Dropper versus no dropper test.

[Philpug]

@Justin Koski rides without one..he is Michigan..and faster than me....not that that say smuch but I know he does 24 hour races with a team.

 

[martyg]

Yeah but he didnt use it?

With modern geometry trail bikes I find I have to be more towards the front where back in the day in my XC bikes I had to be as far rearward as I could on the downhill tech stuff or I would risk crashing most times. Now I feel that if I do that I loose too much front wheel traction and steering control. That said I still use the dropper a lot mainly for ease and comfort.

This photo of Jolanda is a great illustration of positioning on a bike.

The skills coach that I have been working with is all about getting forward. Where I love a dropper, and where it definately makes a time difference for me, is in tight turns on downhills. The bike moves so much more effortlessly under me - like making turns in a slalom course on skis - the bike move side to side - while my COM continues down the fall line.

So many people that I ride with think that they are forward and low. Until I shoot a bit of video of them. I experienced the same when starting with my coach.

 

[scott43]

To each their own. I've ridden with one on other bikes but if I tried to slide that past the bank at this time I'd get my ass handed to me...

 

[cantunamunch]

I was going to talk about the frame differences between Jolanda's bike and the one in the other pic, but...

To each their own. I've ridden with one on other bikes but if I tried to slide that past the bank at this time I'd get my ass handed to me...

I see what you downhill turn did there. And so, I'll just leave this here.

 

[scott43]

Basic skills can always be worked on...it's boring and takes effort..but it does pay off! Just like skiing..

 

[scott43]

So many people that I ride with think that they are forward and low. Until I shoot a bit of video of them. I experienced the same when starting with my coach.

We have a saying in motorcycle road cornering...eat the mirror. People think they've got their weight over and are forward leaning into the corner..until you show them a pic and they can see how far they are from eating the mirror...

 

[Ken_R]

This photo of Jolanda is a great illustration of positioning on a bike.

The skills coach that I have been working with is all about getting forward. Where I love a dropper, and where it definately makes a time difference for me, is in tight turns on downhills. The bike moves so much more effortlessly under me - like making turns in a slalom course on skis - the bike move side to side - while my COM continues down the fall line.

So many people that I ride with think that they are forward and low. Until I shoot a bit of video of them. I experienced the same when starting with my coach.

View attachment 103890

I try to ride like woman in the pic... I am SURE my positioning doesnt look even close to that but its the right way for sure. How I think I ride...how I really ride...

 

[cantunamunch]

I try to ride like woman in the pic...

Don't we all

 

[Tony S]

@ScottB , to me it's at least as much about cornering on downhills (think upper/lower body separation) as it is about straight line fore/aft movement.

Where I love a dropper, and where it definately makes a time difference for me, is in tight turns on downhills. The bike moves so much more effortlessly under me - like making turns in a slalom course on skis - the bike move side to side - while my COM continues down the fall line.

Yah. Consultants.

 

[Ross Biff]

@ScottB , to me it's at least as much about cornering on downhills (think upper/lower body separation) as it is about straight line fore/aft movement.

This is a good point although I found if I drop my post ALL the way, I loose the sensation of contact with the saddle on the inside of my leg and can't feel what the back of the bike is doing quite as well. Droppers are great for sliding off the back of the saddle and not snagging your shorts on the way back though!

 

[Rod9301]

This is a good point although I found if I drop my post ALL the way, I loose the sensation of contact with the saddle on the inside of my leg and can't feel what the back of the bike is doing quite as well. Droppers are great for sliding off the back of the saddle and not snagging your shorts on the way back though!

If you lose the contact with the saddle on the inside of the inside leg, the bike is not leaned enough, you need to move your butt to the outside a lot more.

 

[Ross Biff]

If you lose the contact with the saddle on the inside of the inside leg, the bike is not leaned enough, you need to move your butt to the outside a lot more.

I get that. My point was that if I drop my post completely, the contact with my inside leg is too low for good feel, particularly in consecutive switchbacks. I just drop it part way and this works fine, especially with outside foot/bottom of pedal stroke switching. I also no longer ride the terrain I did as a younger rider with less responsibility and more nerve!

 

[Mike Thomas]

I get that. My point was that if I drop my post completely, the contact with my inside leg is too low for good feel, particularly in consecutive switchbacks. I just drop it part way

I think most people's dropper post 'education' goes-

- why do I need a dropper, I can just get off and raise my seat up before a climb or down before a long descent? The seat collar has a quick release.
- I don't know if this was worth it, but at least I don't have to get off the bike any more.
- hmmm... kinda nice to be able to raise the seat mid-descent for short climbs or flats.
- it's kind of nice dropping a little for technical trail sections.
- wow, I get it. I really like adjusting seat height for all sorts of different trail sections. I use it as much or more than my derailleur.
- I'd rather live without a derailleur than a dropper.

 

[Tony S]

- wow, I get it. I really like adjusting seat height for all sorts of different trail sections. I use it as much or more than my derailleur.

So, bit of thread drift here, but I have almost zero experience, mechanically speaking, with droppers. I have a Reverb that's four years old or so. Came on a lightly used bike. It's just REALLY hard to get it STARTED going down, if it's been in the up position for more than a few minutes. Always has been.

I see a section of trail approaching where I want it down, and after three or four failed butt jounces I have to just give up and ride the section as-is because it's too late - need to focus mind and body on riding. Very frustrating.

Things to try to reduce that stiction?

 

[Mike Thomas]

Have you had it bled? Is your Reverb the 'plunger' style or 'shift paddle' style? I found the plunger style to feel hard to actuate at times when it needed to be bled (I have not owned a shifter style Reverb). I ride a cable actuated One-Up post now that I am quite happy with, but I always had good luck with the Reverbs I owned.

With the AXS wireless reverb, and the Magura post that existed before it, I feel like there should/ could be a way to both drop and raise the saddle height. There are moments where not having to weight the seat to drop it would be ideal. Not critical, but better.

 

[martyg]

I get that. My point was that if I drop my post completely, the contact with my inside leg is too low for good feel, particularly in consecutive switchbacks. I just drop it part way and this works fine, especially with outside foot/bottom of pedal stroke switching. I also no longer ride the terrain I did as a younger rider with less responsibility and more nerve!

Ideally, your cranks should be parallel. Your inside foot should be leading. It is the same as a ski turn or walking. The inside ski / foot initiates the kinestetic chain reaction that is your COM changing direction.

It is why you in more traditional form you see Martial Arts instructors with long pants, and students in shorter pants. The feet telegraph what the body will do a split second later.

Good video here:

 

[Tom K.]

Droppers are great for sliding off the back of the saddle and not snagging your shorts on the way back though!

Manufacturers of baggy shorts and dropper posts pay each other royalties!

I have a Reverb that's four years old or so......things to try to reduce that stiction?

My shop gurus would tell you that the best way to improve a well-used, four-year old Reverb is to replace it. There are countless better choices. Fox and PNW seem to hold up best under my hard riding buddies. Bontragers are not quite as refined, but when they go bad, anybody that can fix a flat can replace the cartridge in ten minutes for less than $35.

Heck, my lightweight, gentle-riding wife destroyed a Reverb every season for four years before she cried "uncle"!

 

[Tony Storaro]

The only question is: which dropper post weighs only 300 grams?
The Reverb AXS is over 600 grams and the Bike Yoke I am eyeing is about 390 and is considered to be very lightweight. That is the Divine SL which is 400mm and only 80 mm drop-not a proper dropper by DH and trail folks, but perfectly fine for XC.

So, are there lighter options on the market?

 

[Tony S]

Is your Reverb the 'plunger' style or 'shift paddle' style? I found the plunger style to feel hard to actuate at times when it needed to be bled

Plunger style. Has not been bled. It's not super easy to depress the button all the way, if that's what you mean by "actuate," but I have no trouble doing it. The problem is that even with the button all the way down, it takes a ton of force to get the seat "unstuck". Once it's unstuck it works fine.

 

[Tony S]

Well, after a Google I guess I'm not attempting my first post bleed this morning. Have a brake bleed kit but nothing that looks much like Reverb fluid.