Very often the professional is taken as a reference and not seeing the various Schurter / Fontana use a telescopic handler we believe that it is an extra accessory, not essential, but the professional has a completely different technique and if for him in many situations raising or lowering the saddle does not makes a difference (in terms of safety and speed of the gesture) for an amateur it becomes fundamental.
Professionals have the only goal to go fast and until they find an impossible passage with the high saddle they will go with a normal seatpost, this for a speech of weights and functionality (since in any case the telescopic must be lowered before each descent and in the rhythms hellish of today's XCs can be a handicap, especially if then that stretch of a few meters can be done even with the high saddle). Safety will not be at its best but that is not the priority in the professional field while in the amateur field safety should be in 1st place since maybe we do not have the excellent technique of an Elite.
How many times did we understand to get stuck? Or, let's change the subject, to see riders get stuck? Well, with the telescopic handler this problem many times we remove it clearly since having the low saddle we can move back further and we do not have the saddle that makes 'catapult effect' forward. Ditto in steep technical sections where, instead of playing absurd jokers, we can ride the bike well without clinging to the handlebars, with the low saddle that allows us to move back easily and load the weights well. And then the fun factor: imagine going over the hill on a Dolomite climb and then being able to lower the saddle on the fly in order to enjoy the subsequent descent in complete safety… how beautiful is it?
But are all the advantages of the telescopic handler? Of course, some problems exist such as the weight factor: we know that on a front we try to file on everything and insert a dropper post makes us raise the balance needle of almost half a kilo at best (the Rochshox Reverb weighs 520gr against the 200gr of the FSA Carbon seatpost). Other disadvantages do not exist if not a speech of visual cleaning of the bike since with the telescopic an additional cable for remote control is added (the XC frames are not yet prepared for further internal passages so you have to make do). Oh I forgot ... even the cost is not negligible! With the Rochshox Reverb, top of the range, we slightly exceed the € 300 list price and if we want to spend less the weight increases further ... and the reasoning automatically takes place: "why spend € 300 to have a 520gr seatpost that I could buy for € 10? "
Photo: dropper post test in the Nalles International (Marlene Sunshine Racers)
In conclusion: are you not interested in weight but substance? Seriously consider a dropper post. Does weight matter? Keep still the other saddle "among the marones" until they come out telescopic lighter and with less excursion (more suitable for a purely XC / Granfondo use) because we are sure that it is only a matter of time.
