Originally Posted by mkane

Neither is a $400 seat post that fails in 3 years.

Originally Posted by Steve B.

Don’t make that assumption, I watched a bunch of YT’s to find out how and where to use it, I found it fascinating to learn folks would lower the seat thru turns to lower center of gravity, aiding tire grip. That made sense so I gave that multiple tries. Our local trails tend to have a ton of twisty and tight single track, so it seems that would be a good place to try this. What I discovered was the seat was going up and down, up and down as I was finding I wanted the seat back up at height to be able to more efficiently pedal coming out of turns, then I needed to drop again for more twisty, then up again and after a few try’s at this found the whole thing annoying. It wasn’t improving my handling at all as I was just distracted trying to get the seat lowered and then back up again. And as stated prior, we have short and few hills, so no need to use on downhills,

Off it came.

Originally Posted by mkane

Neither is a $400 seat post that fails in 3 years.

A hite- rite lasts and lasts & lasts.

Originally Posted by mkane

Neither is a $400 seat post that fails in 3 years.

A hite- rite lasts and lasts & lasts.

Originally Posted by PeteHski

After a while it becomes second nature, just like shifting gears. When I first started using a dropper post we were still in the 3x drivetrain era, so the lever position was a bit awkward next to the left hand shifter. With a modern 1x drivetrain, it’s much easier to set up with the dropper lever on the left and gear shifters on the right.

FWIW my technique for tight, twisty singletrack segments is to lower the saddle about 2” where I can still pedal pretty well. I only fully drop it for steep or long descents and fully extend for climbing or non-technical flats.

Originally Posted by PeteHski

By dropping your centre of gravity 6”, you improve cornering grip.

Your old-school butt-out-the-back descending technique is what modern mtb geometry and dropper posts have pretty much eliminated. Can’t say I miss those days, but I moved on and never looked back.

Having said this, just riding around mild flat-ish terrain doesn’t require a dropper. But once you start riding down steep descents it’s a whole lot better and way more convenient than messing with a QR.

Dropper posts are NOT Kool Aid! They are not some kind of fad.

Edit: I forgot to mention earlier, the taller you are, the more benefit you get from a dropper post. At 6’ 1” with long legs, my saddle was always much higher than I would prefer for even mild descents.

Originally Posted by CyclingMTB

Greetings everyone! How important would you say dropper post is? Do you think it's a must have on a bicycle or you think you can it's possible to ride a bicycle in rough terrain even without a dropper post? Also, in the case I don't have a dropper post, if I adjust the saddle height very often during a day in the case I encounter different types of terrains or a succession of hills and valleys, would the friction force between the rod of the saddle and the seat tube damage the seat tube over time ?