The roadie world is going bonkers because pro rider Matej Mohoric recently won the Milan-San Rimo race using a…wait for it…dropper seatpost! The rider credits the seatpost for an advantage over his competition on the notorious descent of the course.
It only took the roadie world 19 years to catch up to what mountain bikers have known and been using since the GravityDropper was introduced in 2003. Joe Breeze’s Hite-Rite, a seatpost with a return spring, started this revolution around 1980 but it got lost along the trail. The GravityDropper, an American-made dropper seatpost, rewrote the rules in 2003. The GravityDropper allowed riders to drop their saddles for descents with a push of a lever and then, with a release, go back to full extension. Once thought of as a trail riders’ tool, dropper seatposts starting popping up on the cross-country bikes of racers looking for the advantage that a lower center of gravity brings to the descending party.
So welcome roadies! Glad you finally caught up.
Follow the lead: Mountain bikers adopted the dropper seatpost without reservation. Dropping the saddle lowers the rider’s center of gravity making the bike far more stable. It feels like the tires offer twice the grip. Then, when full-leg-extension power is needed, the saddle pops back to the optimal height. Roadies adopted clipless pedals, tubeless tires and disc brakes well after they were standard equipment on mountain bikes.