Ugly never felt so good -Gravity Dropper Turbo Seat Post 4in drop-

danxtj

danxtj

Member
First a little backstory

I recently bought Lou's (soulchild) Flash 29er. Full specs can be found here.
It's a great bike, highly customized, and light. I loved the bike from the first trail ride but something just felt a little off. Which brings me to...

Why
Compared to most people on this board I am not a overall fast rider. I am, however, a pretty good descender. In the races I have been in, I always seem to be among the fastest going downhill.

The only problem is the new Flash is a 1 x 9. Meaning ,for me, that I need the seat post as high a possible to give me max power. Don't get me wrong I was happy to get a 1 x 9 because it will make me stronger, faster. (no granny gear) But it made me a lot slower going down the mountain.

Some of you may be saying "Maybe you should just get used to riding like that." And you may have a point, but that's not really my riding style and it makes the ride less fun for me. If I'm not having fun at something I do in my free time I'm inclined to do it less.

So I thought how can I make this awesome bike make me work on the uphills and fly downhill.:hmmm: What about an adjustable seat post?

What I need in a adjustable seat post

1) 27.2 diameter. Not a lot of companies make a post in 27.2 so that limits the field.

2) Reliable. I don't want to miss a ride because my seat post is stuck down.

3) Simple. I don't want to have to worry how much PSI is in my seat post before every ride. I will. That's just how I am.

4) Weight. I kept weight in mind when comparing seat posts. (All adjustable seat posts are heavier than normal ones)

How the Gravity Dropper Turbo Stacks Up

1) 27.2 diameter: Yes

2) Reliable: I only have one ride on it so far so I personaly dont know yet. From all the reviews I've read this seat post received high reliability and customer service ratings. I think it will be reliable because of #3.

3) Simple: Yes. Its a mechanical post. It basically has a pin that goes in different holes corresponding to saddle height. No leaking seal problems because it doesn't have anything to leak. Air and hydraulics are not used.

4) Weight. The gravity dropper turbo is the lightest seat post Gravity dropper makes. The 4in drop is 20 grams heavier than the 3in drop. More on this in a minute.

5) I just remembered I didn't want the cable connected to the moving part of the post. The Gravity Droppers cable is connected to the non-moving part of the post

Install

The install was easy. It's just taking out the old post, swap the saddle to the new one, install new post, run cables, attach remote switch.

The only problem I had was the new switch interfering with the shock lock out switch. No big deal really. They send an extra remote switch mounting plate that I used to shim it up.

What comes in the package
1.jpg


Remote switch ( ugly but good )
3.jpg


Spacer
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Placement rear view The scratches on the lockout switch were already there. The two switches are not rubbing.
11.jpg


Placement front view
12.jpg


Saddle mount
9.jpg


Rear Cable exit and mounting. Looks kind of ugly.
6.jpg


The seat post can also be installed with the cable exiting the front. Double ugly.
bike.jpg


Operation
I got this post with a 1" drop and 4" drop option.

To move the post down sit (or remain sitting) on the saddle and push the switch.

To move the post up press the switch and stand up. If the switch is hit momentarily while I'm standing up the post will go to the 1" drop position. If I hold the switch the post will go all the way up.

The post will also go all the way up if I'm standing.

video go to 1:45
http://gravitydropper.com/sales-support/tool-tips/video-comparison/

My thoughts
The Gravity Dropper turbo is ugly and it makes my bike a little heavier. It also completely changed how the bike feels going downhill.

Seat all the way up:
No vertical or horizontal movement. The bike climbs great!

1" drop
Feels great on tech flat areas and tech areas where the trail is moving up and down suddenly.

4" drop
With the seat dropped all the way this 29er feels awesome going downhill! I can move my body around like on my 26er. But the grip! The stability! It feels like I'm move "inside" the cockpit rather than "on top" of the cockpit. That "inside" the cockpit feeling on a 29er is amazing.

The weight
Let's see. The new post (switch and cable) is 505 grams. The old post was 234 grams. The new weight minus the old weight = 271 grams or .6 pounds. increasing my bikes weight from 22.2 to 22.8. I think I can still handle that. :D


The Bottom Line

Manufacturer:Gravity Dropper
Product: Gravity Dropper Turbo Seatpost $299
How Long Used: 1 ride so far
Similar Products Used: only thing close was a quick release clamp
Overall Rating [1-10]: Holding off on a rating until I use it more, but initial rating 9

Positive: Simple, No vertical or horizontal play, FUN

Negative: Ugly
 
Thanks for the review. I saw someone with an adjustable seatpost on my recent ride at Sprain and was quite jealous of his position as he was descending. I am considering it not because I'm a good descender, but because I'm a really bad one :D
 
Yeah, good review indeed. Interesting to see long-term review from you on this. Being a bit of a wt.weenie, weight is the main thing holding me back from buying a dropper post. I mean my post is 180 gr. and I'm already looking for a post that is lighter. All of these dropper posts are just too heavy right now for me. :popcorn:
 
Ugly works for me.

I took some direct advice to get the gravity dropper and for myself it makes large log ramps or drops more enjoyable while allowing my seat to spend 99.9% of the time in a nice high older-biker-knee-friendly height. Very nice.

Made the mistake of getting the cable out the front, just a matter of time before the cable exiting the fixture gets killed. Fugly as that may be, it still looks better than I do so frankly I don't give a sh_t how it looks.

-W
 
I thought that too!

Its not that ugly, and if it makes your ride nicer, who cares? are you entering it in a beautiful bike contest?

Thanks for the review as the husband has been talking about getting one of these.
 
I am in a unique position where I get to ride a lot of new bikes at demos.

In general I am not a big fan of the varies saddle height thing at all. Just one time I found a good use for it. I was on a C-dale Jekyll last summer in UT and on a very steep decent I used it. It was an improvement in handling for sure.

Would I get one.. nope.

My experience has been that they are more trouble than they are worth.
 
soundz said:
the squizy rubber accordion thing matches the lefty .. just sayin' :D
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My thoughts exactly! Looks like they belong together... Still it's weird seeing a post like that on a XC machine, but whatever floats your bloat right? Anyway I don't have that problem with the seat post thngy because I'm a masher.. I hate sitting and spinning so my post is at the perfect height for me to get my arse over the rear wheel on the DH...:getsome:
 
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Just make sure you (your bottom) are well above the max height when you pop that thing up. It will feel like you snuck up on a woman who just left self defense class. We have a handful of customers with this post. We dont sell it, but they seem to like it aside from routine cable replacements.
 
mountain biking ain't a fashion show, so if it works for you, use it - i'm thinking of adding one of these to my bike as well. i'm used to descending with a slammed seat so it would make my rides at the sourlands a little more seamless - no more stopping to slam the seat.

thanks for the review.
 
Great writeup danxtj!

I could go all ride without slamming my post but that would not be fun. I had a Gravity Dropper years ago and they do work and it's nice just to slam your seat before a decent or if you find a side-trail skinny or want to hit up a drop/jump but I sold it as I wasn't digging the extra cable and weight complexity.

I have been running a QR collar to adjust height but it's a PITA to stop each time and I never know if my seat is back up at the right height.

IDK, might have to look back into a Gravity Dropper. I like the fact that they had the SDG I-Beam option now and that the turbo "pops" up instead of the old classic I had where you had to sit on it to raise back up (which was one of the reasons I sold it).
 
pearl said:
I would have spent another $150 and bought this: http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25953
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:hysterica

Yeah, I know putting a dropper post on a xc race bike might seem like I'm trying to turn it into a freeride / allmountain bike, but thats not the case. I'm not hucking the bike off cliffs or hitting jumps. I'm just making the bike a little more fun for me to ride.

Also, compared to a lot of people on this board I am slooooow. I basically took most of last year off from biking. So If I was on a intermediate group ride right now I would be passed by some people on the uphills but have the ability to catch back up on the downhills.

I know a adding weight to an xc bike is considered bad form, but the bike is still under 23 lbs!! The way I look at it I still have about 5-7 lbs to lose to get into race/ summer shape. Making the .6lbs weight gain a moot point.

Who knows? Maybe i'll change the post back to the carbon one in the future.
 
I'm not questioning your decision at all! You're the one riding it, do whatever you please! I can now imagine what Colin was saying about getting smashed in the taint though, and I feel sick to my stomach.
 
can you get to the 1" drop position from the highest position?

like highest to 1" to 4"

or you have to go 4" to 1" to get to the 1"

in other words, can you go up & down from any position




Not sure if I like the front or backward mount.... backward seems like the dirt/grit will get all over and sticks out oddly, but the front facing everything looks tighter IMO but it still looks ugly haha
 
THATmanMANNY said:
can you get to the 1" drop position from the highest position?

like highest to 1" to 4"

or you have to go 4" to 1" to get to the 1"

in other words, can you go up & down from any position

Not sure if I like the front or backward mount.... backward seems like the dirt/grit will get all over and sticks out oddly, but the front facing everything looks tighter IMO but it still looks ugly haha
Click to expand...

you can go from any to any ( just a spring loaded pin and the lever that retracts said pin ) As soon as you release the lever the pin will drop into the next slot that passes by.

I have the front cable and not at all a fan of that as the cable is far off of my top tube and gets a beating on any crash.
 
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