Minority of one

I seem to be in a minority of one by the looks of things? i don’t have one of those droppy seat post things on my bike!

I’ve ridden bikes since i was a kid and mountian bikes from about 1991 and my seat post has never stopped me riding anything.

Am i the only person who thinks spending nearly £200 on a seat post a bit wrong?

No ,you are not in a minority of one .£200 is what I would spend on a frame or forks

rigid* never stopped me riding anything either biut now everyone has suspension…go figure

Ever see a Down Hill rider with their seat at an XC height?

* or disc brakes If you prefer

I don’t have one either. They seem useful but £200 is far too much to spend on a seatpost. Plus they look crap unless you get a nice stealth routed one. With a non-stealth routed frame I’d have to have a lever one rather than remote. Would probably get one 2nd hand if it was going cheap.

I understand what you’re saying, but a any DH bike i’ve ever seen always had the seat way down anyway. As for XC riding, i still think it’s overkill but hey horses for courses i guess.

glad i’m not the only one though 🙂

I don’t have one but It seems to make a lot of sense to me I would like to have my saddle nice and high for the long climbs then drop it for the flats and descents. There is no way I could ride regular trails with the saddle at the optimal height for climbing because I can barely touch the floor with my feet at that point.

Hey were all different, and like different things, isn’t that great?
Though, have you tried one? You might like it… I don’t have one (or even tried one), as the price is quite high but I do fancy giving one a go at some point.

in all honesty no, i haven’t tried one……and if i did i would probably think it’s a great idea but just not a £200 one LOL.

Ever see a Down Hill rider with their seat at an XC height?

Quite a lot of DH pros ride with their saddles pretty high.

I prefer mine as far down as it will go. The differences between me and pro riders does not stop here unfortunately.

maybe if we tried them, we might be convinced & think their worth the money.
New stuff, it’s not always manufacturer driven marketing pap 😉

I was a sceptic until I tried one, its great for getting “lairy” with, I chuck myself down stuff now that before I’d have stopped, had a look, begun to lower post & then chickened out. Now I don’t allow myself dither time I findmy technical riding has improved no end

I dont ride the sort of stuff that needs a dropper post all my bikes have the seat at the same height road ,track or mtb

You’re certainly not alone in criticising something without trying it. Unfortunately.

I agree It is a lot, mine was £179 which I think is too much. BUT I’m really looking forward to using it.

Saying that a Thompson Masterpiece is £120 new.

I haven’t got one. Would have, but I’m not changing frames just so a fancy seat post fits the bike!
I suppose I could put one on my road bike for a while…

I got my first one with a frame bundle, i was mentally thinking of forking out for a reverb before that offer came up but would it have happened? well maybe, eventually. Having got one though I snapped up a Xfusion HiLo for 130 for my HT. They do change riding.

XC HT isn’t getting one though, saddle stays up on that, its part of the fun.

My current set up doesn’t stop me riding anything though, i try to ride up everything and i definately don’t stop riding down anything at speed either.

honourablegeorge, i’m not criticising them at all, maybe just questioning the actual need against the cost that’s all.

I suppose I could put one on my road bike for a while…

do it! A little 15km Jens-Voight-kids-bike session in the middle of each ride.

I haven’t got one either. I would love one, but there’s no way on earth I can justify spaffing £200 on a seat post!

Mind you. Out of the 10 or 12 of us out last night, only one had truly embraced the future and was running the ‘right’ sized wheels. The rest of us struggled along with our prehistoric equipment. Obviously the whole thing was a thoroughly miserable experience, and I’m surprised nobody died 😉

pickle – Member

honourablegeorge, i’m not criticising them at all, maybe just questioning the actual need against the cost that’s all.

Whichis fair enough – but I think you can apply that to anything – you don’t “need” suspension forks -or at least you don’t need £800 Fox one…..etc, etc, etc

For me, the dropper is worth every penny, and everyone I ride with is of the same mind. No doubt there are plenty of riding styles/trails where a high saddle is no barrier – and maybe you can adapt to work around a high saddle – but I think if you’re riding steep, technical stuff and/or jumps and drops, it’s worth every penny.

Haven’t got one, probably won’t get one, could afford it.

1. They break the “no ugly things on the bike apart from the rider” rule
2. 90% of my riding is Chilterns, Cotswolds, swinley, and there’s nothing at these places that needs a dropper post
3. When I do drop my seat, I quite like having to stop to undo my qr so I can have a looksie before crashing half way down, it gives me time mentally to adjust.

Can see the point if you live somewhere with “actual” up and down sections

They’re expensive for what you get in terms of material but honestly I think it’s worth it for the difference it can make in your riding. It’s not about “needing” or anything like that, it’s basically about flow and control and they’re not things you can usually buy over the counter.

(I’m becoming a bot, i always say this in dropper threads- I have a dropper post in my rigid bike, because riding without suspension can be great fun but riding without a dropper just feels inferior)

Now £50+ for a stem, that seems insane.

I’ll be getting a new one as soon as I can, single best improvement to the bike ever (apart from taking me off and putting Danny Mackaskill on)

Can understand if in a race or something, going between uphill grind and straight in to techy downhill section. But after a 20min slog uphill, I can justify a 1-2 minute break to admire the view and drop seat a few inches before the descent, and save myself a few bob to spend on cake or another bike holiday.

Depends where you ride I guess, and how often you swap between uphill and down.

As mentioned above, you could substitute dropper post for disk brakes, front/rear suspension, clipless pedals, ti bolts, pneumatic tyres, padded shorts, etc in all these arguments. None are needed but to some small or large extent they make an impact on your ride. Its great that we can pick and choose the bits that suit us.

Shame about the price, though. Mine cost half as much as my FS frame. I might put one on the wife’s bike and that will cost almost twice as much as the frame if I go for a cheap one.

I’m a wheels-on-the-ground rider, but I can totally see the point of a dropper post. But, I’d never spend that much money of anything on my bike.

People often say they don’t need a dropper as they don’t do any hard downhill. They miss that dropping your saddle also means you have somewhere to sit when youve run yourself into the ground on a climb and need a tactical drink.

Am i the only person who thinks spending nearly £200 on a seat post a bit wrong?
Kinda, riding mostly road bikes these days I’d still struggle to shoot £200 at a seat post.

My current set up doesn’t stop me riding anything though, I try to ride up everything and I definately don’t stop riding down anything at speed either.
Exactly ! you’re riding shouldn’t really depend on your collection of niche, specialist, kit. imo.
I draw the line at SS though, obviously !

I was a sceptic until I tried one

This seems to be quite a common experience.

andytherocketeer – Member

But after a 20min slog uphill, I can justify a 1-2 minute break to admire the view and drop seat a few inches before the descent

See, that’s not really where they’re best, it’s just a labour saving device for that. But for trails that go up and down it’s much more useful. I think some folks see them as trailcentre tools but I reckon they’re least useful at your average trailcentre.

Following ChrisL along an undulatey trail somewhere and watching him happilly sit and spin while I had to do all the wee climbs out of the saddle converted me, really.

Reverbs seem to pop up on sale quite often, got mine for under £160 from Wiggle. I’ve paid £50 before for a Thompson post so the extra for the hydraulics, etc. seems pretty reasonable.

I bought it for my FS but whilst that’s still in bits I put it on my hardtail on test it out. It’s great!! If anything, I think it makes even more sense on a short-travel or rigid hardtail, because you need to move your body around a lot more so having the saddle right out of the way is really handy. Plus, when the trail points up again, you just pop the saddle up and blast up the climb.

NOT an essential piece of kit by any means, but for me it’s a game changer enjoyment-wise!

I’ve taken mine off my five. I’m no slower.

For local (Surrey hills) riding, if I could have only one bike and it could have either a dropper or suspension, I’d choose the dropper.

Like everyone else, I rode without one for years and all that time thought they were a silly waste of money.

Of course you don’t need a dropper to enjoy your rides but, for me, it adds fun. It lets you move around on the bike much more freely, improves your riding and increases your chances of attaining that mythical, mystical state of ‘flow’.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooommmmm

also means you have somewhere to sit when youve run yourself into the ground on a climb and need a tactical drink.

Man, I didn’t think of that… Now I want one even more!

ps. In the 90s we used to say “We don’t ride anywhere where it’s necessary” about suspension forks..

Yes it depends where/what you’re riding.

I wouldn’t like to be without the Reverb on my Five but I don’t have any plans to put one on the Patriot.
1. Remote is too fragile
2. They don’t drop far enough to get the saddle properly out of the way. I’d like to have something with a range equivalent to a 410mm Thomson post dropping from min insertion line to “slammed”.
3. If the terrain warrants a bigger bike, then I expect to be going downhill for a while before having to resort to pedalling up anything.

I don’t really see the point in complaining about an item of equipment that plenty of people find useful, but is pretty straight forwards to opt out of if your a dusty old git that dislikes change… There is nobody forcing you to buy a dropper…

Yes it’s more expensive than most normal seat posts, and obviously its more likely to suffer a mechanical failure, if these facts put you off then don’t buy one… Others find the functional benefits worth while enough to put up with these issues, it’s not an essential, but its a very nice to have piece of equipment IMO…

And TBF £200 is now about the mid point of the dropper market, you can get a reasoanble one for £120~£150-ish, a cheap (less robust) one for under £100 or spunk £300+ if you really fancy… thaey are, and will continue to become more affordable

“don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” seems an alien concept here but really you should, they are a boon on my local trails as they are very up and down.I was forciferously against them once but I have an open mind & it worked out well

I’d spend the money (and a bit more) on a set of carbon wheels.

The dropper would make little difference to my type/style of riding.

I’d quite like one for my heckler. My soul rides very nicely with the saddle up, but the heckler just seems to handle better with the saddle out the way.

If I lived somewhere that truly was “big climb” followed by “big descent” I wouldn’t bother. The times I wish I had one is when I’m riding a descent that involves climbing sections. Up or down the saddle is never in the right place, and I don’t want to stop

I largely ignored them for a long time despite spending a huge amount of time fiddling with my seatpost because I hate riding fun stuff with my saddle up. I much prefer getting it out of the way – I blame this on riding silly big bikes for too long and mucking about on jumps in the woods.

However, earlier this year Reverbs were about as cheap as they were going to get at Wiggle and I took the plunge and love it. I run the lever under the bar to give it a bit more protection. I don’t need one but it does make the trails flow better because I don’t have to stop now to fiddle with the post.

Hopefully with more people buying them and more companies making them the costs will start to fall.