Storing bikes with dropper up or down?

I normally store my bikes hung vertically on the wall with the dropper posts down so that I have more room to get past. Recently I’ve noticed my Fox Transfer has started easing out over time. We’re only talking about a few mm over a few weeks but it’s enough to make me think: should bikes be left for long periods with the seat dropped? Can someone more mechanically inclined shed any light on this?

Up makes sense to me.
Storing with the seatpost down just “seems” wrong somehow.
I’m sure there will be a reason 👍

I was told to store my bike with the dropper down but that’s with the bike stood normally…

Well it’s an air spring so, if you store it compressed, it will be at higher pressure, putting more stress on the seals. No idea whether the difference is significant but up seems the better option to me.

I store mine upright with the dropper compressed about an inch in case of temperature variations.

Up makes sense to me.
Storing with the seatpost down just “seems” wrong somehow.

This is also my thinking. No actual valid reasoning behind it. Just seems weird to not have it up when stored.

I store them down because it takes up less space and the stanchion is protected from damage.

I store my bikes horizontal with droppers up to give them a break from the gnarly near vertical terrain of East Kent.

I store mine only halfway up so they’re neither up nor down 🙂

Though two practical lessons I’ve learned by making the mistake are

(a) If a bike is going to be unused for a good while for whatever reason (injury etc), don’t store with the dropper fully down, if it seizes it’s a major job to release. With the post up a bit you can apply lots of force downwards to break the seize.

(b) If the bike is being stored long term and you or ano have access to it, raise \ lower the dropper post every 2-3 weeks to stop it seizing.

Above was only an issue with a 1st gen KS dropper post which after 10 years is still going strong with minimal maintenance !

Mine are stored whichever way they are when they get parked- so usually down

Ours go down for both protection and storage/packaging. 2 droppers @ combined age of 10 years old going strong.

I stored mine down to protect them from knocks.

There was a bit of moisture trapped in the post on a bike I didn’t use for a few months and it corroded the stanchion causing it to stick to the bushing. Took some effort to free it. Would probably have happened to the lower part but now I have some rough stanchion rubbing on the seal as the post goes up and down.

Ours are always stored down to protect from knocks. Oldest one is 8 years old and still going strong. If the bums not on the seat its always down no matter where it is.

Mine are hung from the saddles on a beam.
Only one has a dropper, position depends on what allows it to fit best in between the others…
If hung from the saddle which is best?

If hung from the saddle which is best?

For KS saddle up – it stuffs the air springs if you lift the bike by the saddle with the post down.

“If hung from the saddle which is best?

For KS saddle up – it stuffs the air springs if you lift the bike by the saddle with the post down.”

Most of them seem to struggle with that!

With both my droppers being 185mm long it makes the bikes quite a lot smaller having the seat down when stored!

Having just been to my LBS to ask about getting mine serviced/repaired I’ll be storing mine up from now on. They said storing a reverb down isn’t good for the IFP.

Always up, due to reasons in my head about increased pressure when down.

I always store my Dropper Seatpost in the UP position – less stress on the airspring. Same as many above have said.

If hung from the saddle….

This is a question that has been bothering me of late.

I’m thinking about changing the way I store all of my bikes. Hanging from the roof of my Garage (by the saddle) seems like a good, compact method. BUT my MTB has a Dropper Seatpost and hanging that by the saddle worries me.

Do you hang a MTB (with a Dropper Seatpost) from the saddle? Any problems doing that?

Do you hang a MTB (with a Dropper Seatpost) from the saddle?

Yes.

Any problems doing that?

No.

I’ve hung bikes from a scaffold pole bolted to the joists in my garage for years & none have ever had an issue with the dropper.

I asked Rockshox years ago whether the Reverb could be stored compressed, and their answer was that it would cause no harm at all.