[Closed] Dropper post on hardtail

Do it, it make it easier to raise and lower the saddle!!

Why is this even a question? Do it.

I would. Even my rigid xc bike has a dropper, riding without suspension can be fun but riding without a dropper just feels bad. It's a quality-of-ride multiplier basically.

Not everyone is into dropping their post though.

Had one on mine since I got the bike. Just as useful on an HT as a FS if not more so.

I've got one on my rigid singlespeed, and use it all the time. Just get one.

Depends on the hardtail and what you ride on it - if its a climbfest or lots of up and down the saddle on my SS XC bike goes down an inch, if its pretty flat then its way-high for maximum spinnage.

Anything jumpy or bumpy and I'll be on a more suitable bike - usually - have ridden one DH track on that^ bike and I wont be doing that agen 😀

Do it. I would go back to fully rigid and canti brakes before I gave up my droppers.

And consider a Dirt Flap too. Nothing a piece of inner tube and some zip ties cant do, but a quality bit of kit and far neater. And it's called a Dirt Flap which sounds rude.

Why would there be a doubt as to whether to fit one or not?!

Because they're something of a fashion accessory?

As the sage-like northwind points out, if you don't drop it now then is there a need to?

What Diameter?

Rob - having the option to drop it, at will, instead of getting off the bike and fannying about with a qr or allen key though are two very different things.

I was dubious about the benefits until I got one. Wouldnt want to ride without one now.

Having been doing a lot of steep riding, usually as the only person without one, it's really annoying how much slower I feel having to bugger around with my QR!

Especially if the damn post jams up all the time due to rust and grit 🙁

No shit monkeyboy, but the amount of fannying about it actually saves is an expensive luxury - not too dissimilar to having electric vs wind-up windows in your car; costs more, saves you no actual time, possibly encourages laziness, plays to our 1st world expectations and provides something more to go worng.

Yes, I have been drinking 🙂

Rob Hilton - Member

No shit monkeyboy, but the amount of fannying about it actually saves is an expensive luxury

It's not really the fannying about though, it's the not stopping, and the always having the seat at the right height. Nothing else adds flow to a ride like a dropper.

@huffnpuff

Depending on bike and your needs?

Thought I'd miss my reverb when I got my hardtails, but being a 29'er the drop between saddle and bars is much flatter, I can ride down steeps without feeling the need to lower my saddle

Nothing else adds flow to a ride like a dropper

Bullshit. How about skills?

Learn, practice, repeat. The flow you find on a trail comes from your abilities/capabilities. You don't buy it, you carry with you; it comes from within...

Aummmm...

Monkeyboy?!

An expensive luxury . . . That can be had for £29.99 and isn't a piece of junk either. So that argument doesn't really work anymore. And if the post 'goes wrong', then you are no worse off than the people who have a regular seatpost, which is all one needs apparently based on your argument against them.

I'm not arguing against them at all - I have 2 😀

I totally disagree with this though:

"Why is this even a question? Do it."

Is it the be all and end all? A necessity? Hell no! All about circumstance 🙂

They make a lot of sense if you want to add extra enjoyment to your riding experience. On a performance view point all the Enduro racers are running them and they are starting to be tested by XC world cup competitors just a matter of time I think before we will see them used in WC races.

They on hardtails?

Thus far Eastridge is the only UK place I've ridden where one makes real sense, obviously I've not ridden everywhere, but they hardly place in the "makes riding faster or more funsies" stakes compared to real advanced like suspension forks or disc brakes.

Or skillz 😉

Rob Hilton - Member

Bullshit. How about skills?

OK, fair point- best thing you can buy, for your bike, to add flow and improve the ride. Assuming it's not a raleigh activator

it make it easier to raise and lower the saddle

That's one of the reasons i got one. I was skeptical but it does do.

Surely though, one of the skillz you need is to get off the saddle and move around....which is what a dropper allows you to do.

Personally if it's a 'core ht then yes get one, you won't look back.

Has significantly improved my uphillness and downhillness since fitting my first one a month or so ago.

I actually put my progress going uphill down to my reverb.
genius bits of kit.

Building up a ht at the mo that's only going to require a qr seat clamp I reckon at the most so not for me on ht as it's primarily a xc/light trail ht.

This is a fairly pointless discussion to be honest.

They do what you think they do. If you are moving your seat a lot [steep terrain], then you'll find you have a lot more 'flow' to your rides, if you don't care about the delay, or don't move your seat then it's less/not an issue.

Just check the one you want allows you to move the seat as far as you need [sufficient 'throw' vs the distance you normally drop the seat], then calculate whether you think it's worth it for you to spend the £.

Where do you guys ride that you find a dropper is needed?

Calderdale.

It's not needed, but it would be a whole lot nicer if I had one.

onewheelgood - Member

Where do you guys ride that you find a dropper is needed?

Absolutely nowhere. Where is it great? Pretty much everywhere else.

I got one and was a bit disappointed TBH. It goes up and down and all that but with all the hoohaa about them I just want to do something....else? Maybe if when you dropped it said 'Skillz set to SikkCOn1' or put it back up and it give you little 'allez allez' it would be better? And some sound effects or something?

Where do I ride?

The Dales
South Pennines
The Lakes
Scotland
The Peak
Wales
The Alps

(In roughly that order of frequency)

I'm on a 29er but have shortish legs so really useful for me.

Sound effect? Maybe the sound the doors make on the Starship Enterprise? 8)

You mean the doors in Futurama 😉

@the stabiliser

en you dropped it said 'Skillz set to SikkCOn1' or put it back up and it give you little 'allez allez'

😆

I've not owned one, but used one once or twice.. and couldn't really see the point TBH. I'm sure if I owned one, the servicing-cleaning-faff, maintenance, weight, cost, extra thing to go wrong, would probably outweigh any minor benefits.

I never drop my saddle - and find that when having used a dropper, having the saddle out of the way when going over fast stuff is actually a little disconcerting. Somehow, I've grown used to the saddle as another contact point for some subliminal chassis feedback. I think.

I never bother with really steep stuff anyways, as it just ain't my bag.

So I'm yet to be sold on the idea, TBH.

Despite being an old fart I've only been riding off road seriously for three years, so droppers have always been part of the arsenal and I couldn't imagine riding off road for any length of time without one. Whether that be on a full suss, hardtail or, heaven forfend, a rigid bike. Well I could, I've tried it, just to make sure I can and if I set the saddle about an inch below optimal climbing height I can get by with just dropping it for extended descents. But it's just that, getting by and not something I'd do out of choice. If nothing else, my old knees start to grumble if I do long climbs with the seat a bit too low.

You don't have to be somewhere steep or gnarly to make use of them, half the joy is getting the saddle out of the way for corners on flat trails then popping it back up for pedalling.

Don't see how you can get your body in the best position for cornering and descending with a saddle up your arse....

ha agree total fad

i went out with a MTB group year or so ago - they were all on 2-3k+ bikes and we approached this downhill bridleway and and they all stopped to "Drop" their droppers and i was like WTF - what are you doing

ridden it for years and never bothered - made me laugh they all stopped and did it like sheep

A whole group that are all using some kind of mythical dropper post that requires you to stop to use it? Do you live some kind of weird parallel universe?!

I ride just as steep and technical stuff on a rigid bike as I do on anything else, so a dropper post is just as useful. Yes, I used to ride a lot of the same stuff before dropper posts existed but now we have them, why not use them? Like disc brakes really.
Anyway, I've just come back from the pub and now I'm off to bed - I'm supposed to be riding tomorrow......

kid you not it happened - i nearly rear ended them and they were still slow on the down hill so dropping really improved things for them

Yep, seen plenty of people stop to activate their 'dropper' post.....I've currently got the Decathlon/Btwin £30 one on my HT, seems great but on the first ride I forgot it was there half the time which shows I didn't really need one and it is just a luxury, nice but a luxury nonetheless.

I had a Gravity Droppper which was about £150 on the big bike and that was used most rides but it went with the nature of the bike.
I was without a dropper for about a year and all I did was drop the saddle about an inch below optimum for pedalling....and that was it, steep rough stuff I just went up on the pedals and moved back....if it required more than that I'd usually stop to scope it out anyway and while looking to see if it was rideable I'd manually drop the seatpost with the QR clamp.

My only bike is a hardtail, and it has a dropper.

Didn't think I "needed" it, and of course I don't. But I really like steep stuff, and really dislike stopping to faff. So it's been pretty good.

🙂

Really good for steep, technical riding where a lower CoG and ability to move the bike out of your bodies way is great. Also good if sessioning drops and jumps.

Lowering your seatpost is...

Really good for steep, technical riding where a lower CoG and ability to move the bike out of your bodies way is great.

Being able to do it at a moment's notice...

if sessioning drops and jumps

makes no difference. In fact I also use the seatclamp to lower it futher for drops & jumps so it's right out of the way - also less likely to bust it in a crash.

There are some weird perceptions about droppers on this thread.

'If it's steep then yes'

But if its steep, wouldn't you drop your non-dropper post anyway?

Paradoxically, I think I could comfortably ride my big big without a dropper. When I use it, it's mostly going up or down, so a qr collar and a regular post would be just as good.

Where I find a dropper must useful is on my hardtail that sees most of my trail riding, and sees lots of small ups and downs and small technical sections. It's invaluable for flow in those types of ride, where it would be a mighty pain in the doodahs to readjust a fixed post every couple of minutes, and therefore wouldn't bother.

I was a massive old skool naysayer before I got one and couldn't see the point, but now I have some experience in use, Id rather have a dropper post than suspension.

It's not that you can't ride without one, but you do spend more time in sub optimal positions if you're riding everything with a fixed height post.

Why bother with a seatpost at all? Costs nothing, weighs nowt... that's where the proper purists are sitting, metaphorically. It's the new singlespeed-style revolution taking on the skill compensating, industry-driven, nonsense that is dropperism, taking the sport back to basics etc. Go seatpost free, you won't regret it... 😉

A dropper has been on and off one of my HTs three times I don't get on with it at all. The bike is kinda small and light and poppy and only very rarely does a dropper seem to add anything to the ride

One thing I did notice with a dropper on my hardtail is that its a lot stiffer when I'm seated and therefore not as comfy as my carbon post...something to consider if you're predominantly doing long seated xc rides but, based on what I ride, I still prefer to have the dropper

Go seatpost free, you won't regret it.

I actually do sometimes 😀

If I’m somewhere I know I won’t sit at all, f’rinstance behind the Nationwide in Swindon, I’ll take the seatpost out and go all weight-weenie-silly 🙂 Does feel odd though.

I bought one because I saw a real bargain -" something you don't need at a price you can't ignore".
I was surprised what a difference it made and went ou t and bought one for the HT as well. Yes of course I can go down big hills with a normal post but I definitely do it better with a dropper and no I can't be bothered to stop and drop a post manually.

Scienceofficer - Member

Paradoxically, I think I could comfortably ride my big big without a dropper. When I use it, it's mostly going up or down, so a qr collar and a regular post would be just as good.

Where I find a dropper must useful is on my hardtail that sees most of my trail riding, and sees lots of small ups and downs and small technical sections.

Exactly! They come into their own for this sort of thing. I think people who've not used them often think they're some sort of trail centre toy, but that sort of clearly defined up or down is where they're less useful. Racing aside I find mine most useful on more natural stuff where you might have 5 seconds of technical stuff every few minutes and you've no idea whether there's a climb or a descent round the next bend.

And anyone who says "need" has completely missed the point but it always comes up.

I don't understand why there would be a difference with using a dropper on a FS or HT? Surely the exact same thing is wanted and achieved, the fact of using on a HT/FS has no bearing on the requirement for a dropper does it?!?

Anyway the OP seemed to bugger off pretty sharpish, troll??

wot scienceofficer (and Northwind) said.

What Rob Hilton said 😀

I think its easy to say its a fad and that you've ridden perfectly fine without it for x amount of years on 'proper mountains' etc but I guess progression can only be a good thing and if it allows you to enjoy your riding more then where's the harm?

That said though, I have been riding the same 26 inch wheeled steel hardtail for years and have never significantly upgraded it in that time. Mostly due to the cost of these 'fads' as stand alone parts.
I am collecting a new bike this week though with 650b, 1x11, dropper etc but I'm under no illusion that in 3 years time I'll still be riding (hopefully)this then dated technology when everyone is raving about their new 28.25 inch wheels and 1x30 gearing. C'est la vie. Just go ride and enjoy it 🙂

I don't understand why there would be a difference with using a dropper on a FS or HT?

I didn't fit a dropper post for a while after they first came out, mainly due to the scarecity of decent/cheap 27.2 options.

My thoughts:
1) I only ride hardtails but I think they are doubly important on hardtails as you use your legs as suspension more on a hardtail.
2) Get one with a remote, if you have to Michael Jackson crotch grab you're missing 50% of the benefit.
3) They encourage/make possible correct cornering technique. Stand up on the pedals with saddle full height and try to lean the bike over whilst keeping your body upright. See how the saddle hits your inner thigh? Now try it with the post 100 or 125mm lower. See how much further over the bike will lean before hitting your thigh?
4) They are actually very handy for techy climbs.
5) The longer you have one the more you'll use it. My saddle's default position is down now on any trail that requires a bit of body english.

I think the only acceptable reason for not having a dropper post is not being able to afford one.

I was pretty much with you up til:

I think the only acceptable reason for not having a dropper post is not being able to afford one

Not having one is unacceptable?

This'll be like the guy I work with who proclaimed he doesn't know how anyone can live without a smartphone these days :/

why does this always descend into an argument?

some people like using droppers a lot
some people are ambivalent
some people don't like using them at all

And you know what, they're all right, for them.

The only people who I take issue with are those who've never used one and argue against them. You're arguing from a position of ignorance.

At least try one and see if it matches your preconceptions, if you still find it's not for you that's fine, but that doesn't mean other people are wrong or 'fashion victims' for finding them useful, what works for you might not work for them, and life would be pretty dull if we were all the same anyway.

I think the only acceptable reason for not having a dropper post is not being able to afford one.

Or:

Weight saving
Simplicity
One less thing to maintain
Never really felt the need
Lack of availability in smaller post sizes
Comfort (inherently stiffer)
One less thing to wear out/break

I didn't get one for ages because I knew if I did I'd want one on all my bikes = the price of a new bike! They're massively expensive (for the decent ones) for what they are.

When I was riding around Manchester they weren't all that useful as we were stopping at the top and bottom of climbs anyway to regroup and the climbs were long and continuously up or down.

Where I ride now they're far more useful, lots of short sharp climbs, short gentle climbs and similar descents. If you adjusted height all the time you'd never get anywhere. Yeah you can ride it all with the seat up your arse, or down a bit, or dead low, but why compromise when you don't have to?

They're really useful when riding new trails where you don't know what you're going to get too.

Only thing I don't get is using one on a rigid SS, I'm always stood up going up hill and stood up going down hill. I pretty much have it 1.5" below optimum and leave it there as something to lean on when cornering. On a long flat pedal I might put it up a bit, but it's so infrequent that it's not worth having a dropper for.

The only people who I take issue with are those who've never used one and argue against them. You're arguing from a position of ignorance.

They are easy to spot, they are the ones going really slowly and awkwardly round corners...

Weight saving - do people still do this?
Simplicity - offroad hobby horsing is so big this year.
One less thing to maintain - buy a decent one and you'll barely have to maintain it or it will be so easy/rare that it's a non-issue.
Never really felt the need - try one.
Lack of availability in smaller post sizes - sub 27.2, I'll conceed that one.
Comfort (inherently stiffer) - non-issue on full suss, on a HT drop the saddle a bit when it gets rough and use your legs a bit more.
One less thing to wear out/break - see hobby horse comment.

I have one on my hardtail (it's my only MTB)

I find it really handy, I don't really do trail centres on it, just local stuff, all natural

I'd have thought it was more important on a hardtail as there's no give in the rear end. A bump hits you, on a FS bike the bump is absorbed (to a point)

Besides, wherever you are, getting your weight lower for bumpy/techy stuff is useful irrespective of the bike no?

I bought one straight after my skills course!

I think the only acceptable reason for not having a dropper post is not being able to afford one.

🙂

They sees me etc.

1x30 gearing

Ha. Like your thinking - internal [i]and[/i] external rear hub all-in-one hefty piece of crap...

benp1 - Member

Besides, wherever you are, getting your weight lower for bumpy/techy stuff is useful irrespective of the bike no?

Some people have invested a lot of effort into getting good at riding a bike badly. I think they struggle to see the benefit of better ways to ride a bike, and don't want to invest the effort in relearning, or lose what they see as the benefit of their obsolete skillset.

Also, there's an obvious pride involved in having learned to ride around the limitations of outdated bike design; which is fair but this leads some people into snobbery I think- "I've learned how to ride a bike with its seat in the wrong place- you have merely avoided the problem entirely and lack that skill, therefore I am better at bikes"

I haven't got a dropper but its on my shopping list. When I started riding again 14 years ago I would never have dreamed of dropping my saddle. I'm not sure when I started but now I'll drop my saddle on any trail that is predominantly downhill regardless of difficulty as its just more fun. Now most times a quick release does the job just fine but I have found myself wanting to drop the saddle without stopping to do it. I was recently riding at Pitmedden on a very wet ride. A lot of the time I was pedalling and sat down but every so often we'd come up a short slippery climb and be at the top of a steep slippery descent and it would have been great to have dropped the saddle without stopping and popped it back up without stopping.

I've stopped using one, they just cause arguments.

Also, there's an obvious pride involved in having learned to ride around the limitations of outdated bike design; which is fair but this leads some people into snobbery I think- "I've learned how to ride a bike with its seat in the wrong place- you have merely avoided the problem entirely and lack that skill, therefore I am better at bikes"

This!

Also, there's an obvious pride involved in having learned to ride around the limitations of outdated bike design; which is fair but this leads some people into snobbery I think- "I've learned how to ride a bike with its seat in the wrong place- you have merely avoided the problem entirely and lack that skill, therefore I am better at bikes"

Yeah, of course that's the only reason folk don't ride with one. That and the fact they're skint, obviously.

I ride with loads of different people. There is only one who doesn't use a dropper post that isn't shit at going round corners - he's a great rider full stop. Everyone else has either converted or prefers mincing / getting in everyone else's way downhill. Our hills are small though and our mud fairly friendly - I can understand not using one if you pedal uphill for an hour before each descent and have gritty mud that destroys their workings.

For natural trails on less than huge hills I think they're better than suspension and disc brakes.

teasel - Member

Yeah, of course that's the only reason folk don't ride with one

Never said it was the only reason.

You're quite right, you didn't. But this...

Some people have invested a lot of effort into getting good at riding a bike badly. I think they struggle to see the benefit of better ways to ride a bike, and don't want to invest the effort in relearning, or lose what they see as the benefit of their obsolete skillset.

...is quite a weird yet intriguing thing to write. Exactly what skills would be made obsolete by a dropper?

I've used one but really didn't benefit on the stuff I ride 90% of the time so didn't stick with it. I don't really see myself as a mincer but hey, it's entirely subjective, I guess.

teasel - Member

...is quite a weird yet intriguing thing to write

It took me [i]ages[/i]. But I think it might have been a bit too plausible.

But it's not entirely a joke... This:

Exactly what skills would be made obsolete by a dropper?

The skills of riding difficult/steep/techy stuff with the seat up, obviously. A formerly very useful and valuable skill that put a big gap between an average and skilled rider, then you fit a dropper and poof- it's got no value when the seat's down.

One less thing to maintain - buy a decent one and you'll barely have to maintain it or it will be so easy/rare that it's a non-issue

Hmm. Not sure about that. I ride with 3 people who have Reverbs and they have all been back for warranty issues.

I have a specialized command post which has been ok however, although I find I don't use it as much as I thought I might.

I have found myself wanting to drop the saddle without stopping to do it

What could possibly go worng?

The skills of riding difficult/steep/techy stuff with the seat up, obviously. A formerly very useful and valuable skill that put a big gap between an average and skilled rider, then you fit a dropper and poof- it's got no value when the seat's down.

Of course it still has value. It saves you the cost of a dropper that everyone without your (mine or anyone else you wanna drag into the mix) mad skillz has to rely on to tackle steep stuff.

🙂

Thanks guys
Off to buy one tomorrow

For natural trails on less than huge hills I think they're better than suspension and disc brakes.

The natural trails you ride must be a million miles away from most i've ridden on. Sounds like you don't really need a mountain bike at all tbh.

OP, i was anti dropper for a while. I could see how they would be useful to me, but couldn't see past the price (still think most are way overpriced). But then i bought a second-hand bike that came with a dropper and changed my mind. It's not a game changer - it's a seatpost that goes up and down a bit and is handy in some situations.