So, we check out this 27.2 dropper post
There might be a few people out there who still don’t get the whole dropper post thing (and that normally seems to be because they’ve never tried one), but as much as we might love them we don’t exactly love the dent they leave in our wallet. What we’ve been crying out for is a great cheap alternative, one that doesn’t cost several hundred quid, and it looks like we might have finally found one in the shape of this RSP Plummet.
It’s certainly not going to win any beauty awards, and it’s never going to offer the kind of silky performance that you get from a Reverb, but nevertheless our first impressions of this post are very positive indeed. Design wise it’s very similar to a Gravity Dropper in that it’s a simple mechanical design rather than hydraulic, and from past experiences this is only a good thing when it comes to reliability. Of course you don’t get infinite adjustment, but to be honest I think the three positions that this post offers is plenty enough. You get fully up, 60mm down, or 100mm down. Again it’s not the biggest range of adjustment out there, but unless you’re particularly tall you’ll probably find it’s as much as you need.
The remote switch could be a little better designed, but it works and doesn’t take up too much room. We found that we preferred it mounted upside down, but that’s down to personal preference. Because the post uses a simple gear cable, like several other models, if you really don’t get on with the supplied lever you could always swap it for a better one off another post. Personally I love the old Joplin ones and considering most of those posts have died you can often find the levers secondhand for a few quid, if not free.
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With some other cheaper mechanical posts that we’ve tried, and the original Gravity Dropper you have to put a bit of weight on the seat in order for it to release and come back up, but this post is like a Gravity Dropper Turbo or a Specialized Command Post in that it releases as soon as you press the switch. With the aforementioned posts this can be a bit scary cos the post seems to shoot up at a testicle wincing speed, but there’s no such problem with this post, the speed seems spot on. If you do want to increase it though you simply wind a bit more preload on the spring at the bottom of the post.
So many dropper posts fall down where the cable attaches. It’s either on the head which causes the old baggy cable problem, or it’s just badly designed full stop. This 27.2 dropper post manages to get it right though with good routing, plenty of support for the cable ferrule, and clamping the cable is both easy and secure. The remote shifter also has a little cable adjuster to take up any slack.
At the head there’s nothing to worry about either, it’s just a classic two-bolt design and has a decent amount of support for your seat rails. The lower half of the head and the upper part of the post are also one-piece, so there’s nothing to come un-bonded.
Overall we think this 27.2 dropper post has a lot of potential because it feels considerably better than some other cheap mechanical posts that we’ve tried, and it’s the cheapest of the bunch. Weight wise it isn’t too horrendous either, tipping our scales at 604g (including cable and lever), which is less than 50g more than a Reverb Stealth. Obviously only time is going to tell how this post fairs in the long run, but there’s no slop from new and because the mechanical design seems so similar to other posts that have stood the test of time we’ve got high hopes for this one. Oh, and the fact that it is a 27.2mm diameter (you can use shims to make it bigger) will please a whole lot of ridders out there with skinny seat tubes.
Finally, this particular post is an RSP branded one (Raleigh Special Products, and not the RSP of 4X fame), but the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted ‘Satori’ on the lever. I did a quick bit of Google research and found what appears to be the same 27.2 dropper post for less than £80 on eBay, with a shim included! Now that just makes this post even better value, and surely it’s worth a punt at that price.
Price: £104.99
Photos: Ben Winder
In the market for a dropper seatpost? Try these:
Dirt 100 2014 – KS LEV Dropper Post
Dirt 100 2014 – Thomson Elite Dropper Seatpost
Dirt 100 2014 – RockShox Reverb Dropper Post
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