Saddle up has never got in my way, maybe its because I am tall and gangly? I ride a 20inch inbred and I could not drop further back with my seatpost removed than I can with it up.

@Grum

Sorry meant to paste shop URL ….got it from xxcycles. I just emailed saying I had an issue and they said send it back £10 recorded and got a replacement about a week later..

Hello,

Please send the seat post at the following address:

XXCYCLE.COM
Zac de Gabardie
39 Rue Paule Raymondis
31200 TOULOUSE
FRANCE

We will take care of the guarantee.

Best Regards
Stephane
commercial@xxcycle.com

I google translated my original email into French – not sure if that would help?

Thanks sniff – will try again.

I don't understand this "I've got long legs so I don't need a droppy seatpost as I can get off the back perfectly well" attitude.

Part of the point of lowering your seatpost is to lower your centre of gravity and create space to allow you to move your weight around, both forwards and backwards. Just hanging behind the saddle doesn't really allow you to move your body weight around much. Your arms are likely stretched out and less able to steer without weight low and over the front wheel. A high saddle just isn't conducive to control while descending.

I don't really see how that point is arguable, though I can understand that some people might not want extra weight, complexity or ugliness. But not performance?

i have a GD and a Joplin. Like it use them. Prefer Joplin as it can stop in any position. I can ride most stuff without dropping but slower. Each to their own. If you drop your seat post get one if you dont dont. They are expensive for what they are though

I had one it was a cheapy KS 850 and didn't perform that well (it had a lot of play up and down which bugged me)

Concept wise it's useful I suppose. There are always times when a saddle could be lower. I found that I'm so set in my ways that for the trails I ride it's just not going to get used 99% of the time. On my usual ride it was down for around 200 yards. If I were riding the Alps or some such I'd just drop my saddle all day.
If one comes out that's under £100 and simple, ie not hydraulic I'll most likely have another go as I can see the point but I'm pretty comfortable on my bike without irrespective of how steep it gets. .

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if that refers to me mansonsoul I did not mention long legs, I said I was gangly. I have long arms and a long body and long legs. When I stand up I have plenty of room to move my weight around. Its not an attitude its a fact.

That's cool mrear, I'm not haranguing anyone. As an honest question, how do you lower and centralise your centre of gravity while keeping weight on the front wheel to give more grip when you corner with your seatpost up?

Never really thought about this. I have tried droping my saddle but it gets in my way and feels so wrong, I think its from growing up in Lincolnshire. When cornering I put most of my weight on my outside pedal which means my outside leg is straight and my body falls into position from there. I have no problem moving the bike around underneath me and never had a problem with front wheels grip apart from last Wednesday night when we had a little rain and the slate turned to glass. Saying that there was a problem with rear wheel grip too 😀

Got a response from xxcycle already saying I can send it back! Nice one sniff

Nice one grum. Jobs a good un.

I've got a Specialized Command Post. It's the most reliable post I've found, doesn't develop play like a Joplin and works smoothly and without that grating noise that Gravity Droppers seem to make. Bit pricey though.

As for the argument for and against using them in the first place, some people don't see the point but personally, I enjoy riding my bike a lot more with it on, and that's enough for me. I don;t see the need for some of this over zealous defending or bashing of them.

grum – Member
People going on about them being pointless – did you say the same about disc brakes and suspension forks? Because I'm sure you could go mountain biking without them right?

I think they are more comparable to suspension stems and seat posts, rather than suspension in general, or disc brakes. I don't remember anyone ever saying disc brakes were pointless, or suspension for that matter. Without them, MTB's wouldn't be anywhere near as good as they are today. Do you honestly think in ten years you will be able to say that about dropper posts? 😆 I doubt it very much.

I don't remember anyone ever saying disc brakes were pointless, or suspension for that matter.

errrr, pretty much everyone did, when did you start mtbing? When I started disk brakes were soemthign DH'ers used, and even then they were only on the expensive bikes, middle of the range meant magura HS11 or HS33, 905 of bikes had v's and MBR slagged off bikes with disks as being too expensive or the spec was too comprimised compared to the same price point bikes with v's. You were looking at £1000+ before they were even an option.

Edit: and whilst upy downy seatpost probably wont make it down to £99 halfords specials like disk brakes have, I still reckon they'll be OE on most bikes aimed at 'all mountain' riders 9christ i hate the marketing spanner who thinks these niches up) within the next 5 years.
Ditto suspension, it was still posisble to buy a mid range bike with rigid forks and mags still liked them for their extra controll and low weight.

😆 Put it this way, I remember the Rock Shox RS-1 coming out. No one said they were pointless, they were just expensive.

Another forum member in the 'they don't allow enough adjustment to be useful for me' camp.

For me the saddle has two positions – way up to full height for pedalling and way down for technical steep stuff. I don't bother with anything in between.

The day someone releases a system that allows the full adjustment range will be the day I stand outside the LBS with Visa card in hand, waiting for the doors to open.

You need a Rase post then jackthedog… is 9 inches enough for you?

http://www.rasebike.com/

I've broke a maverick and gravity dropper before getting one of these… it's the proverbial dogs danglies of uppy downy posts.

That looks more like it!