I got a mountain bike (just like the form factor) but I ride 98% on road. the 2% offroad is very mild gravel (like a canal path that’s level).
it came with a really nice dropper post. I feel like I have no use for it and it weights a good 500 grams more than a regular post.
wondering if there’s any beneficial application I’m missing for on-road riding. would somehow changing my seat post height be useful for uphills or downhills or something like that?
sometimes I use it when I’m too lazy to lift my leg up to dismount my bike lol. that’s about it.
otherwise it’ll go on ebay as saving 500 grams is always nice.
IMO dump it, I race XC and dont have a dropper on my bike. That being said a few times a year I encounter downhill technical trails where im screaming for a dropper to get lower.
Besides the handful of times I dont use one or need one and thats on a full time XC race bike intended for full time offroad.
I believe That if you have downhill sections with lots of turns, that lowering your centre of gravity, could give you more control. Or maybe the feeling that you had more control.
That ought to be true whether you’re on a mtb or road bike. But I don’t actually know, and never tried. I have a mtb and on a few steep curves I think I’d like to be a bit lower, but I normally achieve that by getting off my saddle and lowering myself behind the saddle, almost like I’d sit on the rear tyre but not that low really.
I am such a wimp … my “gravel” riding is a 100% flat course that I can’t even really go fast on because of walkers / other bikes.
and there is literally not one downhill I’m on where I ever want to go faster. most of my downhills either end with a stop sign or a sharp turn…and I ride for fitness > speed - so at the point where I can’t pedal enough to put out power, I’m usually on the brakes.
I just like the mountain bike on occasion cause it’s comfy for my spine (that’s not in the best of shape). also like it because I commute ~70-90 min to work and it’s easier with luggage (transporting food / clothes)
The dropper is going to make the road oriented bike ride a lot worse because the dropper post needs to be stiff to work.
On your MTB frame, for road use, the dropper is nice for starts/stops. Otherwise a flexy seatpost will be better. I ran the Ergon leaf spring post on my FS MtB bike and it was even great there. Get the 27.2 size and shim it.
lowering the cg of a bicycle…. isn’t going to radically impact of handling of the bike because you’re on 2 wheels and the bike can lean.
I didn’t think I needed a dropper post on my MTB until I bought an Epic Evo (with dropper post) and one day after riding trails I decided to bomb down a road descent. That was the first time I hit > 50mph on my Epic . You can basically be in a supertuck position and sit on the saddle. Now I wish I had a dropper on my road bike.
