Long Term Care For Dropper Posts

Most every mountain bike we sell comes with a dropper post these days. On a long descent it’s such a treat to be able to lower your saddle completely out of the way – without having to stop to do it. Wanna hit that drop? Lower your saddle before you do it. Stopping for a detour at the pump track on the way to your favorite XC trail? Lower your saddle before you do it. With a simple remote-lever on the handlebar and internal cable routing, the modern dropper post blends into a new mountain bike so well, that there’s very few excuses for not having a dropper post.

That said, even the modern miracle of the hydraulic dropper post still can have reliability issues. A dropper post is pretty complex and needs maintenance with fluid changes, overhauls, and seals – much like our suspension fork and rear shock. And, it’s important to recognize, that a dropper post needs to be treated differently than a regular seat post. Here’s a few tips on making your dropper post be reliable in the long run…

• Don’t over tighten your seat clamp. Most frame manufacturers seat clamp torque specs are too tight for a dropper and may cause your dropper post to bind. Tip: Using a fiber grip/carbon paste on your dropper post and the inside of the seat tube will let you lesson the amount of torque needed on the binder bolt and help keep the post from slipping. Even when using a dropper post in an aluminum frame we still use this paste.

• Don’t lift your bike by the saddle when the dropper post is compressed. Pulling up on it is no bueno!

• Do not store your dropper post with it lowered in the compressed position.

• Dropping the post completely when doing drops is wise, so that if you land hard on the seat, you wont damage the oil cartridge.

• Service your dropper post regularly as your would your fork and rear shock.

In some cases you’ll find that you might need to change the way you’re used to picking up or hanging your bike. But if you follow these suggestions you should be able to extend the life of your dropper post and make it a lower-maintenance addition to your new mountain bike.