Can you go too long on a dropper post?

Currently riding 170mm but new bike comes with 200 and has option of 230.  It feels like super long posts are likely to be less reliable and I could probably have got a longer post in the current bike but have never felt a pressing need. Has anyone gone extra long and regretted it?

I haven’t yet,  but it was a close one in my most recent bike.

Durability concerns aside,  at full extension it is just right for me. Had i got a 200 it would have been too long and I would have been having to push it back down to pedal which would have been annoying

I’ve got long legs – won’t have an issue pedalling,  just whether masssive drop would actually get annoying or be unreliable

I think the only real limit is whether it fits you and the frame insertion space. I could possibly have gone for 200 instead of 170 but it would have been slammed to fit my legs might have been very marginal if I wore thinner shoes. I don’t think reliability is really a issue?

It somewhat depends what you’re riding. I’ve got 180 drop on my current bike, and I only really want a longer drop where it gets super steep.

As others have said it also matters how long your inside leg is.

But generally longer is better.

When I upgrade, I’ll probably be going to 210.

Also if very long means slamming it in the seat tube, check for saddle-tyre clearance at full compression.

I have a 130mm travel 29er with 430mm chainstays, and with the Brand-X type dropper not even slammed it only just clears the saddle at full travel. Slam the dropper, shift the saddle back on the rails, or get a low-stack dropper and I’m sure there’d be contact.

Aside from the obvious, does it fit the frame, does it put you in the correct riding position, does it clear the rear wheel at full travel, I did here someone once suggest that too low was hard on their knees having to squat so low to compress it.

If you can I haven’t found how much it would take yet. Stepping up from 150 to 200 I thought ‘this might be the point where I don’t need the drop’ as felt hard to drop it all the way, but about two weeks in you’d have had to break in and steal it to get it back. Going back to 125 the other bike now feels limiting!

I’m sure at some point there stops being a benefit for a given human/bike combination but I haven’t found it for mine yet.

On reliability, I’m sure all other things being equal a longer dropper is probably more prone to problems but likely other things matter more. Mine have got more reliable as they’ve got longer but I assume that’s just people figuring out how to make posts better.

Yes. It’s called an ejector seat.

180mm dropper in my Strive. With 170mm cranks the post was slammed, but now with 165mm cranks I’ve had to raise it 5mm.

I’ve got a 240 on my Norco Sight and I love it. At full extension it fits perfectly and when I drop it it’s absolutely gone. The only thing I hit my arse on now is the rear tyre.

Not sure why it would be unreliable, it’s got the same guts as every other dropper.

Full suss MTB has a 200mm reverb and hardtail has 240mm.

It would be better the other way round but the 240mm won’t fit even when spaced down to 220mm as the full suss has a ring of reinforcement deep in the seat tube.

240mm is awesome on ultra steep stuff, but mostly my hardtail doesn’t get ridden places like that. At full drop it’s a bit awkward getting it back up due to the way my legs sit.

I mostly agree with this

https://theradavist.com/240mm_oneup_v2_dropper_post/

But when I was at the bike park I’d push the previous 170mm dropper into the frame. For me 200mm is great

As long as it fits, ime it’s fine. I can see the reliability argument- it’s a longer lever basically- but it’s never seemed to be a problem, maybe it wears the bushings just a little bit faster but they’re still longlived (especially as really long droppers tend to be better made), it doesn’t seem to cause any outright failure risks.

The only downside I’ve ever found is that with the 240mm dropper in my hardtail, the seat’s <completely> out of the way. Not just out of the way of me, but also of all the mud, I definitely get wetter and mankier on it than on any other bike I have. It’s like having a negative mudguard fitted.

The other thing is that I do reckon it’s diminishing returns, 185mm for me is about the point where it stopped feeling <too> short, every other time I added extra length it wasn’t just like “this is better”, it was “the old one was really obviously in the way”. But 185 to 210mm didn’t have as much impact, it was “this is better but it’s not night and day”. The feeling of going from “too little” to “good enough” is way, way bigger than going from “good enough” to “better”. I guess that tipping point is in different places for different riders.

210 to 240 was still worthwhile but it becomes a difference more like “if I had a choice I would choose this, if I already had the 210 I would not replace it”, most of the time.

Just put a 210 in and loving it. I dont see any downsides. Riding my other bike tomorrow that ‘only’ has 170 so it will be interesting to compare

The value of adjustable travel droppers!

I won’t tolerate any post showing out of the frame for some weird OCD reasons. It has to be slammed.

So lucky to have got those cheap £60 Trans X dropper, 170-200mm.

It happens to be perfect at 200mm but so much flexibility otherwise.

I see e13 do it too with their Vario.

I think it can depend on the bike. My trail bike has a 210mm post which is great. My xc bike has a 180mm which feels too much for that bike. Same post felt great on the trail hardtail that the xc bike replaced. The drop length feels a bit like it is compromising the ride a bit.

Agree with Northwind. I have gone from 210 to 240 on my new bike, I could run a 270 if one was available. Don’t see the point apart from aesthetics though, wasn’t a huge difference going from 210 to 240 and it is that bit harder dropping it all the way as you’re rolling into something steep

Yoo long and the saddle will be too high.

Im short and find most frames wont let me run longer than a 100mm dropper.