Adjustable seatpost

pothole seeker

Hi all,

Thinking of investing in an adjustable seat post.

Any suggestions,

Don't want to break the bank though. I don't think I need a remote one, just a lever.

The joplin seems to to need a lot of TLC, the new specalized one is crazy money

ExeterSimon

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=211

Don't have one myself but ride with someone who has...and he's had no issues.

bomberesque

this is becoming one of those "that old chestnut" topics on this forum. As far as I know your choices are

Crazy money
Specialized

Merely bonkers money
Gravity dropper
Joplin

Decent value if you can find a deal
Pure Racing i900 people have reported finding this for 70-80 quid on fleabay, which seems like the rigth price to me (rather then the 140 retail)
Pure racing I850 for 60+ quid not sure on weight though

cheap as chips
Sette from Pricepoint ... although I don't see it on their site any more they had one for about 25 quid last year, but you have to pay from shipping from the US which would probably double it.

If you can afford it and don't mind the price, I say go for it, the functionality is superb. To be fair it would seem that all teh joplin needs is a good wipe down after a mucky ride, which you should do to your fork sliders anyway so I think this may be overplayed. I've had a GravDropperand it is a simple-as design (steel spring and overlapping tubes with a pin through) no seals to wear or burst.

pothole seeker

Thanks for the replies.

I'll do a search for them

Northwind

A mate of mine has an i900, he's had 2 now as the first one failed after 2 rides, the new one's started sticking after another 2. He's not a heavy guy and both were dry rides. Not too impressive... But when it works, it's brilliant, I'm very very jealous. I'm considering a gravity dropper now myself despite him having so much hassle with it

You need to consider your riding, mind. Frinstance, they'd not really be all that useful on glentress red, since every section is either up or down, pretty much (well, other than falla brae). Adjusting a post when you're stopped is no hardship then. But, say, drumlanrig when the gradient's all over the place and you can have a climb section followed by a plummet, it'd be awesome. And at innerleithen, I find that apart from the climb at the start my seatpost's basically always in the wrong place, it'd be great for places like that.

nferrar

I have an i900 remote and it's pretty good, bit fiddly getting the cable tension right when setting it up and I snapped the clamp (known issue apparently and replaced FOC with a beefier version). As Northwind says though you do need to consider where you ride, I never use it at Cwmcarn XC or Afan for example as the stuff isn't steep enough to warrant dropping the post. It's useful some area in the local woods and it's a godsend in the Quantocks (but I rarely go there). So all in all not sure I've had much value from mine.

bomberesque

nferrar wrote:

the stuff isn't steep enough to warrant dropping the post.

I must admit that the most use I had from my GD wasn't on really steep stuf but just to get the saddle out of the way on fast and/or twisty descents. Perhaps it depends on the kind of bike you're riding and where you normally have your saddle. I usually have my saddle quite high for full leg extension in the saddle climbing. The GD is a godsend for allowing me to tuck the saddle down and out of the way at a moment's notice, giving me acres of room to move about on top of the bike. Part of that may be aspects of the bike I have but that's what I get from it.

I used mine constantly on a trip to Afan last year (before I broke it )

On that note, I want to thank this thread for reminding me about that. wrote to GD last night about the broken post, to see if they would sell me the spares or do me a crash replacement deal (the post is about 5 years old and way out of warranty) They took one look at the photos and have offered to fix it all for free

Course now I have to mail the thing to the US :roll: but good on you Gravity Dropper, superb service!