I bought a Maverick Speedball with the intentions of sharing it between all my bikes. When I realized my Kona Dawg takes a 30.0 seatpost while the Maverick only comes in 30.9 and 31.8, my shop owner offered to buy it back from me, and I ordered a Gravity Dropper. But I did use both, and here is the report.
The Speedball uses air for a spring, with 3 inches of adjustability, and a very smooth action. After installing the saddle and the post, I could rotate slightly the upper post, which slides into the lower post, but I did not notice it riding.
You have to reach down under saddle nose to actuate the lever, but it works quite well and was never a problem. Taking your hand off the bars is a timing issue, and you obviously want to lower the seat before you reach the rough stuff.
What I especially liked is that you could lock the saddle at any point in the range, so I could lower it only an inch if I was going over something I wanted to be seated for (like a long smooth descent). The GravityDropper is like Marzocchi's ETA: full extension or the bottom of the adjustability, nothing in between.
Now my testing ground for the Speedball was a little unfair: Joaquin Miller Park. It is where downhill heroes like Nathan Rennie and TheMontashu shuttle. However, the trail back to the top, Sequoia-Bayview, is the easist singletrack climb in the world: even I can pedal my 43lb VP-Free in the middle ring.
But it was also the first time I ever used a post like this, so it was a good learning area. I am Mister TALAS-ETA, so I did not mind taking my hand off my bars to adjust the saddle height. After a few easy tests, I rolled a slightly challenging descent with the post down completely, then quickly raised it for the climb right after it.
Later, I dropped down Cinderella with the post lowered, and while I alternated standing and sitting, the post remained locked down despite the jarring descent. There were a few climbs along the way to the trail end, and I raised and lowered the Speedball with perfect precision.
The Gravitydropper is the remote-actuated seatpost with 2, 3, or 4 inches of adjustment (I have the 4 inch version), and it uses a spring and magnets as the controlling mechanism. The quality is decent, but the clamp is old fashioned, and installing the remote scratched my carbon bars. It comes only 27.2, and requires a shim (an advantage for me, considering my range of brands I own).
The actuation is clunky: when you actuate the lever, you hear a loud click indicating the travel has been released (the Maverick makes almost no sound). In order to lock it down, you have to sit on it until it locks. To release it from the locked-down position, you have to hold the lever, then sit back on the saddle for the catch to release. The seat will pop right up, so it is an odd feeling to have the saddle hit your butt while you are riding. The whole process was not very natural at first, but you get used to it.
However, the remote is a big plus. I made a lot of short steep rises I could not before when I had my saddle lowered for descents. After a while, I would raise and lower the saddle on any climb or drop. With a direct-actuated post, you have to be selective when you take your hand off the bars (Maverick said it will have a remote by Interbike).
The place I rode the GravityDropper was a true test of the post: Skeggs Point. Rocky, rooty descents, constantly changing elevations, and a mix of singletrack and fireroad (plus Bay Area erosion issues) made this a very challenging ride.
My first descent was Resolution, which is a twisty singletrack downhill. "Don't ride up Resolution," was the topic of one mtbr trail review where the rider threatned to slam into anyone climbing up it! That is where the remote started to shine through. There were a few climbs which I could not make unless my saddle was at full extension, but taking your hand off the bars could mean a ravine drop of 100 feet. The remote did its job.
The next descent was Manzanita, my favorite trail in the Bay Area: a long sandstone descent, many of the lines not so obvious. While I missed the short sandstone climb due too big of a gear, I was able to make the last hump before Gordon Mill, which was nice, considering there was a guy on a 10 year old hardtail coming the other way who could barely keep pedalling.
After riding it for a while, I thought I would prefer the 3 inch version because I like to descend on easy trails seated, but the 4 inches made a huge difference down Steam Donkey. This trail runs down straight down a ravine, a brake-lock, singletrack descent. My butt was hanging on the back wheel, particularily over the early log drop. An extra inch made a difference there.
The weight is about the same for both, about a claimed 450 grams, but the Speedball felt lighter (no gram count though). The owner had to send one Speedball back for seal leakage, so long-term reliablity still is a question.
The GravityDropper's remote does make a difference but I liked the action on the Maverick Speedball way more. Seatpost sizes will be an issue for the Speedball, so I will stick with the GravityDropper for this season.
The Speedball uses air for a spring, with 3 inches of adjustability, and a very smooth action. After installing the saddle and the post, I could rotate slightly the upper post, which slides into the lower post, but I did not notice it riding.
You have to reach down under saddle nose to actuate the lever, but it works quite well and was never a problem. Taking your hand off the bars is a timing issue, and you obviously want to lower the seat before you reach the rough stuff.
What I especially liked is that you could lock the saddle at any point in the range, so I could lower it only an inch if I was going over something I wanted to be seated for (like a long smooth descent). The GravityDropper is like Marzocchi's ETA: full extension or the bottom of the adjustability, nothing in between.
Now my testing ground for the Speedball was a little unfair: Joaquin Miller Park. It is where downhill heroes like Nathan Rennie and TheMontashu shuttle. However, the trail back to the top, Sequoia-Bayview, is the easist singletrack climb in the world: even I can pedal my 43lb VP-Free in the middle ring.
But it was also the first time I ever used a post like this, so it was a good learning area. I am Mister TALAS-ETA, so I did not mind taking my hand off my bars to adjust the saddle height. After a few easy tests, I rolled a slightly challenging descent with the post down completely, then quickly raised it for the climb right after it.
Later, I dropped down Cinderella with the post lowered, and while I alternated standing and sitting, the post remained locked down despite the jarring descent. There were a few climbs along the way to the trail end, and I raised and lowered the Speedball with perfect precision.
The Gravitydropper is the remote-actuated seatpost with 2, 3, or 4 inches of adjustment (I have the 4 inch version), and it uses a spring and magnets as the controlling mechanism. The quality is decent, but the clamp is old fashioned, and installing the remote scratched my carbon bars. It comes only 27.2, and requires a shim (an advantage for me, considering my range of brands I own).
The actuation is clunky: when you actuate the lever, you hear a loud click indicating the travel has been released (the Maverick makes almost no sound). In order to lock it down, you have to sit on it until it locks. To release it from the locked-down position, you have to hold the lever, then sit back on the saddle for the catch to release. The seat will pop right up, so it is an odd feeling to have the saddle hit your butt while you are riding. The whole process was not very natural at first, but you get used to it.
However, the remote is a big plus. I made a lot of short steep rises I could not before when I had my saddle lowered for descents. After a while, I would raise and lower the saddle on any climb or drop. With a direct-actuated post, you have to be selective when you take your hand off the bars (Maverick said it will have a remote by Interbike).
The place I rode the GravityDropper was a true test of the post: Skeggs Point. Rocky, rooty descents, constantly changing elevations, and a mix of singletrack and fireroad (plus Bay Area erosion issues) made this a very challenging ride.
My first descent was Resolution, which is a twisty singletrack downhill. "Don't ride up Resolution," was the topic of one mtbr trail review where the rider threatned to slam into anyone climbing up it! That is where the remote started to shine through. There were a few climbs which I could not make unless my saddle was at full extension, but taking your hand off the bars could mean a ravine drop of 100 feet. The remote did its job.
The next descent was Manzanita, my favorite trail in the Bay Area: a long sandstone descent, many of the lines not so obvious. While I missed the short sandstone climb due too big of a gear, I was able to make the last hump before Gordon Mill, which was nice, considering there was a guy on a 10 year old hardtail coming the other way who could barely keep pedalling.
After riding it for a while, I thought I would prefer the 3 inch version because I like to descend on easy trails seated, but the 4 inches made a huge difference down Steam Donkey. This trail runs down straight down a ravine, a brake-lock, singletrack descent. My butt was hanging on the back wheel, particularily over the early log drop. An extra inch made a difference there.
The weight is about the same for both, about a claimed 450 grams, but the Speedball felt lighter (no gram count though). The owner had to send one Speedball back for seal leakage, so long-term reliablity still is a question.
The GravityDropper's remote does make a difference but I liked the action on the Maverick Speedball way more. Seatpost sizes will be an issue for the Speedball, so I will stick with the GravityDropper for this season.
