There are several wireless electronic dropper posts. Quick search turned up a few at Jenson:

https://www.jensonusa.com/Dropper-Posts?RemoteRouting=Wireless/Electronic

I have no personal experience, but I know there were riders on the world cup XC circuit last year riding with them.

 

From what I was reading the AXS is still body weight controlled. Did they update this? And I did not realize the Magura could remotely drop ... I thought it still required body weight. Apparently the first generation still had to be dropped manually but the new version can do it just from the remote. Super cool!

Edit: I was apparently wrong ... Both of these still require body weight. I read the description on the Magura page that said "With the wireless eLECT system, the Vyron can be raised and lowered at the touch of a button." I guess I sort of assumed they meant JUST with the touch of a button but after reading more, it still appears that body weight is used to drop the post.

 

Yes, the Magura and the RS AXS require body weight to lower them. I did see someone last year of a dropper that didn't require body weight. Not sure if it was a production post or one in prototype stage. Why would you need this?

 

Why would you need this?

The trails I typically ride seldom have full long, uninterrupted downhills. It can be a few quick turns and a drop, to a slight climb followed by some more quick slaloming to another punchy climb ... I simply can't drop the post all the way and ride with any sort of efficiency and if I was raising and lowering for every 10 second down section and 20 second climb, I would go mad. I found that when I get to sections like that where I need to still be able to sit and climb but also want the post slightly out of the way, I can drop it like 1 1/2-2 inches and it is perfect. The problem is that by the time I need to drop it, I am usually already standing and in the section ... trying to pressure the seat and get it to stop at just the right height while trying to ride a more technical section of trail is tricky. If I could simply hit the button and it drops to my preselected height, so that I can simply concentrate on the trail, I think that would be ideal. Surely I am not the only person who thinks this way. My other thought was to ditch the long travel dropper altogether and opt for something with only like 60mm of travel so it can drop all the way to the stop and not have to think about it .... I didn't want to go this route because occasionally I DO drop it further when I get to sections that warrant it but like 90% of the time, I am only dropping it a couple inches or less.

 

Gravity Dropper is old school tech and you still have to sit on it to get it to drop, but their posts do the mid-drop stop thing you're talking about.
=sParty

 

At the risk of sounding like an MTBR curmudgeon, it sounds to me like your technique is in need of improvement. I've been on dropper posts for a solid 10-12 years and at first, my timing was off too, but like gear shifting, effective dropper technique requires some anticipation. Hit the button and drop the post just before you enter attack position for the descent. From your description, it seems like you forget to drop the seat as you rise and only think about it after the fact. Given time and intentional development, dropper technique becomes a sub-conscious, second nature activity akin to shifting and braking. I probably drop and raise my post dozens of times over the course of a 2 hour ride without ever thinking about it...unless the post is malfunctioning, which droppers have been known to do on occasion, especially the early models...Maverick Speedball, anyone?

As good as the droppers have gotten in the last 5 years or so, I don't really see a reason to add an auto-drop to the mix. I'm not an engineer, but it seems an auto drop would probably require and electric motor of sorts to affect the drop, adding unnecessary weight to the equation as well as increasing the probability of a malfunction that would ruin the ride.

Just my .02. Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

...but like gear shifting, effective dropper technique requires some anticipation. Hit the button and drop the post just before you enter attack position for the descent. From your description, it seems like you forget to drop the seat as you rise and only think about it after the fact.

Perhaps my technique could some work .... I'm in no way claiming it is perfect. But it's not because I forget to drop it until after the fact. I'm usually pedaling until I need to be up and into the attack position. Dropping it just a couple inches while pedaling, at least for me, is next to impossible. And if I try to "anticipate" too much by stopping pedaling and getting the post to the right height before I need it, I might not get enough momentum to get over the roller I'm on and dropping into the next section. Not trying to be argumentative here and I truly do appreciate the voice of 12 years of experience. I'm just saying that with the way I ride, a post like I was asking about would be beneficial and I was asking if it was available.

 

There's at least one other thread on this. I think it would be useful for me as sometimes I'll be riding an unfamiliar trail standing on a fairly easy descent not having dropped the saddle and suddenly come upon a section where I wish it was dropped. Having to sit on it to get it down is somewhat disruptive, especially in a sketchy situation.

What I proposed is a post that was spring loaded to drop down on its own. To get the post to extend, you'd grip the saddle with your butt cheeks and pull it up.

 

There's at least one other thread on this. .

I did try to search, but using search terms like "remote dropper post" don't really turn up a lot of useful results ... after all, virtually all droppers are remote. Sorry for the duplicate thread

 

Fair enough. I wasn't suggesting that you drop while pedaling; rather, just before you stand, while still weighting the saddle, drop the post and then rise to attack position. With reps, this becomes one fluid motion.

 

are you dropping it fully or just an inch or two? If it was just dropping it completely out of the way, there is no problem .... except maybe the situation the Lone Rager described above (which happens surprisingly frequently for me) where a section sneaks up on you mid descent and dropping it while already in it can be dicey. For me it is more the act of trying to get it to the right height that allows pedaling but also gives a little more room to move. My current technique has me actuating the lever, pressuring the seat, when it finally "gives", it inevitably shoots past my goal height and then I have to continue holding my lever while letting the seat settle back into the correct position. In action, it is a fraction of a second probably, but still just seems like it could be improved. Possibly this could be practiced enough to make it easier than it currently is for me though

 

Actually, I think I may have solved my own problem. I think I am going to go for an E Thirteen TRS+ post. It's mechanical and still requires body weight, but it has preset stops so it takes the guesswork out of selecting the height. The 125mm has 3 settings: 125mm, 80mm, and 0mm. This pretty much checks all of my boxes: preset stop points and the ability to still drop all the way. Being mechanical and fully user serviceable without dealing with air cartridges is a huge plus as well.

 

Glad I could help. I had just coincidentally stumbled across that browsing the bikepacking subforum a few days ago.

 

I don't think such a thing would be too hard to adapt. There's one on the XC circuit that has a compressed air reservoir, limited number of drops. A 12v tire pump could be adapted to augment the reservoir and run on an existing battery pack like a Milwaukee M12. The air tank would just need to overcome the irreversibilities in movement friction and adiabatic compression loss. Limitations would be rate of drops/minute and total number of drops; it could be calculated fairly easily. But you're going to give up 1-2lbs for this system.

Another idea would be to have a higher volume but lower pressure tank in the downtube with a pump attached to the crank spindle and small electric clutch. Without the need for an electric motor or battery pack, this would be much lighter. The clutch, controlled with a microcontroller, would engage just long enough to fill the air tank, then disengage to free up pedaling.

 

I think I am pretty well sorted now with both the ideas of using the stopper and possibly using the E-thirteen post, but since you started throwing out ideas, I had one of my own. Instead of relying on air or body weight or springs to drop the post, what if it could be raised and lowered manually from the bars via cable using a grip shifter? Essentially, it could be an entirely mechanical post using a spring to raise it to full extension and ball bearings within a race at full extension and at full drop. (this would ideally be a two position post with low travel). when you twist the grip shift, it essentially pulls the pin from the middle of the post allowing the bearings to exit the race in post sleeve but then as you continue to twist the grip shifter, it physically pulls the post down against the spring until it settles at the bottom at which time you can release the grip shifter allowing the spring actuated pin to extend back up upwards, forcing the ball bearings into the race at the bottom and therefore locking the post in the lowered position. Twist again to pull the pin and allow the main spring to extend the post back to its full position.

(PS: I don't actually intend to make this. I just thought it was a fun thought experiment on how it could be done)

 

Replace the GripShift with a Shimano fishing reel.

 

A dropper that lowers without body weight would be pretty cool.

My first dropper was a Specialized Command Post. It was always sticky and I often had to drop hard onto the saddle to get it to move, which was very annoying.

Then I had a couple of Rockshox Reverb posts. So much better and smoother than the Command Post, but sometimes sluggish and took quite a bit of weight to move it down, and took a lot of thumb pressure on the remote.

Then I got a Fox Transfer. Lever (Wolftooth) is light and easy, post operates very smoothly, and it doesn't take much weight to move it down. I find I use my dropper a lot more often now because it is so much easier. I thought the Reverb was great until I got the Fox.

So, my point is that if you have the right dropper that doesn't take much weight to move it is less of a big deal that you have to push it down with your butt.

 

So, my point is that if you have the right dropper that doesn't take much weight to move it is less of a big deal that you have to push it down with your butt.

I'm currently on a Thomson Elite Covert with a Cane Creek Dropt lever. It has super smooth action and requires virtually no effort at all. It's finding that specific point to leave it at consistently and in all riding conditions that I am finding elusive. The more I am thinking about , the more I am realizing that infinite adjustable posts are just not for me

 

2 ideas to try
Keep your eyes up and looking farther down the trail to recognize where you will need to adjust the seat, giving yourself ample time to accomplish it.

Practice dropping it just screwing around in your yard. See how close you can get to a curb step up and still pull it off. etc. I think of the motion similar to that I’ve seen people teach for manualing your bike where you load down and back to loft the front wheel. Before standing up your first instinct should be to drop your weight down.

 

15lb dumbbell attached under seat. Press button it drops seat down.

Special pocket sewn into crotch of shorts. Press button, hook pocket onto nose of saddle, and pull seat up.

Ok, time for another beer.

 

I suppose a dropper could be built with internals like what a double-action OTF switchblade (not stilletto) uses. A single button can trigger it to fully extend or fully retract and its entirely mechanical (springs). The only hitch is that the actuating button as a fair amount of resistance as it imparts the initial energy needed to start the blade mechanism moving front or back then the springs handle the rest. You probably couldn't use the typical single lever style actuator, rather you'd need a double action lever, perhaps re-purposing a left side shift linkage?

 

I started w a hardtail. So i would pedal for miles at a time standing. Had to. It used more energy. But now on my fully i could ride everything seated. But i dont. I also like using lots of body english while riding so dropping the bike left and right for tight corners is fun. Need a low post for that. I guess on an endurance run trying to save all energy then dropping down to lower a seat is a waste of energy. But so would be the weight of a more complex heavier dropper. My initial thoughts were a one by shifter and use index to move up and down and mash the lever all the way over for a full drop if needed. But that seems pretty complicated. I have a ircc dropper and love it. But never run it part way down. I do know what its like to grip and squeeze to raise it if pressure falls or the grease is getting sticky. Not much fun.


Good luck.

 

Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but I think I may have stumbled on the cause of all my frustrations and the light bulb moment that occurred when everything clicked. So I was playing around and experimenting with a different stem length and while I shortened my stem down 20 mm, I pushed my saddle back 20mm to match. What I didn't realize was that by pushing my saddle back like that, my dropper now works flawlessly without having to unweight and "pop" it down to get it started. Every dropper I have used has had that same issue so I sort of just assumed it was the nature of having a dropper post. You push the lever, unweight the saddle and sort of drop onto it to get it moving and then settle on the height. This is also the source of confusion for me when Mountainbikeloco was explaining technique earlier. The concept of dropping the post from sitting before entering the attack position just didn't compute for me because my post would not move if I simply hit the lever while still sitting. It took the bump to get it started and that was the source of all my frustrations. After riding with it several times now in its current state of buttery smooth operation, I now see where everyone else was coming from. Thanks everyone for sticking in this conversation with me. Sometimes that "aha!" moment comes when you least expect it and from a source that catches you by complete surprise. In this case it was a 20mm shift in body position on the saddle. LOL

 

I haven't read through this whole thread, but in my experience "buttery smooth" doesn't last very long. Every few rides I wipe down the post to remove dirt, then I oil or grease the shaft and work it up and down a few times to distribute the oil (try not to smile while reading that...). It helps a bit, but there's still stiction.

 

Except with the Bikeyoke, those keep that buttery smooth feeling for seasons. Amazing pieces.

 

I too was suffering from a sticky dropper. Fox Transfer Factory. How could something this expensive not be perfect? Last week, when I was servicing my fork and shock, I decided to use my pinky and dab a little SRAM butter on the area where the shaft of the seatpost inserts into the body, for lack of a better term. Or inner post into outer post, if you will. Anyway, problem completely solved. Don’t what is in SRAM butter that’s better than dry lube or grease but it fixed me right up. Definitely buttery (no pun intended) smooth.

 

This may be a stupid question but is there a dropper now or possibly one in the works that can remotely adjust a seatpost without using body weight? As in, hit a button and it drops to a preselected height, hit another button and it returns? I've never seen such a thing but thought it would be super cool to have this feature. One issue I had in the past, and honestly one reason it took me so long to actually get fully on board with droppers at all, was that I thought they were an all or nothing type deal. Drop it all the way down or leave it all the way up. I discovered the fact that simply dropping the post a couple inches was far more useable to me than dropping it all the way down every time. It wasn't until I made that realization that I finally fell in love with it. Problem is that when it is time to drop it, I am usually already starting into a section that requires a little more body movement and concentration and having to worry about the coordination of dropping my ass onto the seat and getting the seatpost height just right is something I would like to not have to think about. It would just be so helpful to just drop in, hit the button, seatpost goes down to the perfect height, and not even worry about it. Possibly have 3 settings: One for full height, one for custom height, one for fully dropped. Has anyone ever developed something like this? Has anyone heard any rumors of something like this coming out? I was thinking that with the new generation of electronically controlled seatposts like the Reverb AXS, it would be more of a possibility than with a cable actuated post but who knows? If nothing like this exists, then let this be my request letter to the industry. Make it and I will buy it. ?

To answer the original poster - BMC have an integrated post (in their 4 stroke) that can drop under it's own power, then flip the switch again, and it can return to full height.

unfortunately, I think this is the only one at the moment.