Dropper post and seat height adjustments...HELP a Newb

291748 · Feb 14, 2020

Maybe a dropper with different multiple defined stopping points like the e13 TRS would be more to the OPs liking. It's got stops at 150mm, 110mm, 80mm, and 0mm.
If I ever start riding highly technical terrain again regularly and decide I needed a dropper, I would be looking for something along these lines. I'm not a fan of trying to set position using my body weight.

Harold · Feb 14, 2020

slapheadmofo said:
I'm not a fan of trying to set position using my body weight.

It's not a big deal. For me, it's typically either full up, somewhere in the middle, or full down. And the somewhere in the middle position is the least frequently used. I don't know of a single post where you don't have to use your body weight to press it down to whatever positions it offers.

Forest Rider · Feb 15, 2020

I don't think you are explaining it improperly.

It's that you are using it improperly.

The sole purpose of a dropper post is for you to raise the seat to maximum position and ride your bicycle.

If/when you get into something a bit technical or you're shooting down a fast and/or steep hill, you lower the seat to make maneuvering more easy. If you seat it high (normal height), it can come up and buck you in the backside and that feels uncomfortable, like it's going to launch you over the bars. So by lowering the seat, you no longer get bucked by the seat.

So yeah, there is no need to set the seat low and make that your preferred position then eventually decide to raise it for some reason.

You'll get there!
You may notice people riding around with the seat all the way down -you should only notice that while people are standing up and being nimble on the bike. Not really sitting and pedaling their bicycles.

And yes to some previous posts. Sounds like you need to do some math conversions. 150mm is a little more than 6", or making your seat 6" lower would mean you'd effectively keep the dropper at the lowest position.
Most of us make meaningful bicycle adjustments a couple millimeters at a time. For example, 3mm is similar to 1/8" which is a lot for some adjustments.

richj8990 · Feb 15, 2020

Could be. But I think the answer may be simpler than that.

I believe it may be riding technique that's getting in the way.

A year or so later I was talking to my riding buddy Ken (who wanted to go back to Moab) and I said I don't need no stinkin' dropper post. Ken said words to this effect: "You don't just buy a dropper. You buy a dropper AND learn to ride a new way. Get a dropper, learn to ride The New Way and you won't have to slow down for the corners.

Really? I was terrible at switchbacks with a rigid post, I read on here about droppers, the more I read the more I realized this was exactly what I needed. Put it on the bike, I lowered it before the corners, I took the corners better. Immediately. It was exactly what I needed, I knew that before I ever used one.

FWIW I'll just add the longer the dropper the better. Two days ago I rode at Black Rock and watched a guy on a hardtail (Chromag Rootdown) nail a road gap. No way he'd ever have attempted such a move without a dropper that put the saddle all the way down against the seat collar.
=sParty

OK wait a minute lol. Now I'm missing something. You need a longer dropper for climbing, not descending. Or if you are really tall. You can't lower it below the frame's seat tube. Now, maybe some of them don't have that little collar on the bottom that is above the seat tube, so maybe you can lower it another 1/2 inch or so if it's a certain type, but the longer ones are for extending up past a certain point in the air for your leg extension while climbing, not to lower it more. If one is 100mm and one is 150mm, they both lower to the same level, just above the seat tube. The 150mm will raise 50mm more for climbing steeper trails. This is also what I need (for the opposite reason) because 100mm is not enough for me with the new bike's geometry that has the seat stays parallel with the top tube. If the bike's geometry is older and/or the seat stays are bent down more from the top tube, then 100mm is plenty for the avg. rider under 6 feet tall.

mik_git · Feb 15, 2020

richj8990 said:
OK wait a minute lol. Now I'm missing something. You need a longer dropper for climbing, not descending. Or if you are really tall. You can't lower it below the frame's seat tube. Now, maybe some of them don't have that little collar on the bottom that is above the seat tube, so maybe you can lower it another 1/2 inch or so if it's a certain type, but the longer ones are for extending up past a certain point in the air for your leg extension while climbing, not to lower it more. If one is 100mm and one is 150mm, they both lower to the same level, just above the seat tube. The 150mm will raise 50mm more for climbing steeper trails. This is also what I need (for the opposite reason) because 100mm is not enough for me with the new bike's geometry that has the seat stays parallel with the top tube. If the bike's geometry is older and/or the seat stays are bent down more from the top tube, then 100mm is plenty for the avg. rider under 6 feet tall.

If you have a frame that for your height/where you like the seat, can run a 150mm post, then you can also fit a 125mm, or a 100 maybe. The seat raise will be at the same hieight, but dropped, the 150 will be lower.
Usually if someone is running a long drop post, the have the collar of the post slammed to the top of the seat tube/seat collar(or as close as they can that still gets them the right seat position when up), but a shorter drop post will have a bunch of post above the seattube/collar to the seal collar.

SO you have it back to front, or upside down.

Harold · Feb 15, 2020

richj8990 said:
Really? I was terrible at switchbacks with a rigid post, I read on here about droppers, the more I read the more I realized this was exactly what I needed. Put it on the bike, I lowered it before the corners, I took the corners better. Immediately. It was exactly what I needed, I knew that before I ever used one.

So some people take to them faster than others. What's your point?

richj8990 said:
OK wait a minute lol. Now I'm missing something. You need a longer dropper for climbing, not descending. Or if you are really tall. You can't lower it below the frame's seat tube. Now, maybe some of them don't have that little collar on the bottom that is above the seat tube, so maybe you can lower it another 1/2 inch or so if it's a certain type, but the longer ones are for extending up past a certain point in the air for your leg extension while climbing, not to lower it more. If one is 100mm and one is 150mm, they both lower to the same level, just above the seat tube. The 150mm will raise 50mm more for climbing steeper trails. This is also what I need (for the opposite reason) because 100mm is not enough for me with the new bike's geometry that has the seat stays parallel with the top tube. If the bike's geometry is older and/or the seat stays are bent down more from the top tube, then 100mm is plenty for the avg. rider under 6 feet tall.

Yeah, you're missing something. A person's ride height (of the saddle) is their ride height. It doesn't change. What DOES change from one frame to the next is how much seatpost sticks out to achieve the ride height. Sparty mentioned which frame he was talking about (chromag rootdown), so we can pull up an image to look at it.

Two things this frame permits. One is that it has a fairly low standover clearance. Second is that it has a pretty straight seat tube (with the bend very low), allowing you to get max insertion on a dropper post. It allows a rider to maximize the amount of drop in their dropper post pretty well. Now, compare that bike with mine, which doesn't permit maximum drop. My bike is the Guerrilla Gravity Pedalhead in the foreground. We don't know why the dropper collar isn't lower on this particular bike. Could be one of many reasons in all honesty.

1117191334 by Nate, on Flickr

I cannot slam the collar of the dropper post to the seat clamp on this frame, because the bend in the seat tube is too high. I have my dropper post inserted as much as it will go to get the most drop I can. It's about 130mm or so. But if the frame had a seat tube that was straighter, I could insert the post farther and run it at a full 150mm. Also if I had longer legs, I could run more drop. It's a Oneup dropper, so it's got adjustable drop for just this reason.

291748 · Feb 15, 2020

Harold said:
It's not a big deal. For me, it's typically either full up, somewhere in the middle, or full down. And the somewhere in the middle position is the least frequently used. I don't know of a single post where you don't have to use your body weight to press it down to whatever positions it offers.

You can decide what's 'no big deal' and works for you, I'll decide for me. I want/need a fully dropped seat on my trail bike a handful of times a year, tops. I would use a slight drop quite a bit, but hate trying to repeatedly position the seat reliably into a certain position with my weight while I'm riding. Works better for me to just run it an inch or two lower than 'roadie height' at all times and just deal with it.

The difference with the post I suggested is that it stops a defined increments along the way. That would be my preference over infinite adjustability. It also sounds to me like a 'fix' to the OP's issue, if I interpret what he's saying correctly.

291748 · Feb 15, 2020

richj8990 said:
learn to ride The New Way...

... No way he'd ever have attempted such a move without a dropper that put the saddle all the way down against the seat collar.

Well, actually, he would've just dropped his seat manually while he was scoping it out, the way millions of other drops/gaps have been sent in the past. Dropper makes things more convenient for sure, but let's not get carried away into any 'not possible without one' silliness.

As far as being 'The New Way', it's only new to people who never rode BMX/DJ/DH/FR in the past; many of us have been riding slammed seats when warranted for ages. It's mainly just the XC crowd that's finally figuring it out. And of course, now think it's never been possible without dropping hundreds of dollars on a finicky new gizmo.

BrianU · Feb 15, 2020

Harold's explanation is spot on with why there are different length dropper posts.

Sparticus · Feb 15, 2020

richj8990 said:
OK wait a minute lol. Now I'm missing something.

My hardtail is a steel Kona Honzo, size XL. Since I'm 6'2", I have a lot of exposed seatpost above the big frame's long seat tube. In this case I'm able to run a 210mm dropper. The static portion of the dropper is buried in the frame and the dropper's collar (where the post changes from static to dynamic) sits just 3 or 4mm above the frame's seat collar.

Before I got the 210mm dropper, I ran a 150mm dropper. Once I installed the longer dropper, I was amazed at how the bike was transformed. It turned my 29er hardtail into a dirt jumper.

It's okay if you're missing it. I was too - until I actually did it. Then... revelation.
=sParty

Sparticus · Feb 15, 2020

slapheadmofo said:
Well, actually, he would've just dropped his seat manually while he was scoping it out, the way millions of other drops/gaps have been sent in the past. Dropper makes things more convenient for sure, but let's not get carried away into any 'not possible without one' silliness.

As far as being 'The New Way', it's only new to people who never rode BMX/DJ/DH/FR in the past; many of us have been riding slammed seats when warranted for ages. It's mainly just the XC crowd that's finally figuring it out. And of course, now think it's never been possible without dropping hundreds of dollars on a finicky new gizmo.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to slapheadmofo again."

You're absolutely right. I was that XC guy lacking BMX skills for many of my mountain biking years (cuz I'm so old that BMX wasn't a thing when I was crawling.) How I wish I'd gotten those skills when I was younger. Thankfully I did spend some years off-road motorcycling so I learned a modicum of 2-wheeled jumping skills, but it wasn't until I embraced today's mountain bikes' geo, longer travel suspension and the dropper post that I began to really get my wheels off the ground - that's when the biggest smiles came.

Sure, we don't need a remotely operated dropper to lower our seats, but a handlebar-operated dropper sure is nice. I think it's possible I raise & lower my post more than I shift gears. One thing I don't do: push my bike up hills that can be ridden.

Guess there's still a little XC in me.
=sParty

J.B. Weld · Feb 15, 2020

slapheadmofo said:
You can decide what's 'no big deal' and works for you, I'll decide for me.

Come on, you've been around long enough to know that's not the way it works around here.

291748 · Feb 15, 2020

J.B. Weld said:
Come on, you've been around long enough to know that's not the way it works around here.

Touche!

downcountry · Feb 16, 2020

kblaine123 said:
EXACTLY....Thanks for clarity.

OTOH, yes, it is my first experience with a dropper. I think the confusion came from my not knowing the correct terminology in asking the question to begin with. I do think I will get used to it and yes I can drop it to a level where is suitable....I guess that simply requires a more anticipatory retraction of the dropper.

Thanks for the conversation on the topic.

You are quite welcome. I've been told(here and elsewhere) that I excel at thinking backwards, so no biggie. (-:
I've had a dropper now since '16, and truthfully, their utility is a bit lost on me.
I found that my knees can take riding with the seat slightly lower than what most would call optimal, and I'm comfortable with that setting over the drops-3 to 4 feet- and small jumps we have around here, and I feel it helps my cornering, too.
I did find the dropper useful on my riding trip to Colorado and Utah last spring, but ironically,
I used it more for technical, stand up climbing than for downhill. But , I didn't ride very demanding trails, either.
My best advice- just play around with it in all of your riding. You'll figure it out.

Kevin Van Deventer · Feb 16, 2020

Pretty sure he just wants a 125mm dropper.

richj8990 · Feb 21, 2020

Sparticus, I understand now what you were trying to say about a longer 150mm dropper for going down to the top of the seat tube. At least I assume I know: you are tall enough that you can't use all 150mm for both climbing and putting it all the way down. If you want to climb steeply you have to raise the bottom collar an inch or so above the seat tube top. That loses one inch of drop down. How tall are you?

Last night I rode pavement as a test and raised one of the 100mm ones I have about 1.25 inches above the top of the seat tube; on a steep 20-25% grade it works well. So for me, at 5'8", 125mm is probably the sweet spot for both climbing steeply and lowering it all the way down. I'll live this one until it dies, and then get a 125mm Fall Point 9 dropper that's only about one pound including lever and cable. That will drop 0.4 lbs off the bike.

(segway to a different topic) The lightest Rekon 27.5 x 2.6 is 760g which is exactly 0.1 lbs lighter than the one I have on the front right now. Last but not least I'll try an Ardent Race 27.5 x 2.35 that's 655g, that is about 0.25 lbs lighter than the current Rekon 2.4 in back. With those tire changes, and the lighter dropper, that will take the bike from 23.8 lbs to (in theory) just a hair over 23.0 lbs total. So close! Oh well, it's only a number, right. You may ask why the hell I'm running a 2.6 on a light XC bike. So I don't crash, DUH! lol

Sparticus · Feb 21, 2020

richj8990 said:
Sparticus, I understand now what you were trying to say

I believe in maximizing all drop-able space between the frame's seat collar and the saddle's rails.

If my saddle's rails lie 8" above the top of my frame's seat collar and my dropper's collar consumes an inch of this, then ideally I'll enjoy 7" of drop. A 5" or 6" dropper would fit just fine, but my philosophy is why not use all available drop-able space. Doing so allows me to move around the bike most freely.

I'm 6'2" tall.
=sParty

Kevin Van Deventer · Feb 21, 2020

Cause being buzzed on the ass isn't fun.

Dropper post and seat height adjustments...HELP a Newb

291748

Harold

Forest Rider

richj8990

mik_git

Harold

291748

291748

BrianU

Sparticus

Sparticus

J.B. Weld

291748

downcountry

Kevin Van Deventer

richj8990

Sparticus

Kevin Van Deventer

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