Thinking about losing the dropper

[mack_turtle]

For some reason, I have this Platonic ideal in my head of what a mountain bike should be, and a dropper post feels like a betrayal. Some of you have a more Nietzsche-esque approach. that's fine, perhaps my thinking about bicycles should transcend the rigid/ suspension paradigm foisted upon us by Protestants and their sanctimonious work ethic. Buy a dropper and put it on your e-bike, then just sit in your living room with a VR headset and watch other people riding trails and be done with all that sweating and work.

Edited August 28, 2018 by mack_turtle

[MrTheCatLady]

1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

For some reason, I have this Platonic ideal in my head of what a mountain bike should be, and a dropper post feels like a betrayal. Some of you have a more Nietzsche-esque approach. that's fine, perhaps my thinking about bicycles should transcend the rigid/ suspension paradigm foisted upon us by Protestants and their sanctimonious work ethic. Buy a dropper and put it on your e-bike, then just sit in your living room with a VR headset and watch other people riding trails and be done with all that sweating and work.

Why go through all that trouble and expense?  Buy a beater and a cheap trainer and use Strava on your existing TV.  Or tablet or phone or whatever.  STRAVAAAAAAA!!

-cls

[Motopail]

So, I was a late to the dropper deal....  really don't use it that much.

 

but I did find a use for it...  wheelies...!!!

[Morealice]

On 8/28/2018 at 9:33 AM, Motopail said:

So, I was a late to the dropper deal....  really don't use it that much.

 

but I did find a use for it...  wheelies...!!!

The other good use for it is when/if you stop you can comfortably chill on the bike with the saddle slammed. That’s what I miss.

[throet]

18 minutes ago, Morealice said:

The other good use for it is when/if you stop you can comfortably chill on the bike with the saddle slammed. That’s what I miss.

No doubt! 

[mack_turtle]

The market is ripe for e-ecumbant mountain bikes. Precludes all dropper posts. 

[endo_]

I’d like to see someone ride slingshot without a dropper. Just sayin’.


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[HoneyBadger]

I use my dropper constantly, even at places like walnut. Whenever there is a long sweeping turn that i know i won't be pedaling on, I lower the dropper to lower my center of gravity. I use it for low branches, i use it in tight technical sections, i use it dozens of times each ride.

[rockshins]

Yeah I use the dropper constantly too, makes riding more fun for me. Great for jumping, turns and generally hooligan antics.

[MrTheCatLady]

Yeah, I think I've decided to keep my dropper.  Ideally I'd upgrade to one of the KS Lev CI models, and take comfort knowing I have the lightest dropper I can have.  But they are super f*cking expensive, especially when you start looking at the ones with longer drop.  So I'll just keep my cheapie Brand-X Ascend 120mm that weighs 550g for now.  BUT I am SERIOUSLY considering buying an e13 TRS+ 170mm dropper in the not-so-distant future.  Maximum drop, the reliability/serviceability of a SPRING, and 10g lighter than my current dropper.

Again, thanks for all the replies.

-cls

[throet]

58 minutes ago, MrTheCatLady said:

Yeah, I think I've decided to keep my dropper.  Ideally I'd upgrade to one of the KS Lev CI models, and take comfort knowing I have the lightest dropper I can have.  But they are super f*cking expensive, especially when you start looking at the ones with longer drop.  So I'll just keep my cheapie Brand-X Ascend 120mm that weighs 550g for now.  BUT I am SERIOUSLY considering buying an e13 TRS+ 170mm dropper in the not-so-distant future.  Maximum drop, the reliability/serviceability of a SPRING, and 10g lighter than my current dropper.

Again, thanks for all the replies.

-cls

I have a 125mm on one bike and a 100mm on another bike and have always wondered why so many people want 150mm or 170mm. On my 125mm even if I drop it all the way down, my bad knees can barely get me back up. 

[MrTheCatLady]

7 minutes ago, throet said:

I have a 125mm on one bike and a 100mm on another bike and have always wondered why so many people want 150mm or 170mm. On my 125mm even if I drop it all the way down, my bad knees can barely get me back up. 

I figure if you want to get the seat out of the way, get it as out-of-the-way as possible.  A lot of my pre-college life was spent squatting down beside one car or another with my dad; I think I am the only person I know who can squat down all the way to the floor and then stand right back up without assistance *shrug*.  So the "deep drop" doesn't pose any problem.  And I'd never pedal with it all the way down, which would definitely be murder on my knees.

-cls

[notyal]

33 minutes ago, MrTheCatLady said:

A lot of my pre-college life was spent squatting down beside one car or another with my dad; 

-cls

Was your dad a car show girl?

 

[Bamwa]

ummmmmmm. I'd like to dropper checkered flag if you nomasay.

 

About seatposts my ks eten was like $120. Works fine when I remember it's there.

[TheX]

1 hour ago, Bamwa said:

 my ks eten was like $120. Works fine when I remember it's there.

I forget it's there all the time.

[The Tip]

On 8/30/2018 at 12:26 PM, MrTheCatLady said:

 I think I am the only person I know who can squat down all the way to the floor and then stand right back up without assistance *shrug*.

[MrTheCatLady]

13 hours ago, The Tip said:

Pffft I'll bet those guys are all waiting for their wives to help them up, and I don't know them anyway 😛

-cls

[Bamwa]

so derailed

[The Tip]

Another advantage showed up yesterday. I had the seat dropped to go down something. Then an unanticipated drop happened. If I had not been low to attempt the thing that I saw I would have for sure gone flying when that surprise came.

I had a friend almost plead with me once to get a dropper. "It'll save your life!!"  I believe him now.

[Chief]

I had an E-ten on my first bike. Lasted about eight months before it started acting up. I like the brand X I currently have on both my bikes. Over a year and still working like new. IMO best dropper for the price. 550gms isn't really that bad for a dropper, to get lighter then that you have to spend a sh*tton of money.

[ATXZJ]

2 hours ago, Chief said:

I had an E-ten on my first bike. Lasted about eight months before it started acting up. I like the brand X I currently have on both my bikes. Over a year and still working like new. IMO best dropper for the price. 550gms isn't really that bad for a dropper, to get lighter then that you have to spend a sh*tton of money.

Second the KS dropper issue. Those things had infected all of my bikes at one point and the Lev i would make it 6-8 mos before needing a new cartridge. The raceface turbine 9.8 knockoff is not much better either. So far the brand X on my wife's rig has been good and the action is much smoother than the levs.

 

Next dropper i buy will be the one up. If i'm gonna run a dropper I want the seat slammed as far down as it will go when compressed.

 

[mack_turtle]

The picture above of the squatting man has me thinking... I have been working on relearning how to move like that. It's an essential, normal, natural ability that most Westerner s have lost. It's very likely that I enjoyed my brief experiment with a dropper post because it caters to my specific kind of laziness and inability to move.

I have to wonder how much a dropper post and other affectations of modern mountain bikes are made "necessary" by the poor health and movement of modern living. Sitting all day at a desk, in a couch, and in a car, lousy diets, overly- supportive footware, movement that is restricted to compartmentalized "exercise." I live this way too for the most part, but I am aware of it and work to limit my helplessness. Riding my bike is one of the few aspects of my lifestyle where I can choose to use or restrict my reliance of the crutches. Maybe a dropper is not a crutch, but I don't find it to add anything to my riding experience just yet.

Edit- not saying that a dropper is a bad thing or that it does not make some trails and terrain a lot less treacherous and more fun, but I worry about relying on it as a crutch.

Edited September 2, 2018 by mack_turtle

[TheX]

3 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

The picture above of the squatting man has me thinking... I have been working on relearning how to move like that. It's an essential, normal, natural ability that most Westerner s have lost. It's very likely that I enjoyed my brief experiment with a dropper post because it caters to my specific kind of laziness and inability to move.

I have to wonder how much a dropper post and other affectations of modern mountain bikes are made "necessary" by the poor health and movement of modern living. Sitting all day at a desk, in a couch, and in a car, lousy diets, overly- supportive footware, movement that is restricted to compartmentalized "exercise." I live this way too for the most part, but I am aware of it and work to limit my helplessness. Riding my bike is one of the few aspects of my lifestyle where I can choose to use or restrict my reliance of the crutches. Maybe a dropper is not a crutch, but I don't find it to add anything to my riding experience just yet.

This is why I do the various Les Mills classes. Body Pump, Combat and Attack.

[ATXZJ]

36 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

The picture above of the squatting man has me thinking... I have been working on relearning how to move like that. It's an essential, normal, natural ability that most Westerner s have lost. It's very likely that I enjoyed my brief experiment with a dropper post because it caters to my specific kind of laziness and inability to move.

I have to wonder how much a dropper post and other affectations of modern mountain bikes are made "necessary" by the poor health and movement of modern living. Sitting all day at a desk, in a couch, and in a car, lousy diets, overly- supportive footware, movement that is restricted to compartmentalized "exercise." I live this way too for the most part, but I am aware of it and work to limit my helplessness. Riding my bike is one of the few aspects of my lifestyle where I can choose to use or restrict my reliance of the crutches. Maybe a dropper is not a crutch, but I don't find it to add anything to my riding experience just yet.

Started out with a 75mm dropper that i also never used but have changed my mind now that STs have gotten shorter and dropper travel longer. I found the dropper can really add some room to move around during the slow speed rocky trialbike riding here.  Once you get to some elevation and let go of the brakes , the first thing you want to do is lower your CG. Dropper again.

For exercises, I started doing squats on a wobble board a couple of years ago and it really improved not only my balance and controlling my CG, but also strength. I also incorporated a handlebar into my routine to simulate simulate being on a bike performing a manual. Looks odd at gym but no worse than the morons pushing a tire around the parking lot when its 100*.

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by ATXZJ