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Home / Mountain Bikes and Gear / Survey

Would You Rather Ride with No Suspension, or No Dropper Post?

I think we can all agree that mountain bikes are great. Yet we all have slightly different ideas about what makes them great for riding trails.

By Jeff Barber
June 26, 2022

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I think we can all agree that mountain bikes are great. Yet we all have slightly different ideas about what makes them great for riding trails. For this edition of would you rather, we want to know which you’d give up first: your dropper post, or your suspension front and rear.

Justify your answer in the comments below!

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Jeff Barber

Jeff Barber has been mountain biking since 1992 and has tested hundreds of mountain bikes and components. He is the co-founder of Singletracks and serves as Editor in Chief. Contact him at [email protected].

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33 Comments

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Justin White 2015
Jun 27, 2022

Depends where.

Local Northeast trails are so up and down and relentless that without a dropper my knees would be destroyed from repeatedly pedaling up with a low seat, but without suspension the cost is just a little speed and maybe some wheels and/or tires.

If it was more winch & plummet style, like much of the PNW it seems, no dropper is easier since you can just manually drop it at the top and raise it at the bottom.

5 reply

AUTHOR

Jeff Barber Georgia // 1998
Jun 27, 2022

I'd totally rather ride without suspension than without a dropper. Of course I'll be riding much slower without suspension, but with the seat down low I can still ride pretty much all the technical stuff. No jumps though. :)

4 reply

Robert Dobbs New York // 2016
Jun 27, 2022

No dropper! Too many roots and rocks in New York and Pennsylvania for me to go without suspension (and still keep my coccyx happy).
Besides, the 4 different droppers I've owned from three different manufacturers have proven to be so unreliable that I consider them to be more of a liability.

3 reply

bowhunter1325 2017
Jun 30, 2022

Been riding w/o a dropper forever. Just got my 2nd one and am loving this one .
But I could live without it . At 59 and pretty beat up the 160mm I ride with in our rooty woods of central Illinois. I’ll keep the cush

2 reply

thebadpixel Delaware // 2022
Jun 29, 2022

I don't have a dropper now, so easy choice.

2 reply

moctav Texas // 2014
Jun 26, 2022

I rarely drop the dropper post I currently have, so I can see myself riding without one.

2 reply

brett.williams Colorado // 2013
Jun 30, 2022

Based on my one ride on a gravel bike -- I'd go no dropper long before no suspension. I still laugh thinking about how awful that dirt road was without suspension.

1 reply

balance_fit Puerto Rico // 2022
Jun 29, 2022

For almost five years, I rode my favorite hardpack, loose over, and rocky xc trails on a rigid steel single speed, no dropper seatpost. Only cushion came from 2.4 tires on low psi.
Nowadays, I ride a hardtail, with a dropper seatpost. I could live without it, but I'm not riding fully rigid again.

1 reply

kosmo Montana // 2015
Jun 30, 2022

For me, every ride is without a dropper, so this was an easy poll!

1 reply

Bushwacker9999 Utah // 2021
Jun 30, 2022

I can always move in front of or drop my rear behind the seat if I need to. I can't physically compensate for the lack of a suspension especially on fast terrain. With out my beloved suspension I might as well get skinny tires buy some cute silky shorts poor water down my back and stay on asphalt. Or just stay at home and watch the toure de' France and reminisce. Look I'm 60 years old and I could still move like I was 30 in fact I can move better than when I was 30 I ain't going to give up that full suspension that's what creates my momentum in life .that's like taking a Binky out of my grandkids mouth LOL all you are going to get is a bunch of whining. Lmao

1 reply

Shad Holland 2019
Jun 27, 2022

I have a Surly Lowside with no front or rear shock and only 1 gear! The dropper post I added is the single most important part on that bike. I would never want to go back to not having a dropper post.

1 reply

vandall 2019
Jun 26, 2022

I put a dropper on my gravel bike and love it. No suspension.

1 reply

duncanmc42 New Zealand // 2021
Jun 26, 2022

I'm 72 and have been mountain biking since 2010 on a cheap, 26" hard-tail. Full suspension on 29" was revelatory and I haven't looked back. Then there was my first fat-tyred, full suspension ebike with the dropper - more revelation! But the dropper post, hmm, not so much, it just felt weird and I guess all the "suspension" from the float and fat tyres provided a very sure-footed ride and meant I could develop my technique with a degree confidence without faffing around with the dropper. Two ebikes later with a much better quality dropper and I'm tentatively getting used to it.

I suspect the lesson, for me at least, is that a better quality dropper makes learning to use one a whole lot easier. That said, just don't get between me and my suspension!

1 reply

geemy Maryland // 2020
Jun 28, 2022

what did the quality of the dripper change for you? I'm happy with my $49 100mm tranzx
(perfect travel for my XL frame anyway) it's going up or down when I want it

0 reply

duncanmc42 New Zealand // 2021
Jun 28, 2022

Interesting! The first one was on the entry-level Specialized turbo Levo Fattie and was my first encounter with a dropper. I struggled with finding the sweet-spot for me and, more importantly, started getting knee issues from pedalling with my knees bent. I'm on my 3rd e-bike now and the latest Levo is the next one up from entry level and thus higher quality components including the dropper. The action of this dropper is smoother and without pre-set steps makes it easier to find my sweet spot that looks after my knee.
Lucky you finding the right one for $49!

0 reply

philrohrer 2011
Jun 26, 2022

My two main rides are rigid SS with droppers. They see all the same trails as the FS bikes. The droppers give me extra room to soak up terrain and let the bike move under me.

1 reply

killer climb Pennsylvania // 2019
Jun 26, 2022

We all know how trick a dropper post is but pretty much all all do the same action. Suspension however comes in so many flavors and can make the ride so much more enjoyable if your set up for the specific terrain. Leverage ratios , path of travel, length of travel, dampening ratios and man are the new bikes super cool. Dropper on a gravel bike wins over a fork I'd say but not on a mountain bike.

1 reply

ozdog98 California // 2015
Jun 30, 2022

Gravel bike is set up with a dropper and no suspension. Having lots of experience with this set up has shown me how critical a dropper is. Suspension is great, but it will not prevent me from a crotch launch otb on moderately technical terrain. Getting the seat out of the way allows my legs to act as suspension and thus keep my tires on the ground.

0 reply

Bham MTB Alabama // 2019
Jun 30, 2022

Hands down I'd rather have my dropper post. Suspension is great, but getting my seat up to improve pedaling performance is a necessity for me and getting that seat back down for technical features is critical in avoiding the OTB! For those who have a dropper post and don't use it,,, we don't ride the same kind of trails. All that said, give me my full suspension and my dropper please and thank you!

0 reply

Mann California // 2018
Jun 29, 2022

I guess I've ridden more without a dropper than without suspension so that's easier to project.

0 reply

SKullman 2014
Jun 27, 2022

I have neither on my daily bike here in MN. 2.4 Ardent 29ers on 30mm wide rims make up the difference.

0 reply

Ihappydirt Wisconsin // 2018
Jun 30, 2022

I need both

0 reply

dr.strangelove.sr 2020
Jun 29, 2022

I ride an e-hardtail with a new to me PNW Coast suspension dropper. I’ve gone through 5 full sus bikes. Local trails just don’t need ‘em. I was was having the time of my life recently on the old Banshee. The Coast Post is almost life changing.

0 reply

kprochas California // 2022
Jul 2, 2022

I started mountain biking in 1994 buying a chromoly steel Diamond Back hardtail (of course) with fixed forks. I rode it into the early 2000s and then a stopped mountain biking until this year when I bought a full suspension Specialized Turbo Levo w/ dropper post. It's nice having the dropper post but it's kind of weird. Back with my old bike I had a quick release for my seat. I would only drop the seat if going down some banzai steep downhill. Now I find myself fiddling with the seat to much! I could do without it if needed for sure!

0 reply

wareagle4130 2010
Jul 5, 2022

I'm one of the cliche "come from BMX" folks, so when I got my first dropper it was a revelation. I could finally properly jump, take drops, manual, even nose manual some all on the fly (no stopping to lower my seat for the one jump on a 10 mile loop).
I can't even imagine riding pavement without a dropper, as I keep myself entertained by manualing everything I can and hucking off walls and such while getting in those pesky base miles.

0 reply

edtorres1976 Arizona // 2022
Jun 27, 2022

Just have both and buy the PNW Coast dropper. It has 40mm of air suspension. I love it!!!

0 reply

TK34 Minnesota // 2018
Jun 30, 2022

Of course it depends on the trail, so my interpretation is would you rather ride a trail that requires suspension and no dropper, or with dropper and no suspension? I'll take the former.

0 reply

jdgilbert Alabama // 2021
Jun 28, 2022

The trails I ride switch between uphill and downhill so much that the few times I've had to ride without a working dropper it was miserable. I can ride my kids' hardtails with virtually no front suspension with a dropper post and ride 90% of what I ride on my full suspension bike.

0 reply

brandan907 Oklahoma // 2022
Jun 28, 2022

This seemed like an easy question at first. The more I think about it, the decision isn't so easy.

0 reply

Allan Taylor 2019
Jun 26, 2022

Slow news day? Did someone's ten year old come up with this ridiculous survey?

-2 reply

AUTHOR

Jeff Barber Georgia // 1998
Jun 27, 2022

Yep, Sundays are slow for news which is why we always post a survey on Sunday haha.

3 reply

Robert Dobbs New York // 2016
Jun 27, 2022

What, you were expecting a survey on mountain biking and its impact on geopolitical stability in a post-reform world? : )

6 reply

Allan Taylor 2019
Jun 27, 2022

Sure why not? I mean that would have been nice 🙂

0 reply

Tagged: survey, would you rather, gear

First published June 26, 2022 @ 2:38:00