# Dropper posts: not just "down for down & up for up"



## mudflap (Feb 23, 2004)

I suppose I could have posted this in the "Dropper Posts" forum, but what the heck, I'm in my early 70's and prefer this forum for most of my info gathering (from peers, no less.)

Anyhow, after more than 30 years of riding without a dropper (although I had a "height-right" setup way back on one bike) I decided to spend the $$ and get a dropper.

I have to say it's nice being closer to the ground on some hairy downhill, or even exposed, trails. But for the majority of trails I have been riding in the furthest up position, and only dropping when things get sketchy.

But just recently I started riding in a slightly lower than full up for most of my pedaling, and only going full up on sections where I need to crank with all the advantage of full leg extension. I find this a bit more comfortable, and probably a bit more of a workout for the legs, but nothing that places un-necessary demand on the muscles. And not being full up coming into a techy section, I don't always feel the need to drop it any lower (esp since I used to ride in full up all the time before the dropper.)

Any good feedback on saddle height?


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## MTB_Underdog (Jul 8, 2020)

I'm generally full up or full down, but I'm pretty new to droppers myself. I will say one of the things that surprised me was the difference the dropper made in cornering. I'm 6'2, 260#, so getting my weight lower when cornering makes a big difference.

I made myself put the dropper down any time i got off the saddle so I would get used to using it. After a few rides of doing this I went into a corner with the dropper up and was really surprised how "tall" and unstable I felt. Made a surprising difference. I knew getting it out of the way descending would make a big difference, but I did not expect to notice anything turning.


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

That's one good thing about a dropper, it allows you to set the saddle wherever you want for that moment in time. 
Feeling lazy and just cruising slowly? Drop it half way or anywhere in between
Want maximum efficiency? Raise it all the way up
Going downhill and need the saddle out of the way? Slam it


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Mine's only full up for climbing. On traversing pedaly terrain it's backed off full extension. All variations of different heights for technical pedaling or climbing. I'll also lower it on big days just to work different muscles at different times. 

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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

It's so specific to the situation and the whole point is you can adapt the height to the situation. Most of the time on a climb or level mine is full up, except if I'm on level ground going into a tech section where I need my weight lower to help roll-over. Another trick when you don't have enough speed is to throw your weight forward to get over the obstacle, but weight too high can cause an endo, so the lower height helps a lot with this, which tends to happen more when it's not flat out downhill. Another situation is really tight uphill switchbacks, I'll often lower a bit here to help with turning so I can get low. Sometimes just cruising on level stuff I'll lower it a bit when I don't care about keeping my speed up and need a little break.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Just to throw another wrench into the equation, I think a lot of people run their saddles too high overall. 

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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

I'm all over the place in terms of height. That's the best thing about the dropper, it's non-binary. I'd actually hate one that dropped all the way down on it's own.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

WHALENARD said:


> Just a throw another wrench into the equation, I think a lot of people run their saddles too high overall.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


Different shoes (and pedals) definitely throw a wrench in this for me. I have different sets of shoes for different purposes, but if I mix them on bikes, I end up with bad results, seat too high or too low. A quarter of an inch (a few mm) makes a significant difference IME.


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## chazpat (Sep 23, 2006)

I vary the height a lot. When I rode a rigid post, I had it lowered maybe an inch from ideal climbing height to give myself some room to float off the saddle riding through rough, but not necessarily downward, sections. But of course, it was then a little low for climbing. With a dropper, I can position my saddle at the ideal height for both of these situations, and also drop it all the way to get the saddle out of the way for descents. And when I get really tired, I find I'll drop it maybe half way even on flats just to change position a little, relax, and use some different muscles.


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## LVLBTY (Jul 15, 2020)

I'm with you on the slightly lower position for trail riding, especially in the flowing twisties. The lower center of gravity helps with handling. Full up on climbs and down low to get it out of the way for drops and downhills. Actually took me a while to get use to it.


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## Jetta2010 (Jan 15, 2012)

I'm (cough cough) 55 yo long time rider and have only been running dropper last 4 yrs. On account of my chronic lower back issues, I have found that by dropping the post on anything other than long climb has greatly helped my in ride/post ride back pain (more so than even going full squish). I apparently had picked up a bad habit of doing the sit-and-spin thing. I also love the fact that I can position it anywhere in between and have been experimenting with this.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

On a lot of trails, I leave it down unless I need it up. If I am able to push a slightly bigger gear, then I can stand for a long time and it can spend a lot of time down. But that just-below-top position is quite handy for intermittent pedaling on rough ground - esp if I'm fatigued.

-F


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

mudflap said:


> I suppose I could have posted this in the "Dropper Posts" forum, but what the heck, I'm in my early 70's and prefer this forum for most of my info gathering (from peers, no less.)
> 
> Anyhow, after more than 30 years of riding without a dropper (although I had a "height-right" setup way back on one bike) I decided to spend the $$ and get a dropper.
> 
> ...


Whatever makes you happy.

I use my dropper more than any other component, I'll drop it a little or a lot, sometimes I drop it slightly to give my legs a rest when full extension is wearing me out or when I want to pedal through tech while sitting.

I run a 210mm dropper on both bikes, love droppers.


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## WillB (Jan 30, 2007)

LVLBTY said:


> I'm with you on the slightly lower position for trail riding, especially in the flowing twisties. The lower center of gravity helps with handling. Full up on climbs and down low to get it out of the way for drops and downhills. Actually took me a while to get use to it.


Some great info here. I started riding mine at different heights too, still getting used to it.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

I am always fiddling with the height.

One thing I always do on trails like Hyperventilation in Fernie, is lower my dropper a bit on climbs having super sharp switchbacks. I seem to struggle a bit with my saddle fully extended.


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## Brad Pitted (Oct 7, 2018)

To paraphrase some wisdom I picked up here years ago; don’t drop the saddle when you need it out of the way, raise the saddle when you need somewhere to rest your ass.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

I've used a dropper (Fox) for the past 5 years. I've appreciated it's function because we ride such diverse trails. It beats having to adjust the seat post manually. The one drawback however is that it doesn't work well in very cold temperatures so I ride a hardtail with a manual seat post in winter when there is less need for the dropper.

On my last ride (one week ago) I had an issue with the dropper. Chris made an adjustment so we could finish the ride... but it definitely needs to be serviced. Chris will try to fix it first because to have it serviced will cost about $175 or replace with a new one $500


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## huckleberry hound (Feb 27, 2015)

cyclelicious said:


> I've used a dropper (Fox) for the past 5 years. I've appreciated it's function because we ride such diverse trails. It beats having to adjust the seat post manually. The one drawback however is that it doesn't work well in very cold temperatures so I ride a hardtail with a manual seat post in winter when there is less need for the dropper.
> 
> On my last ride (one week ago) I had an issue with the dropper. Chris made an adjustment so we could finish the ride... but it definitely needs to be serviced. Chris will try to fix it first because to have it serviced will cost about $175 or replace with a new one $500


Get a TransX cartridge style dropper post. They are <$200 USD and mine has worked flawlessly at 0° Fahrenheit.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

huckleberry hound said:


> Get a TransX cartridge style dropper post. They are <$200 USD and mine has worked flawlessly at 0° Fahrenheit.


Is that like the PNW cartridge? Cause mine doesn't work for crap at those temps.


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## huckleberry hound (Feb 27, 2015)

Jayem said:


> Is that like the PNW cartridge? Cause mine doesn't work for crap at those temps.


Probably so. I do have to admit that I don't have sustained low temps here in Texas like ya'll do up north. I do regularly ride at below freezing but it doesn't stay below freezing here very long. It did work during the week long Artic snap with temperatures around 0 degrees Fahrenheit that reeked so much havoc to the power grid here last February.


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## TheBaldBlur (Jan 13, 2014)

I was admittedly a late adopter to the dropper post movement but what I found surprising (to me) was how much getting it down and out of the way helped with moving my hips laterally around the bike not just fore and aft.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

mudflap said:


> Any good feedback on saddle height?


Raise your saddle only as high as you need it only when you need it.

Think of your post as a riser post instead of a dropper post.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

huckleberry hound said:


> Get a TransX cartridge style dropper post. They are <$200 USD and mine has worked flawlessly at 0° Fahrenheit.


Agreed. I have 2 TranzX droppers. Each saw 50+ rides last winter in minus 25 to plus 25 C temps. Both functioned flawlessly.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

mtnbkrmike said:


> Agreed. I have 2 TranzX droppers. Each saw 50+ rides last winter in minus 25 to plus 25 C temps. Both functioned flawlessly.
> 
> View attachment 1948744


Good to know because Chris and I (and others) have both tried the Fox and Thomson and both failed in temps colder than 0c


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

huckleberry hound said:


> Get a TransX cartridge style dropper post. They are <$200 USD and mine has worked flawlessly at 0° Fahrenheit.


Thanks for the info huck. I'll definitely look into this brand


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## Curveball (Aug 10, 2015)

cyclelicious said:


> Thanks for the info huck. I'll definitely look into this brand


The Transx is about the cheapest post on the market, but they work awesome. The one on my hardtail has been perfect.


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## Curveball (Aug 10, 2015)

I've discovered that my 150mm dropper really isn't enough for my riding. I think I'll get a 200.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

The more the better. Even going from 185mm to 210mm gave me world's more clearance and range of motion. Do it. 

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## Xylx (Mar 18, 2005)

Last fall I bonked badly out in the desert (unexpected heat combined with inadequate calories and forgetting my emergency Gu). I was only a few miles from the trailhead. Even though the terrain was fairly flat I had to get off and walk even the little hills and was having a hard time climbing on and off the bike. I dropped the post about halfway to get off and raised it back up once back in the saddle if I hit a flat section. Really saved me from a longer walk.


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## Tall BMX'r (Jan 11, 2021)

WHALENARD said:


> The more the better. Even going from 185mm to 210mm gave me world's more clearance and range of motion. Do it.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


I'm riding a 150mm RS Reverb and it's not enough. No complaints as far as quality or operation. I need it to drop lower on the really steeps. I've been running it clamped a little low so I get the lowest without keeping me too far from the highest. I'm not sure a 200mm+ would work? Not sure how deep my seat post can go. It's an internal cable I guess I'll have to pull it out and measure the useable seat tube length.
I only run it max height on dirt fire roads, and paved roads.


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## ToddWadd (Dec 11, 2020)

Last few months my dropper is normally run at 80-90% of full height, it does work my quads more but I feel more aggressive and attacking corners and obstacles better or more confidently. And I still have some raise left if an uphill starts to wear on me. Only 9 months of experience but this adjustment has helped and my fully raised is probably too high, my leg at lowest pedal placement is almost if not fully extended when the dropper is at its highest. Really feel the center of gravity lowered and definitely working different muscles.


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