You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
ok just finishing building my new Santa Cruz Butcher.....was going to put a Thomson post on but am now thinking of an adjustable one as I am always lowering my seat for descents in the Dark Peak?
what is the best value/performing one?? A few maters have the Superstar one and their saddle moves around a bit with it.
Any suggestion welcome!
Cheers
GDs are wiggly from new. Joplin 3s get wiggly rapidly. Joplin 4s are wiggly free (after 6 months at least).
Joplin 4 £180...WTF!
Really? They've come down in price!
Reverb: Best in class but not cheapest
I got one. I am sure they are great for some people but not for everyone so just to counter the hype and you spending a load of cash on the latest "must have" upgrade here's my opinion:
Don't bother and use a normal seat post with a quick release. Just don't think you are an XC racer and get used to standing up more. I find that optimal pedalling height is fine for the road and smooth bits but not so good for control so I end up running the seat too high and sitting down when I would be much more in control out of the saddle.
You could say it is just my bad technique but then if you run the saddle dropped a bit lower than XC style most of the time whats the point of all the extra weight and breakability of an adjustable seatpost? The amount of times when you need to drop the saddle really really low is not that often unless you are doing downhill and in that case do you really want to use an expensive bit of kit? Mine has made some worrying clunks doing jumps and drops and landing on/hitting the saddle.
Where I ride also influences stuff. In the Peaks rides tend to be a big up followed by a big down. Easy enough to use a quick release to change the seat position. Where i live it is mostly short steep up and downs so you are either out of the saddle honking up the hill or out of the saddle hooning down.
As I said I am sure they are great for loads of people but I don't rate them that much and probably people have got their seats up too high anyway. They are of course mechanically prone to failure/slop, expensive and heavy.
There is a grouptest in the current Singletrack Mag.
Oh and I have an [url= http://www.actionsports.de/gb/Components/SeatpostsClamps/X-Fusion-Hilo-Remote-Seatpost::32988.html ]X-Fusion-Hilo-Remote-Seatpost[/url]
Works great, the seat clamp is a bit strange though but the actually uppy downyness of the thing is great and no slop. The remote works well but it seems to have cost about £2 to make but you pay £50 extra for the privileged of having it over the lever type. Would not be to hard to make your own remote if you wanted.
The real difference in any of the models is really how robust they are and that means long term testing.
whats the point of all the extra weight and breakability of an adjustable seatpost?
The point is that with your saddle dropped right out of the way, you can lower your centre of gravity and therefore go faster down hill and in many cases, along single track.
I totally accept your point Geda that not everyone needs/wants one, but it's wrong to say that everyone couldn't, simply put, 'go faster' downhill and along single track if they had their saddle out of the way and were therefore able fine tune their weight distribution.
If going as fast you're capable of down any kind of descent (and I specifically do not mean just steep ones, because dropping your saddle is NOT about getting far enough off the back of the bike) is what you enjoy, then a dropper post makes perfect sense.
In the Peaks rides tend to be a big up followed by a big down. Easy enough to use a quick release to change the seat position.
This I do agree with and makes a good argument for not needing one.
OP I've owned long term a Gravity Dropper, two Joplins and I've used on a mate's bike a KSi900 and I now own two Rockshox Reverbs (for the last three months) and the Reverb is easily a big step on from any of the other posts.
It really is as good as people say IMO.
I've got a gravity dropper, i really like it. I get the most out of it on wee local loops with steep sections, its nice to be able to change the height without stopping. They're good for gravity enduros as well. If I'm doing long climbs and bringing a full facer etc I am happy enough with a QR.
always wondered if it is worth the 200-300 g increase in weight for a slight bit of hassle and the chance to stop and get your breath back. still tempted mind you
200-300g, thats a couple of mouth fulls out of your camelback !
I've got one on my FS but not my HT and I have to say I love it. I'd only get one with a bar remote as I literally use it on almost every single ride I do. I was at Swinley on Sunday and probably dropped it 20 times. I have done an identical ride on my HT without a droppy post, but it just gives you far more freedom to move around on the DH sections and drops when the saddle is out of the way and can pop it back up immediately for the climbs.
3 more guys in my group have them but without the remote and probably drop them twice on a ride - they are all now adding a remote!
always wondered if it is worth the 200-300 g increase in weight for a slight bit of hassle and the chance to stop and get your breath back. still tempted mind you
Definately worth it. It's not about stopping & putting the seat up & down, it's about ruining the trail flow for me. In an ideal world I would drop my saddle on anything pointing down, and put it back up at the bottom. With a normal post I tend not to bother & just get on with it, because I can't be arsed to stop & faff around.
With the dropper I get the best of both worlds. For me its about the downwards bits, and this improves my enjoyment of them. Unfortunately I don't live in an area where I have a long slog up, then a blast down, so for me it makes perfect sense. Just wish I got one sooner.