As we all pour a little sports drink out for our fallen homie, the Supertuck, we are left with the question about how pro cyclists will fly down mountain descents. Is a new position on the way, or are we about to see more mountain bike technology cross over onto the road?
Mountain biking already gave us disc brakes, which many see as a positive on the road. While I personally still have a road bike with rim brakes, my preference is shown with the rest of my road, gravel, CX, and adventure bikes all stopping on discs. There’s also 1x drivetrains, which I’m also personally a big fan of as you can see in the picture to the left. The next technology that could continue to make inroads would be dropper seat posts to help cyclists get a more aerodynamic position when descending. They have already been used on the road going back to 2017 as a way to help fit neutral support bikes for various rider sizes. It has seen more use in gravel and adventure riding, where dropping your saddle helps to navigate challenging terrain, similar to mountain biking.
Interestingly enough, the Supertuck has actually been proven to not be the fastest position out there. Teams from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, Leuven University in Belgium, the University of Liège in Belgium, and ANSYS International worked together on an unfunded study to test out six different positions. Each is a trademark position of a pro rider. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), they tested the different positions to find what is theoretically the best position. See the graphic below for how they stacked up.
Interestingly enough, half would not pass the UCI’s Article 1.3.008.
“The rider shall normally assume a sitting position on the bicycle. This position requires that the only points of support are the following: the feet on the pedals, the hands on the handlebars and the seat on the saddle.”
This rule essentially bans two positions you commonly see during a race, the Supertuck and the breakaway time trial position where riders drape their arms over the bars. Sadly, the Superman position, would be banned too.
A New (Dropper Post) Hope
One potential solution is the dropper post. By using one, you can get into a similar position as the fastest on the graphic above, but still comply with UCI rules by keeping your butt on the saddle. I personally use one on two of my CX/Gravel bikes. While I have them on there incase I run into some sketchy trails, I also use it to get as aero as possible on descents. Just ask my teammate at the last gravel event we rode. By dropping the saddle, grabbing the bars next to the stem, lowering my head and chest as much as possible, and tucking my elbows and knees into the frame, I’m able to create a much smaller cross-section. This means less drag. When combined with my higher weight (this teammate is a tall, lanky climber), he struggled to keep up on the descents while I took off like an out-of-control freight train. I still felt completely in control, and would sometimes do a variation with my hands on the hoods or drops if I need access to the brakes still.
There are some challenges with using a dropper though.
First off, not all bikes can use them. With the rise of proprietary and aero seat posts, a standard round dropper simply won’t work. Luckily though, there are still bikes out there that use round seat posts, and many brands like KS and Crank Brothers offer 27.2mm versions of their droppers. Many of these are also short drops, which is perfect for the road scene.
Next challenge is the integration. If you are running a 1x set up, you can hack a SRAM DoubleTap left shifter to use it as a dropper lever. Shimano also has a version of their GRX shifter that works with droppers. Other companies make their own levers that mount on the drops so you can activate them from various points on the bars. They aren’t quite as polished or stealthy as Shimano’s GRX or a hacked SRAM shifter, but they definitely work. There are electronically actuated droppers too, and I’m sure if demand would be there, we could see a dropper control integrated into a Di2 or eTap shifter or as a satellite remote.
Finally, the other main challenge is weight. This is more from a consumer perspective though, as many pro bikes actually have weight added to their bikes to hit the UCI minimum. Dropper seat posts are inevitably heavier than a traditional post. Instead of being a hollow carbon or metal tube, they have the mechanism inside to actuate the post up and down inside of the tube that fits into your seat tube. Then there is the cable running from the lever to the dropper, and the lever itself. In some cases, it can double the weight of a lightweight seat post, but you add flexibility in your position. It boils down to what is more important to you.
It might be a while before we start to see droppers on road bikes, but it is something that could inevitably happen. Maybe by then, we will see carbon fiber droppers that are electronically controlled with a remote button that connects to your drivetrain, and is only a 100 or so grams more than a non-dropper post. Either way, innovation will continue in both equipment and riding, so there will be something new on the horizon to stir up the next mid-ride discussion.
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
~Veggie Powered Athlete~
Location – Lancaster, PA
Current Testing Rigs – 2024 Van Dessel Arch65, 2019 Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, 2018 Van Dessel Motivus Maximus LTD, 2016 Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2015 Bianchi Sempre Pro, 1978 Trek TX900
Dream Bike – I’ll tell you when they make it
Discipline – Cyclocross, gravel, road and duathlons (ride/run)
Favorite Rides – Quiet country roads of Amish Country, some of the best roads around.
Food of Choice – Sweet potato roll
Beer of Choice – Unibroue Grand Reserve 17, aged four years
Bourbon of Choice – Widow Jane 10 Year