The Greatest Dropper Posts of 2024

Dropper posts permit us to regulate our saddle top with the push of a lever, serving to to boost consolation, effectivity, and, most significantly, management whereas out on the path. Many individuals would argue that dropper posts are one of the crucial essential improvements in mountain bike expertise, basically remodeling the way in which we trip.

The power to regulate the peak of your saddle on the fly ensures that it’s all the time positioned completely for the terrain you might be using, and dropper posts have develop into a staple on almost all new mountain bikes and are working their method onto gravel bikes nowadays as properly. With their meteoric rise to changing into a typical half, we now have extra nice choices to select from than ever earlier than.

For those who’re in search of a brand new dropper put up on your bike, we may help! We rounded up 9 of the highest choices obtainable in 2024 to check and examine facet by facet. Over the course of a number of months, we put every mannequin on this overview via its paces whereas assessing essential efficiency traits just like the smoothness of journey, saddle clamps, set up, adjustability, weight, serviceability, and design. When doable, we additionally examined every put up with its personal model’s distant to see how they work collectively.

Our prime suggestions are listed beneath, adopted by the perfect of the remaining that are additionally nice choices to be thought of. To see the specs of all of the fashions we examined at a look, try our comparability chart. For those who need assistance deciding what you want or how you can discover a dropper put up that matches you and your bike, you possibly can confer with our detailed shopping for recommendation and FAQ part.

Editor’s Be aware: This purchaser’s information initially appeared on our sister website, BikeRumor.com, and was posted on GearJunkie on July 26, 2024.

The Greatest Dropper Posts of 2024

Dropper Submit Comparability Chart

Why You Ought to Belief Us

It’s truthful to say that the staff at GearJunkie is obsessive about all issues outdoor-related, and that features mountain biking. That is very true of merchandise like dropper posts that improve our using expertise and efficiency out on the path.

Whereas there have been some reservations about adopting this new-fangled expertise after they initially got here out, you’ll discover droppers on just about all of our mountain bikes and even a few of our gravel bikes nowadays. And we’ve tried a variety of them. Whether or not for product launches, particular person evaluations, or on take a look at bikes, we’ve had the prospect to attempt almost each mannequin available on the market.

For the needs of this purchaser’s information, we rounded up 9 of the perfect dropper posts obtainable in 2024 to check and examine side-by-side. Evaluate creator Paul Clauss spent months testing these posts in a variety of climate situations on technical northern Vermont trails that require a number of elevating and reducing of the saddle. A mechanical engineer by commerce and a talented bike mechanic, Paul enjoys scrutinizing completely different designs, tinkering with changes, and is adept at differentiating refined efficiency variations within the workshop and out on the path.

Every put up was weighed and measured for comparability to producers’ specs and put in on both his Santa Cruz Bronson or Chromag Wideangle hardtail for testing. Paul has an affinity for technical options and rock slabs, and happily, the terrain close to his house in northern Vermont is a perfect testing floor for dropper posts with loads of ups, downs, and rocky, rooty challenges that require frequent adjustments to saddle top.

Along with testing dropper posts, Paul has additionally contributed to our greatest mountain bike flat pedals and mountain bike flat pedal shoe evaluations, together with bike restore stands and bike pumps.

GearJunkie editor Jeremy Benson additionally contributed to this information. Benson has been testing and reviewing bikes, equipment, and elements for 8 years and has personally examined greater than ten completely different dropper posts. As an obsessive rider and racer, he’s all the time in search of out the highest-performance merchandise he can discover and appreciates elements that make his bike as gentle as doable.

He’s additionally skilled the evolution of dropper posts firsthand and acknowledges that just about each dropper available on the market is significantly better than any choices we had a decade in the past. A number of the different guides that Benson has contributed to incorporate mountain bike footwear, mountain bike shorts, mountain bike helmets, and hitch bike racks.

Shopping for Information: Learn how to Select a Dropper Submit

There are quite a few causes to make use of a dropper put up in your mountain bike, however it may be difficult to seek out precisely what you want. Right here we’ll break down a few of the essential issues that will impression your buy resolution.

Why Journey With a Dropper Submit?

Utilizing a dropper put up will let you increase and decrease your seat with the contact of a handlebar-mounted lever. When your saddle is on the acceptable top for pedaling and climbing, it may get in the way in which when attempting to maneuver your physique and bike whereas descending. However when your saddle top is about low for descending, it’s not within the correct pedaling place.

Dropper posts let you modify your saddle top on the fly whereas using, making certain you’ve got the right seat top for the terrain you encounter. With a dropper put up, you’ll expertise:

1. Improved maneuverability: A dropper put up permits you to decrease your seat when descending steep or technical terrain, creating extra clearance between you and your saddle, making it simpler to shift your physique and maneuver the bike. That is notably useful for bike/physique separation when cornering and when leaping. 
2. Higher effectivity: At full extension, your saddle ought to be within the excellent place for seated pedaling so you possibly can all the time profit from your pedaling effort.
3. Extra comfy using: A dropper put up permits you to modify your seat top primarily based on the terrain, making for a extra comfy trip total. Outdoors of reducing the put up for descending, this may be essential on technical climbs – typically having solely 20mm or so of drop may help you set down the ability and push up a tough transfer. 

Learn how to Measurement a Dropper Submit for You and Your Bike

When buying a brand new dropper put up, the match for you and your bike is your first precedence. Not solely does it want to suit your body to be suitable, however you need it to fit your physique measurement and desires as properly.

Seat Tube Diameter

This is among the best steps – simply ensure you choose a put up that matches the seat tube diameter of your body. Most trendy mountain bikes have 30.9mm or 31.6mm seat tubes, and dropper put up producers usually present choices for much less customary choices like 27.2mm (for gravel and a few XC frames) or 34.9mm diameters. In case you are uncertain of your seat tube diameter, you possibly can sometimes discover it printed on the seat put up that’s at the moment in your bike, or you possibly can look it up on the producer’s web site. Whilst you ought to have the ability to discover a put up that matches your seat tube diameter, you possibly can typically buy a smaller one and shim the seat tube in a pinch.

Dropper Journey Size

Dropper posts are available in a variety of journey lengths to swimsuit various wants, preferences, our bodies, and bikes. For mountain bikes, they sometimes vary between 100 and 200mm, with some outliers on both finish. For instance, the OneUp Elements V3 Dropper is available in essentially the most measurement choices, with 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, and 240mm journey lengths obtainable. Not surprisingly, as post-travel will increase, so does the general size of the put up.

Whereas many individuals attempt to match essentially the most drop doable on their bike to extend mobility, some riders might desire a shorter drop size for numerous causes. How a lot drop you need often is a matter of non-public desire, but in addition it’s usually a perform of what is going to match in your body and work on your physique measurement.

Happily, some manufacturers are doing their finest to reduce the general lengths and stack heights of their posts, which makes it simpler to suit an extended journey dropper, and a few additionally present the choice to scale back journey with changes to make fitment a lot simpler than it was once. On the identical time, many trendy bikes are being designed with decrease stand-over heights and shorter/straighter seat tubes that assist make becoming longer journey droppers simpler.

Figuring out If a Dropper Will Match Your Body

Most producer’s web sites have a software that will help you appropriately measurement a put up on your bike to maximise journey (and the OneUp web site will even present you which of them competitor’s posts will match with their Dropper Submit Size Selector). To make use of these instruments, you’ll take two measurements out of your body and contemplate a couple of put up measurements:

• X – your Measured Journey Peak, from the highest of your seat collar to the middle of your seat rails (not the highest of your saddle). For instance, on the small Santa Cruz Bronson used for testing, that is 260mm.
• Y – the utmost seat tube insertion size on your body. On the small Bronson, that is 210mm.

With these numbers, use the instruments obtainable on most producers’ web sites to find out the utmost journey for his or her put up in your body. To double-check if a dropper put up will match by yourself, be sure that:

1. Your Measured Journey Peak (X) is GREATER than the Stack Peak (prolonged) of the put up, measured from the underside of the collar to the middle of the seat rails of the seat at full extension.
   1. On the take a look at Bronson, the Measured Seat Peak of 260mm is larger than the 150mm Journey PNW Loam put up’s Stack Peak of 200mm. This implies the put up could be positioned at the popular top, assuming the opposite two measurements beneath are true.
2. The General Size minus your Measured Journey Peak (X) is LESS than the utmost seat tube insertion size on your body (Y).
   1. For the PNW Loam put up at 150mm journey, the General Size is 440 mm. 440 – 260 = 180 mm, which is the size of the put up I anticipate to be within the seat tube at full seat top. That is lower than the measured seat tube insertion of 210mm, leaving 30mm of clearance on the backside of my seat tube with the put up on the measured seat top.
3. The Insertion Size (from #2) falls between the minimal and most insertion lengths of the put up. The insertion size should be between the utmost/minimal insertion lengths for the put up.
   1. Minimal insertion of 90mm is lower than 180mm (from #2, the anticipated insertion size with the put up), which is lower than 210mm (the utmost insertion depth). On the anticipated insertion on the Bronson body, the insertion size falls between and most and minimal insertion lengths of the put up.

Kinds of Dropper Posts

Most dropper posts obtainable in the present day use a cable to actuate an inside floating piston (IFP) to launch a pressurized chamber, sometimes an adjustable air spring or a sealed hydraulic cartridge, to boost and decrease the seat. Whereas all of them carry out the identical process of elevating and reducing your seat on the fly, dropper posts are available in quite a lot of completely different designs.

Adjustable vs. Mounted Charge of Return

Many dropper posts have an adjustable fee of return. Sometimes, this includes an air spring, the strain of which could be raised or lowered (inside a beneficial vary) to hurry up or decelerate the speed at which the put up compresses and extends. This provides the consumer higher management over their put up and the flexibility to dial in its efficiency to satisfy their wants or preferences. The Bike Yoke Revive 2.0, Divine SL, Wolf Tooth Resolve, and the PNW Loam all function adjustable air springs.

Some posts use sealed cartridges which have a hard and fast fee of compression and extension. These posts have a predetermined spring fee chosen by the producer that often goals to hit the completely happy center floor of compression drive/return pace. The Fox Switch Manufacturing facility, OneUp V3, and Crankbrothers Highline 7 are two examples of droppers that shouldn’t have adjustable air springs.

Infinitely Adjustable vs. Mounted Interval Journey

The overwhelming majority of dropper posts function what known as infinitely adjustable journey, which means they are often adjusted wherever inside the obtainable journey vary between full compression and full extension. Whereas it’s commonest to trip with the put up all the way in which up or all the way in which down, there are many circumstances the place dropping the put up just a bit bit is right, and infinitely adjustable posts permit you to take action.

Just a few posts available on the market have fastened interval journey, which means they cease solely at sure spots inside their journey vary. Sometimes, this fashion of put up makes use of an easier mechanical spring to manage the journey. The one put up we examined that adjusts at fastened intervals is the light-weight Fox Switch SL, which stops in solely two positions, totally compressed and totally prolonged.

Inner vs Exterior Routing

Most trendy mountain bikes are designed for use with dropper posts and often function inside cable routing. Consequently, most droppers are additionally designed for use with bikes which have inside cable routing, and the actuator the place the cable connects is on the backside of the put up contained in the body. All the droppers we examined are made for inside cable routing, apart from the RockShox Reverb AXS, which is wi-fi.

Many older bike frames and a few gravel bikes shouldn’t have ports for inside cable routing. Fortunately, there are some externally routed droppers available on the market, although they’re much less frequent. PNW elements make a number of fashions of externally routed droppers, and you’ll usually discover related choices from Model-X and PRO when you go searching.

Actuation Kinds

Cable-Actuated

The vast majority of trendy dropper posts are cable-actuated, which means {that a} cable connects between the distant lever and an actuator on the backside of the put up. If you press the distant lever, it pulls on the cable, which in flip actuates the put up and permits it to maneuver up or down. Cables are comparatively straightforward to take care of and cheap to switch.

Hydraulically Actuated

This fashion of actuation is way much less frequent than cable-actuated posts, nevertheless it works in an identical method utilizing hydraulic fluid. The RockShox Reverb (not AXS) is the one put up available on the market that makes use of this method, and it really works pretty properly. The principle downside is that it’s tougher to put in and take away your put up, given the presence of hydraulic fluid within the hose and distant lever, and it may be fairly messy. Older fashions have been additionally fairly delicate to chilly temperatures.

Wi-fi/Electrical

Given the speedy tempo of technological growth, it comes as little shock that increasingly merchandise are digital. Wi-fi or digital posts forego the cable or hose altogether and as an alternative use a small management unit on the handlebar that pairs through Bluetooth to a small motor on the put up to boost and decrease it. The RockShox Reverb AXS is the one electrical put up to actually acquire a foothold out there so far, though there are different manufacturers engaged on bringing extra choices to market.

Dropper Options

Journey Discount

Some posts let you lower the utmost put up journey, making certain you may get the utmost drop obtainable on your bike. For instance, on the bike used for testing with a stack top of 260mm and most seat tube insertion of 210mm, the OneUp measurement calculator exhibits the utmost drop for my setup as 170mm, achieved by lowering the journey of their 180mm put up by 10mm.

The PNW Loam Dropper makes use of a tool-free system to lower the utmost journey by as much as -25mm (in 5 mm increments) with a built-in nylon shim. The OneUp V3 Dropper makes use of an identical system however limits journey adjustment to 10 or 20mm and makes use of pins and information slots somewhat than the nylon shim. The Bike Yoke Revive 2.0 additionally permits as much as 20mm of journey adjustment, however the set of 4 5mm shims have to be bought individually, and the put up should be faraway from the bike for set up.

Equally, the Wolf Tooth Resolve can have most journey lowered, and they’ll set up spacers for you while you order the put up, or you should purchase journey discount shims after the very fact and set up them your self or deliver your put up to a store to have it executed for you.

Reset Valves

All hydraulic dropper posts can expertise air ingestion into the inside tubes over time, which can lead to a saggy or spongy really feel when sitting on the saddle. To fight this with out requiring a full rebuild of the put up, the Bike Yoke Revive 2.0 makes use of a reset valve, and the RockShox Reverb AXS makes use of the “Vent Valve” to reset the hydraulic circuit. Whereas Bike Yoke solely expects Revive customers to make use of the reset valve a few times a yr, it is a good function to make sure constant efficiency of the put up while not having to drag it out of your body.

Different posts, just like the Wolf Tooth Resolve and the Bike Yoke Divine SL, have “self-bleeding” cartridges designed to purge any air from the system each time the put up is totally dropped.

Saddle Clamp

The saddle clamp on the seatpost head is the place your saddle rails connect to the seatpost. Good saddle clamps are quiet, keep on the acceptable torque, and make saddle set up/elimination straightforward. A lot of the posts on this take a look at used a typical two-bolt head design to regulate saddle angle and fore/aft place. Just a few fashions have clamp designs that assist make the set up and elimination course of barely simpler.

Each the Fox Switch and the Crankbrothers Highline 7 have {hardware} that swivels, whereas the OneUp V3 dropper has slotted plates. Although we don’t sometimes set up/take away our saddles incessantly, these seemingly trivial design options are actually fairly useful when testing dropper posts again to again. 

Distant Levers

Each dropper put up makes use of a distant to actuate the journey up and down. Whereas many posts used to return with a lever, most posts are bought with out one nowadays, which means you possibly can often select no matter distant you want. Most levers for cable-actuated dropper posts (that clamp the free cable finish on the lever) are suitable with any put up, permitting you to decide on the lever that works finest along with your ergonomics and cockpit setup.

The exception to this rule is the RockShox Reverb AXS, which comes with its personal digital management unit. For many of those posts on this overview, we examined them with their model’s respective distant levers to get a really feel for a way they work collectively.

The arrival and proliferation of 1x drivetrains freed up some area on the left facet of the handlebar the place the entrance derailleur shifter was once, so the vast majority of dropper remotes are 1x levers that resemble a shifter paddle that you just press along with your left thumb. Examples of 1x distant levers embody the Wolf Tooth Distant Professional, Fox Switch 1x Distant, Bike Yoke Triggy Alpha, PNW Loam Lever, and OneUp V3 Lever.

Many have textured steel surfaces to supply traction for the thumb, whereas some now use replaceable rubber pads for grip. Some manufacturers nonetheless make distant levers which can be designed for use with 2x drivetrains and/or suspension lockout levers, and drop-bar levers have gotten extra frequent as droppers acquire reputation on gravel bikes.

Like every other handlebar-mounted management, it is very important contemplate ergonomics, lever really feel, and actuation drive when deciding on a dropper put up lever. Whereas most lever producers do present choices for Shimano i-Spec or SRAM MMX shifter/brake mount connections, additionally they provide primary 22.2 and 31.8mm handlebar clamps. Usually you will discover adaptors for different brake configurations like Magura, Hayes, Hope, and many others, in order that’s one thing you’ll doubtless wish to contemplate relying on the brakes you utilize.

As a result of most levers have a number of attachment factors to regulate the horizontal place of the lever, it’s often pretty straightforward to place the distant in a great place in order that reaching it along with your thumb feels pure and intuitive. Some levers have further changes that permit ergonomics to be custom-made even additional.

Weight

Dropper posts will all the time weigh greater than a typical seatpost, however most riders (and more and more, even aggressive cross-country racers) are keen to take a weight penalty for the elevated dealing with advantages of utilizing a dropper put up. In fact, all different issues being equal, lighter is mostly thought of higher, assuming efficiency isn’t compromised within the title of weight financial savings.

For this take a look at, we weighed the put up solely, understanding that the burden of the cable housing will fluctuate barely relying on the size required on your body, and that may also usually be constant on your bike no matter which cable-actuated put up you select. It’s also value noting that longer journey posts weigh greater than shorter journey variations of the identical put up as a result of further supplies wanted to make them longer.

Whereas a heavier dropper put up received’t be as noticeable on the path as a heavy set of tires or wheelset, it’s going to add to the general weight of your bike and could also be a consideration for you. All of the posts on this take a look at weighed between 441 grams (Fox Switch SL) and 655 grams (Rockshox Reverb AXS). For the common droppers, the OneUp V3 is persistently one of many lightest weight choices, weighing in at 515 grams within the 210mm journey size (433 for the 150mm model).

The Wolf Tooth Resolve is shut behind at simply 514 grams at 160mm of journey (with 10mm extra journey). For these tremendous acutely aware about weight, like XC racers, there are some “superlight” choices available on the market these days, just like the Fox Switch SL and the Bike Yoke Divine SL. These light-weight fashions do save a good quantity of weight, coming in at 441 grams and 451 grams, respectively, however they’re supplied in a narrower vary of drop lengths. To not be outdone, the OneUp V3 droppers are actually lighter than the SL variations.

Set up

If you are going to buy a brand new dropper from a motorbike store, it is not uncommon that they may set up it for you. If you are going to buy a dropper from a web based retailer, you possibly can deliver it to an area store and pay to have it put in, or when you like wrenching by yourself bike, doing it your self is comparatively easy, assuming you’ve got cable/housing cutters and cheap mechanic expertise. A high quality restore stand doesn’t harm, both.

The set up course of is essentially the identical whatever the actuation methodology:

1. Run a bit of cable housing (or hydraulic line) from the seat tube to the exit port close to the top tube. Which method you pull the housing via can rely in your body, and it’s all the time a good suggestion to make use of present housing to drag via new housing each time doable — this helps information the brand new housing via tight curves within the inside routing.
2. Connect the cable to the actuator on the backside of the put up and run it via the housing. Place the housing within the housing cease on the base of the put up
3. Push the put up into the body whereas concurrently pulling the cable/housing (or hydraulic line) out of the exit port close to the top tube.
4. Connect the cable/housing to the lever after mounting it to the handlebars.
5. For posts with hydraulic actuation, bleed the system. For cable-actuated posts, clamp the cable to the lever, trim the cable, add a cable finish, and use the barrel adjuster to attain correct cable pressure.

Upkeep

Much like shifting suspension elements, most dropper put up producers advocate cleansing, inspecting, and lubricating your put up after each trip and performing their model of a full service between 100 and 200 hours of using.

Droppers for Gravel Bikes

Because the gravel bike market continues to develop and mature, some fashions are coming geared up with dropper posts, and/or the frames function inside cable routing to accommodate one. In fact, not everybody wants or needs a dropper on their gravel bike, however those that trip steeper, rougher roads or prefer to enterprise onto singletrack trails might discover that the advantages outweigh the slight weight penalty.

Most, however not all, gravel bikes have smaller 27.2mm seat tube diameters, and happily, many manufacturers now make droppers on this measurement to satisfy the rising demand. Basically, dropper posts made for gravel bikes have much less journey, starting from round 50mm to 125mm. On the extra inexpensive finish of the spectrum, OneUp Elements makes the V3 27.2 in 90 and 120mm drop lengths.

Crankbrothers gives one of many largest ranges of drop lengths with 60, 80, 100, and 125mm choices for his or her Highline XC Gravel put up. Fox makes a 27.2mm model of its light-weight Tranfer SL in each Manufacturing facility and Efficiency Elite in each 50mm and 70mm drop lengths. On the excessive finish of the worth spectrum, the RockShox Reverb XPLR AXS brings wi-fi dropper expertise to your gravel rig.

Worth

Dropper posts are virtually all the time costlier than inflexible posts, however contemplating the efficiency advantages they supply, we really feel they’re value their weight in gold. Like something in mountain biking, we have now fairly a couple of choices, they usually come at a fairly big selection of worth factors. Most droppers value between $200 and $400, with the exception being the wi-fi RockShox Reverb AXS at $861. Whereas we completely love the Reverb AXS, the worth is definitely powerful to justify when inexpensive choices carry out simply as properly (however with cables). That stated, when you’re keen and in a position to spend that a lot, it’s an unbelievable dropper put up.

For these with much less disposable earnings, the least costly mannequin we examined, the PNW Loam, will set you again round or simply over $200 (plus a bit extra for a distant when you don’t have already got one). This put up performs very properly and undoubtedly hits the candy spot of worth and efficiency. For only a bit extra, the $270 OneUp V3 Dropper is tremendous gentle and easy and is available in essentially the most drop lengths.

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