the-2019-nove-mesto-world-cup.html – last years XC racing. 4 out of 5 in this article have droppers (that BMC one is well hidden).

In the real (non professional racing) world, some people like them, some don’t. Some can really make a bike dance beneath them even with the saddle all the way up, others will have the seat dropped at every opportunity, just to go round one corner.

There are many reasons not to have one: cost, simplicity, fear of it breaking, weight weenieism, compatabilty with seatpost based luggage, comfort for long distance rides, terrain as TJ describes where the ride is just one big up and down.
And really one massive reason to have one: basically better performance and enjoyment over any off road terrain.

What I really do not get though, is people who have them, and don’t use them. Saving them for the one steep chute on the route, while they ride like a bag of wooden sticks with their dropper in the up position

If all bikes had droppers and 1x gearing I think more people would ride them – I don’t mean MTBs, I mean practical urban bikes for commuting etc.

Bikes are easier to get on and off with dropper posts, easier to pedal uphill because less confident riders can have their seat at full height and easier to ride downhill because it’s less scary than having a full height seat. And you can swap between different height riders more easily.

And 1x gearing is so much less confusing. Proper cyclists will disagree with all of this.

good urban bikes use hub gears. Look at what is sold in the rest of europe and a utility bike does not have the high BB of an MTB so no issues with getting on and off or going downhill

And 1x gearing is so much less confusing. Proper cyclists will disagree with all of this.

I’d hope I’m a proper cyclist, but I’m 1x for life now. (Practical and affordable internal gears notwithstanding).

If I ever did go back to road riding for fitness – there’s no point where I live now – 1x would be a must have for me.

1 button for faster, one for slower. Why people think needlessly complicating matters makes them a better or more pure cyclist is beyond me.

Yay another dropper thread!

So a few points, as ayjaydoubleyou points out comaptibility is not universal, some folk would probably be shocked to know folk still ride bikes with 27.2mm or even 26.8mm seat tubes!

Convenience for getting in the car. Jump on bike, hit switch, post goes down. Open QR, drop post. Nah I’m not buying that, it’s marginal at best.

Maintenance. Big one here.

View this post on Instagram

Removing a seized dropper from a steel frame #seatpostremoval #seatpostpuller #seizeddropperpost #seizedseatpost

A post shared by Stirling Bike Doctor (@stirlingbikedoctor) on Jun 29, 2020 at 4:35am PDT

That’s what you need when the damn things get seized, think he makes a post featuring that beast every other week. Yes, fit, forget, repent at leisure. Normal posts get seized too I hear you say, perhaps but if you’re moving them regularly then ususally not.

Don’t get me wrong, I see the appeal depending on the terrain but TBH I would see more benefit having an unshimmed post than a dropper for quick adjustments.

TJ, as such an expert in all things automotive you will surely be aware of the aim to keep centre of gravity low to improve handling. Droppers do that on MTBs.

Really? Maybe you should have studied naval architecture.

What’s the weight of a standard post and QR VS a dropper? How high above the bike’s centre of mass is the post?

Droppers raise the centre of mass. Basic physics.

What’s the weight of a standard post and QR VS a dropper? How high above the bike’s centre of mass is the post?

Droppers raise the centre of mass. Basic physics.

The rider is the heaviest part of the system, by a massive amount. The CoM will probably be somewhere around the rider’s stomach. A dropper post lets you lower the rider by 4 to 6 inches, so the CoM will be much lower.

Also, you can move around much more easily. I used a 4″ travel GravityDropper for years, then switched to a 6″ travel Brand-X. I put the GD on my spare bike, but hate it because I’m constantly smashing my nuts into the back of the saddle, having gotten used to the 6″ post now.

Haven’t really used a dropper for a few years since the reverb dumped it’s oil for the xxth time. When I was riding golfie etc it’s either seat up or seat down and now I live in a flat place it’s just seat up so not missed having one much. Definitely good on group rides with lots of up and down though.

In the real (non professional racing) world, some people like them, some don’t. Some can really make a bike dance beneath them even with the saddle all the way up, others will have the seat dropped at every opportunity, just to go round one corner.

I was pretty quick in XC races on the flats and downs (just slow as hell on the climbs) back in the 00s when I used to do it. I’m sure I’m quicker now with bigger wheels, wider bars, better geo, better suspension, better tyres and a dropper – but then, so is everyone else probably 🙂

But it is much more fun. DHers always have their seats down, and this is for a reason. So clearly having your seat down is good for descents. And there are many short descents on my rides so being able to put it up and down instantly is a big convenience.

Bejeebus, can’t some people just accept that if they don’t feel the need for something, it doesn’t make it wrong, and there doesn’t actually need to be an argument about it? However…

Normal posts get seized too I hear you say, perhaps but if you’re moving them regularly then ususally not.

So an argument for not using a dropper is that if you don’t have one, you manually adjust your seat with the QR so much, that there’s no chance of it being left for a long time and seizing?

Excellent. Definitely unneeded tech then.

And there are many short descents on my rides so being able to put it up and down instantly is a big convenience.

This to me is a key thing. I can think of one ride I did where I wanted one. But as most of my riding I would only adjust it once or twice a a 3 hr ride I see no point