The Specialized Wu Post
So according to Specialized the word ‘Wu’ is a noun that is used to describe the tilt of your seatpost. For example..
“I say old chap, the nose of your saddle is tipped back at some considerable angle beyond the natural horizontal.”
..is more commonly translated on the trail as..
“Yo bro, you are rockin some serious wu on that saddle, dude. Yeah!” #doyouevenwubro
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It’s all about the position of your hips when you sit down on a dropped post. Your hips rotate backwards and so a raised saddle nose in the low position is more comfortable. So the Specialized Wu post assumes that position when it’s dropped.
The actual saddle drop on the post is just 115mm but due to the rear of the saddle tilting backwards the effective drop is 150mm. It’s all rather clever, but we’ll admit when we first saw it earlier this year we were a little baffled as to why you would go to all that trouble to design in some albeit clever but complicated levers to tip the saddle back when it’s down. Is it really that big of a deal? Do we really need a more complicated dropper post? It’s not like the current crop of dropper posts on the market have a reputation for reliability to start with.
But then we actually tried one and, well. Yeah, it makes much more sense when you do. It was surprisingly more comfortable.
As for prices, well it does more than just go up and down so there’s a price to pay for that of course. They will come fitted to some Enduro models later this year but if you want one for your bike we are told the full price will be £400 when they eventually come to market on their own.
“when you sit down on a dropped post”
er, anyone else spot the massive fail here?? 😉
(if you’re struggling, consider the only reason you need to drop the post in the first place…..)
Like their wee swat headtube thingy, a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
How many bikes take a 34.9 post ? Mine does but I’ve not seen many that do.
more stuff to go wrong on a dropper
So it doesn’t go down as far AND leaves the pointy bit of the saddle higher up at a sharper angle, great.
Probably start marketing the Enduro-cup next to protect your delicates from accidental skewering.
Oh and Mark, diagram says actual travel is only 115mm 😉
More links to maintain.
Can’t recall ever actually sitting on a fully dropped saddle.
I tend to use mine more of a riser post anyway; set it up so that its mid-point in the stroke is my comfortable all-round riding position, then when the hill becomes a steep climb extend it to its fullest, shift my weight forward and the climbs become much easier.
Bloody hell Specialized. Such an innovative bike company, but also the purveyors of utter bullshit.
“Oh and Mark, diagram says actual travel is only 115mm”
Notes from the launch say 125mm but will verify with SHQ
I think it’s genius. It effectively keeps your seat level with your bars when you drop it so it takes on an upward slant like on most DH bikes.
It’s not the best looking dropper and it’s probably a little complicated but the idea I really like.
I’m sure it’s very clever, but £400 for a seatpost is probably where I step off the train. 🙂
Steely Dan – Doctor Wu…
34.9 diameter. Does that mean you’ll be stuck with it if you buy a specialized bike?
I was thinking about this some time ago, Less drop, reliability, price, diameter aside this is exactly how dropper posts should be.
Flat saddle for climbing/bumbling, and angled saddle for going downhill, which is better than a flat dropped saddle. Try an angled saddle downhill and/or look how downhill bikes are setup
More shit to go wrong, cant get full drop…. nasty