OneUp Components Dropper Post V1

(discontinued)

We know OneUp Components as a company that likes to push innovation as much as they can, except perhaps when it comes to product names. It should therefore come as no surprise that their dropper post is simply called the “Dropper Post”, but looking beyond the very simplistic name this post has plenty of aces up its sleeve. Read our review to find out more.

OneUp Components Dropper Post Highlights

• Drop: 170mm or 150mm infinitely adjustable
• Diameter: 30.9 or 31.6
• Routing: internal only
• Internal sealed cartridge
• Remote compatibility: Cable clamping remote only
• Travel reducing shim reduces travel by up to 50mm
• Patent pending drop rail clamp and shim design
• Weight: 668 grams (31.6mm, 170mm drop, including remote and hardware, verified)
• Warranty: 2 Years
• MSRP: $199 USD (post), $49 USD (remote)

Initial Impressions

As droppers go, the OneUp post is fairly unassuming. Apart from the green anodized hardware at the base of the post, the rest is a fairly low-key affair with just some laser etched graphics that tell you who made it. The remote is equally unassuming at first glance.

Digging deeper, the OneUp dropper reveals its true character. Starting with the physical dimensions, OneUp made a concerted effort to conceive a dropper with a very short minimal stack height. Comparing it to the other posts in our big Dropper Face Off feature, the OneUp 170mm dropper actually has a shorter collar-to-rail number than many of the 150mm options, with overall post length not far off either. That means that if you are typically able to run a 150mm post with a collar-to-rail number of 205mm or more, chances are you can run the 170mm OneUp. The following table provides all the physical measurements of the OneUp Dropper Post:

OneUp didn’t stop there though. Recognizing that many rider/frame combos may fall in between the standard dropper travel numbers, they developed a clever shim system that allows you to adjust the max travel of your dropper downwards by up to 50mm – by any increment you wish. Simply remove the collar, cut the travel reducer shim to the desired length, and you’re done. Want 163 mms of drop? How about 147 or 135? Buy the appropriate travel post to start with and shim away. If you need all your travel back later, just remove the shim (they are cut to size, so if you need to increase your travel again by just a small amount, you’ll need a fresh shim to start over with).

When it came to designing the remote lever, OneUp continued to do things differently. Rather than model their shifter-style lever off the big paddle of a traditional shifter unit, which is what most dropper post manufacturers seem to do today, OneUp went with the small paddle instead. That translates to a lever that sits further in under the bar, which OneUp says makes it easier to reach without having to move your hand around too much on your grip.

In terms of the internal mechanism, OneUp opted for a cable activated, closed cartridge design, which operates at pressures between 250-300 psi (the pressure can be set using a shock pump via a schraeder valve found under the post head). This design allows for easy replacement of the whole cartridge in case of trouble down the road, and the post as a whole is designed to be easy to service even by home mechanics.

On The Trail

Installing the OneUp Dropper Post is about as straightforward as it can be. As always, the internal cable routing may well be the most complicated part of the whole process, unless your frame manufacturer provided proper internal guides to make your life less miserable. After that, just hook the cable head into the activator mechanism at the base of the post, run the cable through the housing up to the remote, adjust the length and clamp the free end of the cable in the remote lever. Use the barrel adjuster to fine tune the cable tension if need be, and you’re good to go.

The post presents minimal play out of the box, with a very solid, locked-in feeling wherever you decide to stop it within the travel.

In use, the post offers smooth action and a quick return rate – not to the point of posing a threat to your nether regions, but certainly snappy enough to get up there in a hurry if you need it, with a clearly audible top-out “thunk” to let you know that you’re back in business. It also drops out of the way quickly, without needing to be heavily weighted. The post presents minimal play out of the box, with a very solid, locked-in feeling wherever you decide to stop it within the travel. Want to lift your bike by the saddle even when it’s dropped? Go right ahead, no problem. And on the topic of drop, we did enjoy the 170mm of travel of the version we tested, the 20mm extra travel not a deal-breaker when choosing a post but certainly a nice-to-have when moving the bike around under you.

The OneUp remote is easy enough to use, but we never really fully adjusted to its different angle/position. Yes, it is easier to reach where it sits, but there is a flipside: your thumb runs out of travel too quickly, making it difficult to push the lever all the way to bottom out. Now, the dropper mechanism does activate well before you reach the end of the travel of the lever, but we’ve gotten quite used to being able to push the lever all the way in and with the OneUp remote we would sometimes find ourselves doubting whether or not we had gotten all the speed/travel out of the return of the post for example. The lever is fairly sensitive in itself, and although it’s possible to moderate the return speed of the post by partially depressing the lever this remains a fairly delicate exercise because all the action takes place within a narrow range of motion. We also noted that pushing the lever while seated on the post requires a bit more force than when it is unweighted. All told, the lever action is satisfactory but not quite up there with the very best in class. However, scoring the post against the rest of the field in our Dropper Face Off would currently see it slot in around the fifth place, helped by the excellent physical dimensions and of course a very competitive price point – indeed a very good performance by this newcomer.

Things That Could Be Improved

Some will appreciate the somewhat unorthodox position of the OneUp remote lever, but we think it would be better off being brought back towards a more “classic” position. We like being able to use the whole lever travel and in present form, the lever makes that more difficult. On the positive side, OneUp sells the lever separately so if you already own a lever or wish to use something else, it’s easy to do so (provided the lever you chose clamps the cable at the remote end).

The activation mechanism is satisfactory, but gets a little bit stuck when activated while under load. We like being able to just push the lever without having to unweight the saddle first, especially towards the end of a long ride where your legs are getting tired. This is possible with the OneUp post, it just requires a bit extra force at the lever. We also think that a wider “activation zone” within the lever’s travel would make for a post that is easier to modulate.

Long Term Durability

We’ve been able to put in three months of intensive riding with the OneUp dropper, and it has proved itself up to the challenge so far. We have not had to adjust the cable tension, and the post presents almost no play whatsoever (a tiny amount of side to side play, nothing more than what was there out of the box). The remote itself is equally free of rattle and solid in use. We have noted that the post will sag a minute amount after an extended climb, only detectable by dismounting the bike and depressing the lever – a tiny little “pop” from the post will then indicate that it re-extended to full travel. This is not really visible to the naked eye, and it has not gotten worse over the duration of the test. The post is backed by a two-year warranty which includes the cartridge, and OneUp will ship you one wherever you are in the world if you need one. Outside of warranty, a replacement cartridge is only $80 USD, not an astronomical sum by any means.

What’s The Bottom Line?

The dropper post market is certainly heating up, with more and more viable options emerging as companies begin to lay to rest the longevity demons that plagued the pioneers and the trailblazers in this product segment. With lower stack heights and a clever shim system that lets you adjust your max travel range, OneUp’s novel dropper has moved right in to shake things up in the pecking order. The post is smooth and reliable in action, and while the remote could be perfected the overall package is still pretty hard to beat, especially when you factor in the particularly competitive price point.

More information at: www.oneupcomponents.com.

About The Reviewer

Johan Hjord - Age: 45 // Years Riding MTB: 13 // Weight: 190-pounds (87-kg) // Height: 6'0" (1.84m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After many years spent practicing falling off cliffs with his snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Ever since, he’s mostly been riding bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many flaws as a rider. His 200-pound body weight coupled with unique skill for poor line choice and clumsy landings make him an expert on durability - if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much okay for anybody. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style that he describes as "none" (when in actuality he rips!). Having found most trail features to be not to his liking, Johan uses much of his spare time building his own. Johan’s other accomplishments include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly on 11.

Photos by Johan Hjord