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My wife’s bike has a dropper post that doesn’t fit my bike (otherwise she wouldn’t have a dropper post) AND it’s a Reverb !! Anyway, is there a reason NOT to lower it to make it easy to get on ? (She hasn’t really mastered how to drop it very well yet. Hopefully one day)
I always stick mine down when I put the bike away as it will prevent any daft accidental scratches on the post. Also when I've bought them they always been delivered in the down position so must've been like that for a while.
Am sure I've seen a recommendation that they be left in the up position.
Always leave mine down, only thing you shouldn't do is pull up/hang it by the dropper without it fully extended.
She hasn’t really mastered how to drop it very well yet.
My one-up looses air pressure if left down for too long. They are supposed to be left up to make the seals last longer.
There's some thinking that it puts more pressure on the seals when in the down position, as the internal pressure is increased.
That said, mine's been left down for long periods (up to a week or two) and doesn't seem to have suffered.
For many years I have always left mine down, its prob a no no but I haven't had any dropper posts break because of it.
I also leave my MTB in the low gears where stored, some people swear you should leave it in the high gears to avoid premature wear of the mech spring but again, meh...
I can't find the "official" thing I was talking about, but it was along these lines
https://www.bluestonebikerun.com/blog/2016/2/25/2-tips-to-keep-your-dropper-post-tip-top
1. Always, always, ALWAYS, store your dropper post in the UP position. All dropper posts are driven up by some sort of spring, usually an air spring. In the Rockshox Reverb for example there is an air chamber that is inflated to 250 PSI, (Pounds per Square inch) when the seat post is in the maximally raised position. If you compress the post all of the way to the bottom of its travel that air spring is now at close to 700PSI! This is an incredible amount of pressure to be pushing on rubber seals. In extreme situations dropper posts stored in the down position frequently, or for a long period of time, can have air migrate past those seals and into the fluid reservoir causing what we call "suspensioning." Suspensioning is when the dropper post has vertical play causing it to move up and down when you weight it and un-weight it.
My Brand-X one did arrive in the partially down position, and after fitting, had to remove saddle and pump some more air in cos it had about 50psi in it. Dunno if that's related. I wouldn't leave a Reverb down, cos they is fussy things. Probably be ok.
Mine are stored dropped about an inch. This way, should there be a significant temperature change, the oil can expend a little and not cause the post to lock out.
I was told by a lad who worked as a mechanic and also did suspension servicing to always store the bike with the dropper fully extended as dropping it doubles the pressure inside and can damage the seals. The post in question was a reverb and he also advised against lifting the bike by the saddle as this can cause problems as well
Some really good answers there, thanks guys. Like thepurist said, mine arrived down too. Interesting but I guess it makes sense, pressure wise, to leave it up. Then again, as some say, they’ve left theirs down for years.
Think I better teach her how to use the post properly 😉