Dropper Posts – Do they work yet and are they the future?

Building up my new frame and thinking that I might be able to get a couple of purchases past the wife at the same time. Forks have swallowed one chunk of money and a headset looks likely to take another lump.

Thinking a dropper seat post might be an idea for Christmas which will give me more to waste on the headset.

Which dropper posts work and what is the best place to get them?

Scare stories welcome, I am going to die anyway…

£74 = http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/251319794548?lpid=83&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=83

£174 = http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/mtb-parts/saddles-posts-1/seatposts/rockshox-reverb-seatpost.html?utm_campaign=googlebase-GB&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shopping&utm_term=Seatposts&gclid=CMz9oa7x37oCFYbLtAodwlAA1Q

£224 = http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rockshox-reverb-mmx-dropper-seat-post-2012/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&utm_source=pla&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=uk&kpid=5360458084

Is the second one £100 better than the first?
Is the last one £50 better than the middle one?

Reverb all the way!

Reverb. Pop up every other day in the classifieds. I would sacrifice almost everything else on my bike before my dropper!

Only used a reverb and had no problems whatsoever.. what size is your seat tube?

I can’t ride a bike without a reverb

They are the future. My Tracer 2 has a KS Lev 125mm. 10 rides in and it is the best bit of kit I’ve purchased in a long time. Gets used all the time during rides, as terrain at my doorstep isn’t of the very high variety. No long-term experience yet.

Got mine from bike-discount.de. Worth every eurocent.

Droppers are the future if you ride up and shred down 😉

Reverbs are hydraulic and will need bleeding at some point. They have a fiddly hydraulic lever which can snap off in a crash.

KS LEVs are cable actuated and will need a new cable at some point. They have a chunkier lever which can get scratched when you turn your bike upside down.

Take your pick 🙂

Reverb. Wish I could fit one to my bikes but seat posts all too narrow. Claire has one and loves it.
A dropper post makes Lordswood come alive….

They aren’t the future. They are now!

And Gravity Droppers work just as well as ever and are dead easy to service (even mid-ride, without tools!) if they get so graunchy they start sticking. Available in 27.2 and just about every other post size too. But they’re not pretty and don’t have a slickly damped lever/spring feel and I gather this is all important with something hidden under you which the back tyre throws mud at…

Personally I’m in the ‘dropper curious’ brigade

Need to upgrade the wheels first and then mebbe ditch the coil shock for a vivid air

And THEN ill mebbe have a look at a reverb

I can’t ride a bike without a reverb

“do they work yet”? Well, the very first proper dropper post ever made works reliably. Lots of the other ones made since don’t 😉 Most criticism comes from people who’ve chosen poorly (which is also why they’re so vocal about it)

One of my KSs is slightly misbehaving just now, think it’s going to have to go in for a professional to poke it, but that’s 2 years of general scottish hell. 3 years for the older one, 4 years for the gravity dropper, none of ’em’s had any serious issues and between them all they’ve had £10 worth of replacement parts and a handful of services- better record than suspension, for me.

early adopter with maverick speedball, went back to normal post and qr, now to gravity dropper.

The 2 Mavericks were great but some movement, convinced myself I did not need one especially after a skills course.

Gravity dropper the mechanism/back plate came off cannot speak highly enough of the customer service brilliant. for the grimy north gravity dropper wu=inning

Would not be without for most rides

I’m in the gravity dropper club too, well, I have one foot in it.

I want a dropper that works, isn’t too much heavier than a normal seatpost and doesn’t have to be sent off to be serviced. I want to be able to strip and clean it myself. As stated above, they get covered in mud and they don’t need to be complicated. They are also much cheaper.

sharkattack – Member

Reverb. Pop up every other day in the classifieds. I would sacrifice almost everything else on my bike before my dropper!

Though considering the frequency with which they reportedly appear in the classifieds, you may be alone… 😉

I have a hydraulic one but just got a Gravity Dropper and I like the gravity dropper better. It just works, is simple and keeps working until it needs fixing, then it works again.

But it depends on your riding style. I think the thing is most people seem to come from and XC or road bike background so are used to having there seat up high most of the time, dropping was the exception. Some others ran their seat post quite low anyway most of the time and only used the QR to raise the saddle for road or boring bits. I don’t mind biking standing up and find the dropper makes me lazy sitting on the saddle when I would get more out of the trail (Pumping, moving my body around and the like) if I did not have a dropper. So I don’t think it as a dropper but a raiser (You have to sit on it to drop it which is harder than just pressing the button to raise).

I thought the survey for dropper was missing an options for serial low saddle junkys.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1170/a70023/eten-remote-hydraulic-drop-post-316mm.html?mfid=730

I’m loving this, weight doesn’t bother me and at 100 quid I can get three for the price of most others. I’m a convert.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1170/a70023/eten-remote-hydraulic-drop-post-316mm.html?mfid=730

I’m loving this, weight doesn’t bother me and at 100 quid I can get three for the price of most others. I’m a convert.

If you don’t care about weight you can go oven cheaper but I wouldn’t.
Good luck

I still can’t perceive of a situation other than, possibly, a desperate Alpine descent (which I would probably walk anyway)where I would need or want one. I took the Reverb Stealth off my Whyte T-129 after two rides and haven’t missed it. Furthermore, my riding buddies, most of which are better riders and all of which are substantially younger and fitter are of the same opinion. A couple of them are extremely skilled technical riders and just don’t feel the need. Emperor’s New Clothes? I think so.

I’ve got a dropper on the ‘big’ bike and wouldn’t want to be without it. It’s great when you’re riding steep ups and downs and don’t want to stop and ‘lose the flow’ (especially when riding with mates who’ve got droppers). On the XC bike I’ve got a fixed post and I’m in no hurry to change. I like the simplicity and don’t want to forget how to ride a bike wihtout a dropper.

In my experience, the Alps are where you don’t need a dropper post as much. Since the downs are much longer (and the ups too!) it’s not such a chore to stop and drop the post. But at home, with more frequent, short ups and downs, I tend to adjust my post height (with my Reverb) multiple times in any one ride.

My advice, for what it’s worth:

125mm drop is much better than 100mm. I have one of each , and the 125mm is much, much more usable.

Remote is really worthwhile.

The Gravity dropper is ugly as sin, but GD are great folks, very helpful and the product is simple stupid. (I still prefer my Reverb though – best bit of kit since I discovered disc brakes).

Reverb if you want most of it’s ownership to be spent in the warranty dept, GD if you actually want to use it & aren’t precious about how it looks

My KS dropzone is nice and solid feeling, but did suffer after its first (muddy) ride not had it long enough to fully comment

my gravity dropper is a fair bit lighter and definately less refined but has lasted well and is certainly easy to maintain

a s/h gravity dropper is a good bet, GD in the states will service it like new for <30 quid including postage7

either way cant see me speccing up a mountainbike without one ever again (well apart from a DHer)

Emperor’s New Clothes? I think so.

There’s always one isn’t there. If you don’t want it, you don’t want it. But for a large proportion of mountain bikers who don’t want to walk down a “desperate alpine descent” they’re one of the few truly great innovations.

I still can’t perceive of a situation other than, possibly, a desperate Alpine descent (which I would probably walk anyway)where I would need or want one. I took the Reverb Stealth off my Whyte T-129 after two rides and haven’t missed it. Furthermore, my riding buddies, most of which are better riders and all of which are substantially younger and fitter are of the same opinion. A couple of them are extremely skilled technical riders and just don’t feel the need. Emperor’s New Clothes? I think so.

Couldn’t agree more. I mean, all those squids racing the EWS using them. What a bunch of wobblers.

younger and fitter are of the same opinion

He’s right only the old & unfit ( and probably ugly) need apply

I still can’t perceive of a situation…

a. You suffer from a lack of imagination
b. You like stopping and use putting your post up/down an excuse
c. You don’t drop your post

?

I have one, but I don’t think they’re the holy grail. Now my mate, who stops at every bloody slight decline to arse around with his saddle height, he should buy one.

failedengineer – Member

A couple of them are extremely skilled technical riders and just don’t feel the need. Emperor’s New Clothes? I think so.

Yeah, you’re right, it’s a crutch for novices and incompetents

Where can I get a Hite-Rite?
And is it not the same thing but simpler?
I remember seeing it on a Breezer in an MBUK issue back in ’94…

Joe Breeze uses a Gravity Dropper apparently 😉

Mate of mine had one back in the Good Old Days when everything related to bikes was shit. it didn’t really work- awkward to drop, and didn’t reliably go back up all the way due to mud etc.

My mate described droppers as the best upgrade you dont need and he wass right.
No probs with my reverb, a year in (admittedly not that much riding) and its been great.
Great upgrade and I do use it a lot on the trails..

I have a 125 mm KL Lev on my two main bikes. Best thing ever! It really changed how I ride for the better.

I use the dropper a lot more than the front derailleur. Its so easy to get the saddle down and be able to move around on the bike on downhills, technical sections, log crossings, and even bermed turns. I’ll bet that I raise and lower the saddle 20 times more than I shift the front derailleur.

I’ve had Maverick, Crank bros, GD & Reverb. All were ok but reverb is very good indeed. They all have a bit of movement but crank Bros/maverick worst of all. To be fair once you’re riding you don’t even notice. I like and use mine a lot but don’t think they’re essential kit.

That said, disk brakes aren’t essential, tubeless isn’t essential, suspension isn’t essential (you can see where I’m going with this…).

I’ve had Maverick, Crank bros, GD & Reverb. All were ok but reverb is very good indeed. They all have a bit of movement but crank Bros/maverick worst of all. To be fair once you’re riding you don’t even notice. I like and use mine a lot but don’t think they’re essential kit.

That said, disk brakes aren’t essential, tubeless isn’t essential, suspension isn’t essential (you can see where I’m going with this…).

Where can I get a Hite-Rite?

I have one, used a few times from BNIB, MIP if you want it. £15-ish posted. Not bad, better/faster than nothing but not really an alternative.
Still not made the move to a dropper, I don’t ride with my saddle that high, my Rocket V is narrow and my bike is pretty short, so getting off the back is no issue. I see some riding with saddles so high it’s no wonder they need a dropper .. Great idea though. I’d use one if I was riding steeper stuff that went on for more than a minute or 2 more regularly.

Yep, useful. A bar remote makes them work, without that I think it would be a bit of a faff on.

Hasn’t made me a better rider, but it does make it easier

They make technical descents more fun as it’s easier throw the bike around without risking the saddle coming up and it throwing you off. I put up with a QR seat post on my HT as it tends to be ridden in filthy condition that would quickly kill the dropper.

I dont think they add much to non technical descents. When you stand on your pedals with saddle up, you still have inches of clearance to move around in.