Anyone runninng a dropper on a gravel bike?

I’ve just ordered a new Sonder Camino frame to replace my ancient On One cross bike and have a spare, 125mm Thomson dropper sat around, which I could fit. Obviously I could just stick it on and see what I think – assuming there’s enough clearance obviously – but wondering if anyone here is running a dropper on a gravel bike and whether it’s worth the hassle / additional weight?

For context, I’m in the Peak District and the bike will get used off road on proper steppy, rocky things from time to time.

Also wondering about dropper lever options.

Totally depends on what you’re take on ‘gravel’ is, but from that description of intended use I’d say yes.

I run a 150mm FaceFace post (rebranded Brand X) on my Cascade via the proper GRX LH dropper lever. Not cheap option for the lever though but it works incredibly well in practice. I don’t need 150mm drop but I had it spare from an old MTB build.

I bought one in the CRC fire sale but I haven’t got round to fitting it.

Yes I’m running the PNW dropper with a PRO lever.

I ride in the Pennines and think it’s well worth it for what you’re describing, especially as you already have the post.

Make sure you spend a bit of time placing the lever in a comfortable to use spot before you tape up the bars

Make sure you spend a bit of time placing the lever in a comfortable to use spot before you tape up the bars

Thanks. On the drops presumably? How do you find the PRO lever? Any reason you opted for that over the PNW one?

I run a 150mm FaceFace post (rebranded Brand X) on my Cascade via the proper GRX LH dropper lever.

I have the standard double left-hand lever, so not really an option as I want to keep the possibility of going 2x up front at some point.

Yep. Came on my digger- activated by LH Brifter.  Just 125mm but I use it all the time off road when I’m messing about in easy singletrack.  Definitely opens up more terrain and I don’t worry about the weight.

yup, connected to my left hand rival? shifter on my nukeproof digger

weight isn’t anything I can notice, bike is carrying tools, water bottles, top bag with more kit in…what’s ~400g in the addition of a dropper

I use it in a variety of ways

mounting and dismounting

tucking on fast (road) descents

slightly dropped for pedalling over rough surfaces

all the way down for MTB trails and jumps

I don’t have one on my gravel bike at the moment.

If I was riding “gravel” in the peaks I’d have it on like a shot.

I’d rather have an excellent bike that was super fun than a light bike that smacked me with the saddle on tricky bits.

Before droppers I rode around stopping at the top and bottom of every decent to put my saddle down and up. This includes tame stuff in the peaks because it was more fun riding with the saddle down.

“gravel” means so many different things, but

I’m in the Peak District and the bike will get used off road on proper steppy, rocky things from time to time.

definitely in this instance!

I really like mine, use it most rides if I’m doing any proper singletrack, or even on fast road descents seems to give a bit more confidence!

I’m currently building up a Camino and will be fitting a 160 Bikeyoke Revive. I might need to reduce the travel slightly but I’m certainly more mountain biker end of gravel than the roadie end.

I’ve got some 1×12 GRX 610 shifters that came with the bike, I replaced them with 820 just for the integrated dropper lever. However, there’s a nubbin on the left hand lever that stops it swinging in. Perhaps removing this might make it a dropper lever. Need to take a closer look.

I’m riding in the same areas as you and using a One Up V2 set at 110mm on my Mason ISO. After loads of tinkering, I settled on a Fox lever. That’s a really nice lever and means the post can be operated from the drops or hoods. I use it all the time and wouldn’t have the bike without it now. The only slight annoyance is that when I’m getting tired, I’m forever hitting the left shifter (Rival AXS) when I mean to hit the dropper lever! I know at that point that it’s time for a rest 🙂

I also installed a £50 Wiggle dropper on the wife’s Camino. That’s just 80mm (iirc) and is set up with the lever that came with the post (Installed next to the stem). That’s still useful, but the Fox lever is so much better.

I can take photos later. Or pop over to Marple for a look.

Yup. My Fugio came with a 50mm drop one, run from the proper GRX LH dropper lever. The tiny drop was surprisingly effective.

I’ve now got a 90mm Oneup on my Warbird and I’m very happy with that. Occasionally I’d like more, but I suspect I’d be definitely trying to push things beyond what the frame forks and wheels are designed for (and not in a good way)

I did demo a couple of bikes that had the “clamp on in the hook” type lever and really didn’t get on with them. Really awkward to access and quite uncomfortable when in the drops. So I’d kind of suggest that “gravel dropper = 1x”…

Same as Jon above, I have a 50mm dropper actuated by the left GRX lever that came on my Fugio,  I do use it and was very pleased to have it on Saturday when I descended on the Penine bridleway down to the Monsal trail.

I’ve a brand x dropper with a pro lever. If I was doing it again and feeling flush I’d buy the PWN coast dropper with a bit of suspension too. If I was feeling really flush I’d go for the GRX left brake lever with the built in dropper control.

Without having the GRX option I think the pro is the next best option. I started out with the standard lever that mounts next to the stem but it just suit me – at the point where I think “you know what my saddle out of the way would be a good thing right now”, the last thing I want to do is take my hand off the bars! It’s like those early crotch grab levers (ok, probably not quite so bad). The pro lever can be access on the hoods and in the drops – like what where your hands are when you want to use it. Also I found the near stem lever didn’t really work with a bar bag, with the cable coming out of the front.

As to actually needing it……jury is still out. I use it because I’ve got it but I’d sure I’d be fine without it too. My old school mtb riding pre droppers was way more rowdy than my gravel riding and I didn’t always stop to drop the sandle. I’d say at most its a nice-to-have and no more.

Do most gravel bikes now come with a hole in the seattube for internal droppers or are people drilling their own? Or are external droppers available in 27.2?

Id not worry about the weight

i have one, but then again I also have a fox fork on mine. The limiting factor now (other than my skill) is the tyres.

If I’m honest, by the time I’m needing to use a dropper I’m probably in the domain of an mtb being a better bet. But for a few hundred yards each ride it’s not a bad option

Routing wise, I used the internal routing hole for the (non-existant) front mech to get cable into the frame then just up the seatube from the bottom. Quite a tight bend there, but has worked fine for a year now.

I am fortunate to have 2 nice gravel bikes, one with and one without. The Revolt X is setup more for singletrack and gravel, the Diverge for gravel and road.  They ride quite differently as a result, and for what I use the Revolt for, the dropper is ideal. It tends to be used on stuff that I used to use a 29er HT for. I do also have a FS eMTB tho.

@iainc do you have anything about the Revolt you don’t like? Was looking at the non-x version the other day and couldn’t get away from the fact that the seat tube cover thing just wouldn’t go back into place. It was. Revolt Advanced 1 so came with a dropper installed rather than the ‘d’ post.

^^ I can’t really fault it, though I did get the supplying LBS to swop out the Giant dropper to the Reverb AXS, as the oem one gets mixed/poor reviews.  The wee rubber seat tube cover hasn’t moved on mine, but forums suggest others find it pops out – I put a bit of grease on mine and it’s fine so far.

Thanks for all the feedback, really appreciated. I’ll give the dropper a go and see how it goes. I do ride the current cross bike on all that stuff without a dropper quite happily, but  I’m curious and as I already have the post and…

Do most gravel bikes now come with a hole in the seattube for internal droppers or are people drilling their own? Or are external droppers available in 27.2?

… the Camino comes complete with a dropper cable port, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer.

Oh, Camino frame and fork is currently on special offer at £499 as opposed to £599, also several hundred off complete Camino builds. I posted it on the stickied PSA thread this morning, but in case anyone’s interested 🙂

Or are external droppers available in 27.2?

Yes. I’ve got a Tranz X one – same as the PNW but cheaper.

The one time I rode my gravel bike on that sort of stuff,  I was terrified and desperately wished that I had a dropper post.

yeah, arguably more critical on a gravel bike for the same terrain – the geometry is steeper, and you really want your hands in the drops on the tricky steep stuff, so you’re even more compromised with body position.

the geometry is steeper

yup! I’ve noticed if I come to a full stop on steep stuff, without the seat dropped the bike can actually want to pivot me over the front wheel 😳😂

although my previous bike (original CdF, so pre-“gravel” really!) I needed to be on the drops, current one (Topstone Lefty) I actually prefer just being on the hoods for technical stuff 🤷‍♂️

Ive got one on my Canyon Grizl – controlled from the GRX lever and its been great. For me its been most useful when bike packing as being able to drop the saddle when stopped really helps balance the bike/load and makes mounting / remounting a bit easier. Its also quite nice to drop the saddle for more technical terrain but I couldnt really say how much it helped as I’ve got a short travel suspension fork on the front which makes a much greater difference descending.

Think the lever is particularly important for a dropper on a drop bar bike. I fitted one in haste for the 3 peaks with the lever on the tops and it worked ok for that event, but it’s a bit rubbish overall, I rarely use it.

Moving your hands reactively to drop the post on a cross bike, when you’re already committed to a technical section, can be very iffy. GRX lever or some other clever way of positioning the lever (or button) near your hand ride position would make a big difference.

I can get a much better aero-tuck on my gravel bike (Diverge) with a dropper than my road bike (Giant TCR), so the terminal velocity on steep descents on the Diverge is several kmhs faster than the TCR… 👍

Edit: to add, my neck isn’t constricted for forward visibility in said lower aero tuck either, so that’s another bonus

They are great when exploring. Those trails where you don’t know what’s around the next corner, even a few cm of saddle drop makes all the difference. I’d say get one that activates by the brifter (if running 1 X obvs) as you can stay on the drops and activate it. Much more control that way. Otherwise all the plusses of having on on an MTB count on the gravel bike too.

The added bonus is that for some reason it makes the “I can ride anything with a std post, I don’t need a dropper” brigade even more angry when the bike has drop bars.

It’s an expensive option but the Reverb AXS paired to the SRAM Rival 1x levers is a joy to use – one lever shifts gears up, one shifts gears down, both at once activates the dropper.

So sram Rival double tap LH shifter will work as a dropper lever? As is or any mods needed?
Got a spare 80mm dropper may stick in the Camino if existing lever will do the job.

If you are 1x Rival you can set it in the app that pressing both left and right levers simultaneously activate the reverb. No mods required, simple setup in the app.

Not sure how to set up to work on other levers, 2 x etc, but it’s probs online somewhere

Good old mechanical shifting no app required 😉

Ah, I was talking solely about full AXS setup

In the process of building a new Pipedream Alice and it will have a dropper activated by the l/h GRX lever

got 170mm brand x on my Sutra, actuated by the font mech shifter, since it doesnt have a front mech.

wouldnt be without it! not that i ever ride the thing…