How To Service A Dropper Post

Suspension Tech: How to maintain your dropper seatpost

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In the concluding two weeks our Break Tech serial has gone deep into how to pick the best travel dropper for your riding and how to actually be sure the dropper y'all want volition fit your bike. So now we tin can assume anybody has a dropper in their bike, right?. Then what kind of maintenance are you lot going to need to keep it running like new?

What you lot demand to practise to keep a dropper sliding smoothly

Again our insider engineers at BikeYoke, KS & 9point8 gave us the full lowdown on the maintenance that a dropper postal service requires. The exact needs vary a bit from mail to post and have a lot to exercise with how each dropper functions. Most (just not all) use a precise Internal Floating Piston (IFP) charged with oil & air to drop your post and get it back up again. All have seals & bushings that need to exist kept make clean to slide smoothly. About (but again, not all) too use some form of cable actuated remote.

In all cases, now nosotros are talking about active break components that demand to move up and downwards consistently. Dropper seatposts sit in an exposed position right next to the spinning rear wheel where they are subjected to all the mud, dust, salt, sand & droppings your tire can flick up. Cleanliness and proper lubrication are going to exist the buzz words here.

What type of regular maintenance is needed, and at what intervals?

For the most office typical maintenance is going to hateful cleaning, regular inspection, and lubrication of the upper stanchion and main seal/wiper. Yous should treat your dropper like a shock body or fork sliders.

That means wipe your postal service clean and the wiper dry afterward every ride. A picayune suspension grease (ie. SRAM Butter, Slick Dearest, Wet Seal, Silicon Smooth, etc.) occassionally wiped on the seal is ever good. But remember, no degreasers, penetrating oils, or really any aggressive cleaners (no WD-xl, for case). And yous essentially want to wipe off all excess, so the grease doesn't attract/collect clay.

post ride vs. postal service quick clean-up

Beyond that for instance, 9point8 says to open up up and regrease their master seals once a year, KS every six months. That falls in line with most manufacturers, and typically is something that doesn't require fully disassembling the dropper, but does usually mean pulling it out of your bike. And then following the manufacturer'due south instructions to clean & popular out the seals, put new grease on information technology, and snap information technology back into identify – sometimes replacing the seal itself with hands available parts. Now for some droppers this might be a 10 or 15 infinitesimal task, others you may be looking at an hour or more, specially if y'all aren't used to doing it. This is time to grab a frosty beverage, head to your mail manufacturer'due south youtube channel, and watch the full service video before you offset taking things apart.

Other than that, droppers are mostly designed to role with their factory internal grease for their full functional life – oftentimes quoted every bit number of cycles or upward to fifty-fifty 10 years of regular use. Those internal hydraulics of droppers ordinarily don't crave any maintenance. And even if they do ultimately fail (a existent dropper problem nonetheless, unfortunately) it probably is a case of replacing internals rather than rebuilding them.

BikeYoke reminds us that one matter other interruption components don't have to deal with as much is h2o & contamination within the cycle frame. Most cyclists ride in moisture weather condition, and hopefully everyone washes their bikes occasionally (hopefully not with a pressure level washer, though.) That often means some water gets trapped inside the frame, and we often forget nearly it. While that is a expert way to kill a lesser bracket, dropper posts too suffer. Moisture & even humidity within the seattube can lead to corrosion of the post. Most also have internals open to varying degrees from the bottom to permit for pressure level relief, making them more vulnerable.

Again many stealth routed posts have linkage-operated remotes, and operation will drib over time with corrosion & contamination. Don't forget that cable. New cables and housing tin can oftentimes be a cheap and like shooting fish in a barrel remedy if your dropper actuation starts interim up or feeling strong.

What type of riding warrants additional or more than frequent maintenance?

Equally anyone with a dropper knows, they are in the direct line of fire for rear wheel spray. That means every dropper maker knows that too. And posts generally are well sealed against water, mud, and dirt infiltration.

Interestingly enough, almost every engineer nosotros talked to said dry & dusty conditions are just as troublesome as heavy mud (if not more than then.) That might have something to do with users not cleaning their posts as oftentimes in dry out riding. Or maybe only that fine dust likes to endeavour to work its way past the seals.

This is where you but need to keep an middle on your dropper and attempt to monitor its consistent performance. Much like with a fork or fifty-fifty your drivetrain, use your all-time judgement. And if you think your riding conditions are especially harsh, you should probably service/grease/replace your seals more often.

Should you protect droppers with fenders or boots to prolong life?

Nosotros see many bike makers trying to protect the rear shock from bicycle spray with integrated frame fenders, and more than riders using clip-on saddle-mounted fenders to go on their butts clean. But neither of those do anything to protect a dropper post. And then should we find a better solution?

It seems dropper makers aren't actually likewise worried about it. Sure keeping foreign fabric off the stanchion is a good practice, simply regularly cleaning the slider is just as, if non more of import. But when asked about things similar putting boots on the post itself, KS went farther saying it is amend to avoid something that tin trap water & dirt on the post. And riders who can see the condition of the post, are more than likely to keep information technology properly make clean and lubricated.

Does how I store my bike affect dropper life or maintenance needs?

The general wisdom here is to not expose your stored bike to high humidity, as it volition be more decumbent to corrosion. Within the dropper that means things like corroded guide pins, guides, and mucilaginous travel. Outside the post, once again you lot get remote linkage & stuck cable bug, plus getting the post stuck within your frame.

If yous are going to shop your cycle for months at a time (say the terminate of your riding flavor), this is the best fourth dimension for your annual service. Then you know the bike is put abroad with the seal cleaned, dried, and properly lubed. Storing with the dropper extended is likewise probably best, every bit that is when internal pressures are their lowest.

Some IFP systems are nevertheless susceptible to the internal formation of air bubbles (cavitation) if you store your bike upside down, like being hung from the wheels. (BikeYoke, KS & 9point8 each said this isn't an issue for their designs.) Also if yous are going to shop a bike by hanging it from the saddle, you need to extend your post before doing then. Don't pull on a hydraulic post while the saddle is dropped, as you lot adventure forcing air into the piston, which can plow your mail into an unusable pogo stick. Both valid concerns to continue in heed.

Now that we are all riding around slinging mud at the dorsum of our droppers and popping the saddle up and downwardly all the time, these tips should be plenty to keep those posts telescoping smoothly. Next upwardly is going to be how we control those dropper seatposts. We see a constant influx of ways to set up dropper remotes. Next week we'll help you effigy out which is best for yous, and if it is time for a update to improve the overall dropper experience.

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Cory Benson is the European union Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing near mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-route, gravel bikes & bikepacking on and off for over 25 years, since before several of these even had names in our manufacture.

Prior to that (and at times, concurrently), Cory worked as an Architect specializing in ecology sustainability, a IBD wheel shop designer & consultant, an contained product designer, a bike shop mechanic, and a mountain biking instructor.

Based in the Czech republic for over 15 years, Cory spends much of his time traveling around Europe, riding bikes, and coming together directly with many of cycling's key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what's new, and what'south coming next. A technical off-route rider at center since the 1990s, Cory'southward cycling has evolved to cover everything from the wide range of riding aero road bikes on dirt roads to thrashing enduro bikes in the European bikeparks & trail centers, with plenty of XC, CX & gravel in between.