[Closed] How does a dropper change your riding?

Yes. When even XC racers are using droppers you know it’s the right thing to do (and will realise pretty quickly that your saddle has been in the wrong place for years)

My ride partner has a dropper and the only time he uses it is to put his bike in the car.

Some stuff has made me laugh today, but that's the best!

Do you feel the need to lower your seat - like stop at the top of descents and undo the QR? Do you do jumps where you'd go higher if your saddle wasn't in the way?
If not, you probably won't benefit.

It allows me to impose lairy body language over my phat steel top tube

They do what it says on the tin. You can drop your post without stopping and getting off the bike. I drop mine so I can get lower and/or back far enough. So generally on any descent where I'm trying to go fast and want a lower riding position, anything steep where I want my weight back a bit, or anything jumpy. One thing I didn't expect when i got one was using it to ride with the seat sort of in the middle. It's great for undulating descents that have the odd pedally bit.

At no point in my life have I ever wished my seat wasn’t where it was.

Only because you don't know any better.

My saddle was in the same place for 20 years. I didn't even have a seat QR on my bike, to save weight.

Then at Cwmcarn they put up new signs for each section and the downhill ones said 'drop your saddle' on them. So on the Patriot (which did have a QR) I did. And it made a huge difference to that bike. Because it's such long travel, it allows me to get my weight behind the suspension instead of on top of it, which means it doesn't dive like an Italian footballer every time I touch the brakes. That bike makes absolutely NO sense at all with the saddle at pedalling height.

I didn't think I wanted one for my XC bike though (a 100mm XC 29er FS) but I got one anyway about a year ago on a whim. And it bloody well does make a huge difference there too, because it lets me get my centre of gravity much lower. This means it handles soooo much better than it does with the seat up, even on the flat or gentle downhills. Basically, if I'm not pedalling, it's down. It's an absolute riot, and this is on a very XC bike with a 70.5 degree HA. Most of the smiles of a big bike but still climbs like a whippet.

Droppers are a very good thing, and I say this as very much an XCer who grew up on fixed saddles. I never felt the NEED to do it - I did all sorts of super steep tech with a saddle up - but like many things you have to work out how to use it to get the benefit. You won't know how useful it is unless you get one and get the advantage from it.

Even if you aren't interested in going fast, being lower down on the bike makes you feel hugely more stable and is a great confidence booster.

Molgrips says it all.

Changed my riding way more than I expected. Safer, faster, better control, greater confidence. This all add up to more fun.

Just buy one.

It won't change your riding for you, but it might let you change it.

I sure no one has to explain why MTBers drop their saddles for descending, if you want to do that then it sews the trails together, no more stopping to raise and lower the seat etc.

If you ride old-school XC style with the seat up at all time, then it's pointless weight / complexity you don't need.

Dropping my seat and using the room to move the bike under me cornering and riding obstacles etc was taught to me by a more experienced rider months after I started and it was a total game changer.

I know its been said by a lot of folks in the past, but I think the 2 greatest tools on modern mtbs are disc brakes, and dropper posts.

YMMV however. Before you splash the cash, why not ride a couple of your trails, esp the DH bits, with the saddle dropped and see how it feels?

It may not be apparent if you just ride the trails dropped once or twice. You need to learn how to get the most from it.

Looking at MTBing photos on STW and similar, people all look weird these days descending with their faces near the bars and their arse way back. It looks daft, but it's how people descent these days because the bike can be handled much better - as P-Jay says.

I took the Salsa out for the first time in ages the other day, which does not (yet) have a dropper. I felt like I was miles up in the air, it was quite scary!

Droppers are one of the best things invented for bikes recently IMHO and they should change the way you ride a bike for the better. I'm considering one for my gravel bike as even on a road descent, getting your weight down lower improves the handling loads.

Like Molgrips, I took my G'bike out on a local trail I usually MTB which has a couple of steep sections. It was almost nostalgic riding down them with the saddle in my stomach trying to stop going over the front.

It makes my climbing slower as they're heavy.

It doesn't- having a seatpost that doesn't move changes your riding.

something else - my lad is getting more confident on rougher and steeper tracks and getting the hang of moving around the bike so when we are doing our local woods circuit we're stopping more often to put the seat up and down. For his next bigger bike I'd consider a budget dropper way in front of suspension or discs

Once you get used to dropping your saddle on a whim you'll wonder how you lived without it. As Trimix says it will change your riding more than you expect, in a good way. I can't imagine a bike without one now.

Another 'droppers are ace' here too. I was gutted when mine went pop on a ride out and I was without one for a week or so.

I thought it wouldn’t but it does incredibly so.

TBF, there are places in the UK to ride where you don't 'need' a dropper post (Chilterns for example springs to mind)  I'd probs still have one on the bike, as others have said, it just gives you more options. You could however, happily ride forever there without one.

So, if you ride somewhere where it's not all the gnarr, it's probs not a game changer

Everybody talks about hw great droppers are for getting the saddle out of the way so you can use your weight properly on the way down. This is true.

However... droppers are great for on the fly saddle height adjustment too. It's surprising what a difference it can make being able to tweak the height at a prod of your thumb without breaking pedalling rhythm on variable terrain. You'll quickly discover that your previous 'correct' saddle height was very much a compromise that didn't give you the best of anything.

Droppers are ace. The only reasons not to run one on a MTB these days are if that extra pound or so really worries you or you're on an extreme budget.

something else – my lad is getting more confident on rougher and steeper tracks and getting the hang of moving around the bike so when we are doing our local woods circuit we’re stopping more often to put the seat up and down. For his next bigger bike I’d consider a budget dropper way in front of suspension or discs

My boys both progressed markedly faster once we fitted dropper posts to their 24in wheeled bikes.

TBF, there are places in the UK to ride where you don’t ‘need’ a dropper post (Chilterns for example springs to mind)

Yeah, perhaps. But any windy singletrack is greatly improved. Swinley for example, and that's not hilly at all.

Early adopter here, with the original Maverick Speedball.  Loved it from day one (reliability issues aside), its great having the max extension for climbing efficiency, then dropping it slightly for singletrack and getting it well out the way for really steep stuff.  Hate riding without one now.

I was a dropper refusenik until I got a bike with one and realised what a useful thing it is. It’s one of those things that seems trivial, but once you’ve got one you wonder how you ever managed without it.

Im in the molgrips camp, but have been mulling over using my dropper at next weeks Pivot 24/12 for the 12 hour on the Spark.

Ive ridden the course many times in the past without one and would have to lug it up that sodding hill 12 times at least....  thoughts?

You don't know how much a saddle on a dropper post gets in the way until you ride a trials bike/bmx etc.

"and would have to lug it up that sodding hill 12 times at least…. thoughts?"

The weight difference is really very small- you can probably make up the difference in watts/calories/sweats in just a couple of corners taken faster.

I had a dropper on a bike 3-4 years ago , didn’t see the point, now I couldn’t live without it, just upgraded my rockshox to a 1x lever, it’s like night and day and makes the saddle drop instantly , well worth the money

Safer, faster and as others have said a far bigger improvement to rising than any eagle or 12 speed

Dropper posts revealed to me that I greatly enjoyed going downhill aggressively, so much that 2 years later a third or so of my riding is on uplifts and/or Enduro and DH tracks.

I also began to use flat pedals partially because of dropper posts. With a conventional seatpost you end up riding on your tiptoes to retain some mobility over the saddle, which makes flats unpractical. With a dropper you have freedom to drop your heels

All of the above is true, plus they're great when you want to stop and eat a sandwich, sitting on the bike looking steezy, with your sandwich.

I wish all of you later converts would have been a lot less argumentative beforehand - I cannot tell you how much time I wasted posting on here about why droppers are so bloody good!

Can you still/could you ever get droppers for 27.2 posts? I’m okay with the idea of one but not at the expense of my Soda...

“Can you still/could you ever get droppers for 27.2 posts? I’m okay with the idea of one but not at the expense of my Soda…”

Yes, my first was a Gravity Dropper Classic 27.2mm 100mm drop, in 2011 - on my Cotic Soul. I’m pretty sure there are others now, KS?

BikeYoke Revive on both bikes now, 185mm drop, 31.6 and 34.9mm seat tube size. Things have escalated quite a bit!

Well I'm quite slow and old but even I think a dropper post is worthwhile. Less likely to catch "things".

Don't know what others think but I think that dropper posts have helped the resurgence of flat pedals . Dropping the seat and getting your feet out on corners and just generally moving around on the bike is much better with flats.

I forget I've got one half the time.
Don't think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread but each to their own I suppose.

"How does a dropper change your riding?????" Well......

Put it like this..... a dropper has made me want to throw my bike in a river.

Bloody KS Dropper post...... ****in expensive waste of money..... has never worked right since I got it.

Been back to factory under warranty etc, I've fiddled and fettled and MAYBE occassionaly it might work for a week or so..... then BAMM!!!! Bloody thing is seized again.

Utter waste of money.

In the face of all this praise for droppers I'll add one to the few voices in opposition/confussion/indifference.
I bought a bike with one earlier this year and I'm not seeing the point or worked out how it's useful.

v8ninety

Subscriber

Can you still/could you ever get droppers for 27.2 posts? I’m okay with the idea of one but not at the expense of my Soda…

Aye, though not as much drop- KS do a decent range of 120mm ones.

I wish all of you later converts would have been a lot less argumentative beforehand – I cannot tell you how much time I wasted posting on here about why droppers are so bloody good!

Yeah, sorry. But then, maybe you could've made your point better? 😉

a dropper has made me want to throw my bike in a river.

Different dropper? I'll take your KS post rather than sacrifice it to the river gods. What size is it?

In the face of all this praise for droppers I’ll add one to the few voices in opposition/confussion/indifference.
I bought a bike with one earlier this year and I’m not seeing the point or worked out how it’s useful.

I would respectfully suggest that you possibly aren’t riding terrain that warrants one then. How many many DH riders do you see with their saddle at full pedalling height? Or enduro riders with their saddles high up, when on a stage? Hell, even XC riders use them now.

I’d have one for my road bike too, were they available.

One Up doing droppers of 120mm to 210mm for between £165 and £210 which sounds like great value.

Can you still/could you ever get droppers for 27.2 posts? I’m okay with the idea of one but not at the expense of my Soda…

Yes. If you want relatively bling to match your Soda, Thomson do one as well. Not the greatest activation lever ever, but you can swap it for something else. Nice in a Thomson sort of way. Downside is that they use a sealed cartridge mechanism, so it's back to base if they fail, which they occasionally do.

The one irksome thing about droppers is that the bike industry still seems to struggle to produce a bombproof, reliable one.

Best invention in mtb in my opinion

My XC bike doesn't have one (yet), but my trail bike does.

Had mine on the Scott Spark originally, but I nabbed it for my Intense. To save the ball ache with the cable routing, I'll probably get a wireless one for the Spark so I can swap it with the Hope carbon post if I'm riding somewhere where it's not needed.

Echo pretty much what others say though. They are one of the more useful bike inventions of recent times, but don't feel pressured into getting one if you feel like you don't need it. Alternatively, try a bike with one and decide from there.

It'll give you the chance to not look like a rigid, overweight daddy long legs when descending.

I only fit mine when going to BPW. Other than that i see little/no point in a dropper post at all. Even places like Afan/Cwmcarn etc, i just run the post slightly lower than my optimal, but i'm quite a low seat kind of guy anyway. I could run it 3-4" higher if i felt the need, but i like it a little lower...

Each to their own @weeksy has little need for one whereas I can’t contemplate riding off road without one. That could be because I enjoy the challenge of the climb (even smooth ones) at least as much as the descent and it would drive me nuts if my seat wasn’t at the optimum height for climbing

See, I'd say places like BPW are where a dropper is less beneficial, and Swinley, Chilterns etc are where they shine.  At BPW you might as well just drop the saddle with a QR and leave it there.   If the riding is more undulating you're not going to bother stopping to fiddle with a QR for 30s of descent, then stop again to put it up for 2 mins of climbing etc but a dropper lets you do all that without a second thought.  Right saddle height all of the time.  BTW I'm about as gnarr as a non-gnarrly thing but still would want a dropper for any offroad ride.

It’ll give you the chance to not look like a rigid, overweight daddy long legs when descending.

yep. Even going round flat slow corners I'll put mine down on the FS bike. Complete gangly mess otherwise. Feels so much better, can lean the bike more, can carry more speed. Infinitely more enjoyable.
My rigid 29er doesn't have one but I go into that knowing full well the handling will be awful and sketchy, and its purely a bike to pound out the miles and get my heart rate going.

An addition to that - I really cannot ride flat pedals with the seat up - literally cannot drop my heels enough to not get bounced off, even without leaving more than a few millimeters of saddle to testicle clearance.

If you don't like them and can ride without them that's fine - there's a technique I'm clearly missing, but who am I to criticise His Schurterness. And there are (limited) benefits in weight reduction, comfort, simplicity, cost and seat pack compatibility.

What I really cannot comprehend (think there's a separate thread for this) is people that have one on the bike and proudly refuse to use it in some sort of retrogrouchy oneupmanship

Besides being able to drop the seat out of the way for anything technical without stopping, there's also those random moments like where you are spinning like hell up a steep bit straight after a drop (where you needed the seat low) and you suddenly need the seat at optimum height to take the weight off your legs and put some weight on the rear tyre to haul you the last few metres without wheel-spinning. My dropper really is part of my technique in so many situations like that, I feel crippled without one these days.

My usage is probably a bit strange (mostly freeride) but I use one to have my seat absolutely slammed for the majority of my riding and then able to raise it to full extension which is just enough so that pedalling isn't too awkward when I need to. For maximum pedalling efficiency i'd run it higher but i'm more concerned with having it as low as possible. 170mm drop on a capra

Other than that i see little/no point in a dropper post at all. Even places like Afan/Cwmcarn etc

At Cwmcarn my seat is up and down like a yoyo!

It's a bit like with cars. Cornering in a low sports car is much better than a tall 4x4, for similar reasons. I even drop my saddle on road corners now if they are slightly downhill because I have come to dislike the feeling of my weight moving over the front and staying high as I brake into the turn.

Oh, and another side-effect: it really helps get under low branches too.

Re the weight - mine adds about 300g over the previous super light carbon job. I did not notice that in the slightest. I like light bikes because they handle better, and seatpost/saddle is a good place to save weight because it moves around more. But the improvement in handling from 300g off the seatpost is absolutely nothing compared to the dramatic improvement in handling from having a low saddle on demand.

Put it this way, I don't have suspension on either of my mtb's, I'm still running 10 speed on one and the other is single speed, I'm still running quick release axles, I don't even have a smart phone (and intend to keep it that way), but I've got three dropper posts

BadlyWiredDog

Subscriber

The one irksome thing about droppers is that the bike industry still seems to struggle to produce a bombproof, reliable one.

The Gravity Dropper was almost the first one ever made and was bombproof and reliable. But it was ugly so everyone bought Speedballs instead. People complain about reliability but reliably don't choose the reliable ones.

Bikeyoke Revive is bombproof and reliable... But it also costs as much as 2 Reverbs so there's that whole thing.

Didn't use a dropper for years. Couldn't really see the point of them, particularly when they seemed to fail constantly. So I stuck with my trusty Thomspon Elite. After all, slamming a saddle at the top of a downhill is hardly difficult with a quick release seat collar.

Then I got a new bike that came with a remote dropper. 5 minutes into my first ride on that new bike, dropper posts had become as important to my riding as oxygen.

For me the greatest advantage of droppers is all about lowering the centre of gravity when descending in the saddle and the resulting responsiveness and fun factor (the trails literally come alive etc). I always drop the seat for freewheel descending on roads, it feels brilliant.

I do not have droppers on any of my bikes, but I always run the saddles low anyway, although I can see how great they can be.