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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    @Cassidy on Reckoning
    Posts
    873

    I don't get dropper seat posts

    I put a dropper post on my ride and my conclusions were:

    -I rarely used it
    -When I used it, I wouldn't adjust it more than 1 or 2 inches
    -If I dropped outside that range, it felt like I was sitting inside a Big Wheel tricycle
    -Too high and it felt like sitting on a flagpole
    -It worked well enough. I took it off after a dozen or so rides so can't speak to long-term durability (it's the Giant Contact Switch)

    What's the deal? The bike magazines say "try one and you'll never go back". Well, I'm going back. I'll trade off the supposed advantages for losing the extra weight. If I want to drop my body weight down and back, it's easy enough to do anyway.

    Other thoughts out there in Maggot Land?
    Sometimes pride comes after a fall.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Walpole NH
    Posts
    10,828
    i like this.
    crab in my shoe mouth

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    here and there
    Posts
    18,583
    Only real advantage is you do not have to stop to adjust up or down.

    Weight and complicated mechinism to break are reasons to have a quick release seat collar like the very well made example above.

    Years ago I had the springy post attachment (right hight?)and it worked everytime I used it which was not much.

    I have a gravity dropper and usually only use the 1" down when I do.
    Last edited by scottyb; 08-25-2013 at 08:25 AM.
    watch out for snakes

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    135
    It really depends on what you prefer to ride and how you ride it. The majority of the trails in my area have rolling variations between short technical downs, followed by short technical climbs. It isn't fun to stop at the top of a section to drop my post so I can get my weight back without the saddle in my ass, then stop at the bottom to raise the post before I climb back up.

    If I'm on a trail that is a few miles up followed by a few miles down, then there is no problem taking a minute at the top to adjust the post before a descent.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    one of those gaper mountain towns
    Posts
    3,632
    I've always found it easy enough to slide off the back of the saddle for steep downhills, but don't ever find the need on the trails I ride most.

    Some here may have been riding long enough to remember the Hite-Rite, which was a much simpler, (and less effective) way of accomplishing the same thing as a gravity dropper. I rode with one for a while, but it required taking a hand off the bars to fiddle with the quick release, and often returned the seat to the wrong height/angle, depending on how much bouncing around you were doing while trying to lock it down. Once I took it off, I never missed it.

    Quote Originally Posted by ilovetoskiatalta View Post
    Dude its losers like you that give ski bums a bad rap.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    12,609
    Droppers are great for rolling terrain, steep descents, berms, and jumps. I drop my seat down all the time. It's not that I can't ride the trail without it down, it just makes it more fun. You gain the ability to lay the bike over more in the turns and don't have to worry about it jumping up and throwing you over the bars on jumps. It's all a matter of your style of riding. Sure, I rode for many years without one and could easily ride without one, but it just makes the experience more enjoyable. If you are just riding XC singletrack all day with very few jumps, berms, or steep tech stuff, you probably don't need one.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Squaw valley
    Posts
    4,638
    If you feel that you doing need a dropper post, you're not riding steep stuff.
    If the trail is steep, there is no way you can get behind the seat enough to put weight on the rear wheel, so you can't use the rear brake.

    I've been using a dropper for almost ten years, and it changed my riding.

    And I drop the seat my 4 inches, probably 10 times a ride.

    Sent from my SCH-I500 using TGR Forums

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    SLCizzy
    Posts
    3,554
    I use mine all the time. It makes me sad to think of riding my trail bike without it.

    Like others have said, it probably depends on what you're riding: bike, terrain, personal riding style

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Planning an exit
    Posts
    5,930
    They're great if you have to adjust your seat a lot for steep, technical riding. You don't want your weight behind your seat and over your rear tire. It should be where it is for most of your other riding so you're still weighting the front tire as well.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    tetons
    Posts
    8,504
    Yea I would say on some rides I use my seat dropper as much as my real derailleur but we definitely are on a lot of rolling terrain.
    I've found it helps me a ton keeping up with Andrew and his friends when riding. maybe get one for your wives/GF's bc you know how you are always telling us to lower our seats and we never want to- this makes everyone happy (and faster)

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    one of those gaper mountain towns
    Posts
    3,632
    On a related note, it freaks me out when I get behind the saddle without dropping it, and then snag my baggy freeride shorts on the back of the saddle when I come forward again. Pretty much never happened when I rode in just lycra shorts. Sux that I've become such a slave to fashion.

    I stopped running an SLR saddle on the mountain bike a few years ago because of the increased snag factor of the sharp angle edge on the back.
    Quote Originally Posted by ilovetoskiatalta View Post
    Dude its losers like you that give ski bums a bad rap.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Splat's Garage
    Posts
    4,185
    If you don't get it, then you're probably not riding hard/fast enough to need one.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Wasatch
    Posts
    382
    I demo'd a bike last weekend that had one. It was fun to play with in the lot, but I forgot I had it when we hit the trail and didn't use it once. I used to fiddle with fork travel and seat height, but have long since bothered with those adjusents. Fork is always at max travel and seat is lower than optimal spinning height but I'm always climbing out of saddle and have no problems getting behind the saddle for air or manuals. On the rare day I'm on a jump specific trail I use that salsa collar to lower it a bit.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    one of those gaper mountain towns
    Posts
    3,632
    Quote Originally Posted by Hott Butt Mud View Post
    If you don't get it, then you're probably not riding hard/fast enough to need one.
    Can we apply this theory to Rog's reason for not skiing with a helmet?

    Riding hard/fast has little or nothing to do with it. If you can't get your weight back on the bike without dropping your saddle (i.e., you don't get it), then I guess you need one . Others seem to manage just fine without.
    Quote Originally Posted by ilovetoskiatalta View Post
    Dude its losers like you that give ski bums a bad rap.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Canuckistan/Sverige/Montucky
    Posts
    2,973
    What is this obsession with getting your weight back and moving behind the saddle on steep descents? Are you all riding bikes with geometry circa 1995???

    Getting behind the saddle that much unweights the front wheel which in turn diminishes your ability to brake and steer effectively and extends your body giving you less control. There is a time for a movement over the back of the saddle but not to stay there like I see so many doing.

    I put my seat a bit lower on descents simply so I can move around on the bike in all planes, not to get backseat.

    Just my two cents. What say thee?
    Flying the Bluehouse colors in Western Canada! Let me know if you want some rad skis!!

    "He is god of snow; the one called Ullr. Son of Sif, step son of Thor. He is so fierce a bowman and ski-runner that none may contend! He is quite beautiful to look upon and has all the characteristics of a warrior. It is wise to invoke the name of Ullr in duels!"

    -The Gylfaginning

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sweden/b'ham
    Posts
    1,105
    i absolutely cannot ride a bike without a dropper, and wonder how i ever did before. i had three between my bikes (just sold a bike so now have two).

    for me its not about getting behind the seat as much as it is not having my seat up my ass when going off or landing a jump.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    9,002
    I recently got my first mountain bike with a dropper. Been off off road pedals for a long time and this dropper thing is new to me. Gotta say I'm really digging it. Was always between good climbing position and good mobility position prior.
    Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Not in the PRB
    Posts
    32,778
    I don't have one and ride just fine without it. That said, I rode just fine with my hardtail, but that doesn't mean I don't fucking love having a full squish bike now.

    Optimal seat height for climbing is sub-optimal for descending, and vice versa; I don't really know how anyone can argue this point. In my current world, I choose optimal climbing height for the long sustained climbs, optimal descent height for sustained descents, and a mid-height for everything else (including trails I don't know well). Does the "everything else" height work fine for everything, including steep descents? Sure. does it work as well as the "optimal" height? No.

    I have wanted a dropper post for years, just can't spend the coin.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    4,126
    I can't imagine riding without one.

    I agree with others, it isn't that i need to put my ass over the rear wheel. but, do need to be able to lower my center of gravity. my optimal seat height for climbing is several inches above the bars. I have long legs and unlike most mountain bikers I am top heavy. therefore for my, build, riding style and terrain, i got lower my seat. even with a dropper my seat ends up at about or just slightly below bar height and for trail riding that is perfect for me, trail riding in tahoe.

    when i ride xc trails in the vegas area, my gravity dropper only ends up in the -1" or fully extended positions. I find -1" is great for technical climbing when you need to get the seat a little out of the way to be able to shift weight fore and aft quickly.

    my .02cents.
    "A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles."
    — Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire)

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hell Track
    Posts
    13,841
    I don't need one. I don't have one on my hardtail, on which I occasionally ride downhill without catastrophic consequence. But a dropper post is, without a doubt, the single thing that I have put on my bike in the last 10 years that has changed my riding style / enjoyment of riding the most. Nothing beats ripping the shit out of a downhill (however short that dh may be) with a low seat and not having to stop and fuck around with a quick release.

    And getting behind the seat is only a part of the story. Getting the bike heavily leaned into a corner is awkward with a high seat. Dropping it down simply enables the rider to easily put their weight where it needs to be without the saddle getting in the way.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Three-O-Three
    Posts
    15,418
    If it's for a 30.9 seatpost diameter, want to sell it cheap?

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    @Cassidy on Reckoning
    Posts
    873
    Quote Originally Posted by smmokan View Post
    If it's for a 30.9 seatpost diameter, want to sell it cheap?
    It is. You'll have to define "cheap". Let's PM.
    Sometimes pride comes after a fall.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Squaw valley
    Posts
    4,638
    You guys are right.getting right on the rear tire is only one reason for the dropper..
    And I couldn't agree more with getting enough weight on the front wheel.
    Bottom line, get one.

    Sent from my SCH-I500 using TGR Forums

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Golden, CO!
    Posts
    2,112
    "If you have to ask..."

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Bravo Delta.
    Posts
    6,135
    Quote Originally Posted by Gripen View Post
    What is this obsession with getting your weight back and moving behind the saddle on steep descents? Are you all riding bikes with geometry circa 1995???

    Getting behind the saddle that much unweights the front wheel which in turn diminishes your ability to brake and steer effectively and extends your body giving you less control. There is a time for a movement over the back of the saddle but not to stay there like I see so many doing.

    I put my seat a bit lower on descents simply so I can move around on the bike in all planes, not to get backseat.

    Just my two cents. What say thee?
    Precisely.

    Ride from the middle of your bike. It's a lot like skiing actually...not that anyone on this site would know anything about that...
    Quote Originally Posted by Socialist View Post
    They have socalized healthcare up in canada. The whole country is 100% full of pot smoking pro-athlete alcoholics.

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