DROPPER POSTS
We pop and drop a selection of the latest seatposts to ind out which ones rise to the top or fall by the wayside
Barely on the radar as recently as 10 years ago, dropper seatposts have quickly established themselves as an essential for most trail riders. They literally change the way you ride, allowing you to drop your saddle out of the way with the push of a button or lever, so you can lower your centre of gravity without having to hang off the back of the bike. The result is a far better body position for attacking trails, which lets you take full advantage of modern MTB geometry and suspension. You can ride faster and tackle steeper gradients with more control, but quickly regain an efficient pedalling position with another push of the button/lever.
While the demands on a dropper are pretty simple, there are a number of considerations before you buy. The first is cable routing. If your frame doesn’t have ‘stealth’ internal routing for a dropper cable, you’ll have to go for an externallyrouted post. If you aren’t sure, check for a hole at the base of the seat tube (often covered with a rubber bung) or other unused routes into/out of the frame. Next is travel. If you have short legs or a tall frame, you may not have room for a post with more than 100 or 125mm of travel. Luckily, despite the tendency for ever longer droppers, even 100mm is enough to make a huge difference to your riding. Get a measuring tape out to check the length of your current post at full pedalling height, then compare this to the dropper you’re thinking of buying, making sure to factor in the height of the seatpost collar and saddle clamp. Also, keep in mind that a long-travel shaft needs an equally long seat tube to slide into, and one that isn’t interrupted by kinks, bends or blockages, such as bottle bosses or suspension pivots. You can check this by sliding an old rigid seatpost into the frame.
The remote actuator is important too. An under-bar lever is discreet, with less bar clutter and great leverage, but precludes the use of a front gear shifter. If you’re still using one of those, you’ll need a vertical lever that sits beside it. Many manufacturers now offer remotes as an extra, so you can select the type you want, or even pair the post with another brand’s lever – just check that the cable attaches in the same place (either at the remote end or at the post). Hydraulic remotes remove the possibility of sticky or frozen cables but require a slightly more involved set-up process. The RockShox Reverb is the only hydraulically-actuated post here. The rest, bar one, are cable-operated.