Will this Canadian beauty become a new favourite?
We've just got hold of the new Fall-Line dropper post from Canadian brand 9point8, a quality piece of kit that sits at the top end of the market. We've favour the RockShox Reverb Stealth as our dropper of choice and appears in the 2016 Dirt 100. Can this 9Point8 Fall Line dropper seatpost match both the Reverb and the recently revised Specialized Command IIRC?
With dropper posts almost standard kit on trail and enduro bikes we've seen a load of developments over the last two years with internal routing on frames becoming the norm along with neater remote levers and increased stroke of to up to 150mm. Not all seatposts go the distance and many are disappointing in the long run.
9Point8 are based in Ontario, Canada and all their design, development and production is in house. They are a small specialist company and this new Fall Line is their latest design sitting alongside the Pulse 'stepper' seatpost which has been in their range for a few years. Shorelines are importing this post (they distribute other Canadian brands such as Chromag) and are initially selling it direct to the consumer here in the UK rather than through retailers.
Take a hold of the fall-Line post and you get the impression of real quality, a product with great attention to detail and looking built to last. It has that look and feel of a Hope or Thomson product. 9point8 go about things a little differently, so let's take a look.
There's plenty of choice with this seatpost. The usual 30.9 and 31.6 diameters are available along with 375mm/125mm, 415mm/125mm, 440mm/150mm and 500mm/175mm (lengths/travel) being the sizes that interest us. Travel can be dropped via shims at a later date if needed if you switch your frame. The seatpost has both lay-back and in-line options too (a feature which lets you fine tune your fit) and has a four bolt clamp with titanium hardware.
The Fall Line is a cable operated post with three options when it come to the bar mounted lever, with a neat option for those running a right-hand-only shifter.
It's the internals where the difference lies. Here 9Point8 use a low-pressure air spring with a unique DropLoc 'brake' system that pushes and locks against the inner of the top shaft of the post. There are no presets so you can position the post at any point in its stroke. 9Point8 are confident with this system and have licensed their design to Easton/Raceface for their new dropper posts. A 'Quick Connector' allows easy disconnection of the inner control wire when removing the post for travel or servicing.
Looking at the 9Point8 website, they hold a comprehensive range of spares to keep the post running in the long term which is great to see. We'll get this on a bike and see how it stacks up over the next few months.
RSP PLUMMET | THE CHEAPEST DROPPER SEATPOST WE'VE EVER SEEN, AND IT WORKS!
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