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Thread: I don't get dropper seat posts
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08-25-2013, 06:02 AM #1
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.
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08-25-2013, 06:17 AM #2
i like this.
crab in my shoe mouth
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08-25-2013, 06:49 AM #3
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
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08-25-2013, 06:59 AM #4
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.
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08-25-2013, 08:13 AM #5
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.
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08-25-2013, 08:44 AM #6Registered User
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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.
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08-25-2013, 09:00 AM #7Rod9301
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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
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08-25-2013, 09:04 AM #8
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
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08-25-2013, 09:36 AM #9
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.
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08-25-2013, 09:53 AM #10
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)
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08-25-2013, 09:55 AM #11
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.
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08-25-2013, 10:12 AM #12Banned
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If you don't get it, then you're probably not riding hard/fast enough to need one.
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08-25-2013, 10:28 AM #13
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.
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08-25-2013, 11:26 AM #14
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.
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08-25-2013, 11:52 AM #15
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
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08-25-2013, 01:12 PM #16
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.
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08-25-2013, 01:58 PM #17Registered User
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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.
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08-25-2013, 03:23 PM #18
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
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08-25-2013, 04:23 PM #19
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)
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08-25-2013, 05:14 PM #20
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.
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08-25-2013, 05:33 PM #21
If it's for a 30.9 seatpost diameter, want to sell it cheap?
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08-25-2013, 05:46 PM #22
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08-25-2013, 08:09 PM #23Rod9301
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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.
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08-25-2013, 08:17 PM #24Registered User
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"If you have to ask..."
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08-25-2013, 08:53 PM #25
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