How to best use a dropper post gravel racing

Racing
1

I saw an interview with Matej Mohorič before the 2024 UCI Gravel Worlds where he showed his dropper post and said something to the effect that he drops his saddle at every turn.

I don’t want this to be a discussion about the pros and cons of a dropper on a gravel bike but specific techniques to go faster using a dropper post.

My experience with a dropper post is on a mountain bike where you drop the saddle completely on steep descents but how else do people use a dropper, especially for gravel racing? Was Mohoric talking about just lowering his center of gravity during a SEATED turn?

2

I drop the saddle on just about every descent. Not just the steep ones. It lowers the center of gravity for improved control and is likely be more aero.

3

So these are descents where you are seated and not pedaling?

4

Sortof. I’m rarely seated on descents. I might be hovering above the saddle or likely in an (for lack of a better term) attack position.

A good bike skills reference is Ben Cathro on Pinkbike. It’s several seasons and mostly about mountain biking but it applies to gravel too.

5

Mohoric doing Mohoric things.

He says he invented super tuck because he was always running late for training sessions. Then UCI banned it. So dropper is a legal way to get more aero for him when he flies downhill at 60mph.

I think shifting the weight around on technical descents is probably more useful for the rest of us than sitting down lower in steep turns.

6

The dropper allows freer movement allowing bike body separation, which is key to good cornering on loose surfaces. With a high post, the seat hits your inside thigh almost immediately, requiring you to either stop leaning the bike, or move into a sub optimal position. Probably not a big deal on flat midwestern gravel races.

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7

Rarely flat, mostly rolling with sub 2 minute climbs.

8

I think to descend well and confidently on a gravel bike, you need to be able to get into a comfortable neutral position when descending on the bike - where your weight distribution is balanced, and you can move the bike in all directions underneath you - front/back/up/down/side-to-side. This movement is what allows you to absorb bumps, jump the bike over a rut, ride out a squirrelly section of loose sand, shift weight backward for braking, etc. Basically - you want to be able to move the bike around in a similar manner to a MTB (although movements won’t be as big on a gravel bike).

A dropper can help you get into this neutral position when descending - however - I think the value of a dropper on a gravel bike is related to the saddle-to-bar drop of your bike setup.

If you have a big saddle-to-bar drop, a dropper really helps to shift your weight distribution rearward (and down) to get in a more neutral position. So if you’re tall, or have your bike setup in a more aggressive racing/aero position, this would apply.

If you don’t have a big saddle-to-bar drop, a dropper will make less of a difference, as you’re already closer to a neutral position. This is the way my bike is setup. I’m average height - 5’9” and ride a side 54 Specialized Diverge. Saddle to bar drop is close to zero (less than 1cm drop). I don’t have a dropper and have never felt I needed one on gravel descents. But I’m pretty sure if I was taller, or otherwise had a big saddle-to-bar drop, I’d run a dropper post on my gravel bike.

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