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In a world of glitz and glamour, where it’s often the shiniest kit that makes the headlines, it’s easy to overlook some components, especially those with a more humble price tag.
But do so at your peril, because you’d miss gems such as these three dropper posts from Ascend Components.
Between the Adapt, Flight and Flight SL posts, there are enough heights and sizes to cover just about every type of rider. There are even skinny gravel options – and all at impressive prices.
While some may be wary when they hear the words 'budget' or 'bargain' thrown around, in this instance, that worry isn’t warranted.
With over 50 years collectively between the two founders of Ascend Components, there’s certainly a decent amount of experience being poured into each bit of kit.
Prices for the cheapest, Flight dropper post start at only £99, and there are plenty of travel options to choose from. What's more, they're serviceable and have spare parts available, too.
For me, they look like ticking all the right boxes. Here's why…
Ascending to new heights
When the Wiggle/CRC empire ceased to exist, the former director of e-commerce, Michael Cowan, and head of product and brand, Matthew Mountain, decided to branch out and go it alone. Ascend Components was born.
Ploughing in their knowledge after years of working on and refining kit and bikes for the likes of Nukeproof, Vitus, Ragley and Brand-X put them in a prime position to do their own thing.
As well as this knowledge, they had a wealth of manufacturing contacts and were able to create components such as these three dropper posts at incredibly reasonable prices.
The Flight post costs £99 and comes in 30.9mm and 31.6mm sizes (there’s an externally routed option, along with a skinnier 27.2mm version for gravel bikes). Travel ranges from 125mm to 200mm.
Add the most basic dropper lever Ascend offers, as well as cables, and the total price for the Flight is £114.98, which seems like a bargain to me.
The 150mm-travel Flight post alone weighs 635g.
At the top of the range sits the Flight SL post, which’ll set you back £144.98, complete with the most basic remote, or £154.99 with the upgraded premium lever.
This comes in the same post diameters, but is only available in 150, 170 and 200mm sizes. It uses a higher-grade 7075-T651 alloy construction to help keep weight down and strength up. In the 30.9mm diameter with 150mm drop, it weighs 451g.
For reference, the Fox Transfer post weighs a claimed 475g with a 30.9mm diameter and 120mm travel, but pricing starts substantially higher at £339 / $279.
The post I’m most excited about, though, is the Adapt.
As the name suggests, this post isn’t fixed to offer only one drop. Instead, you can tweak the travel in 5mm increments up to +/- 25mm. It comes in 30.9mm and 31.6mm diameters, and is offered in 150, 170, 200 and 230mm-travel options.
For me, at £144.98, this is a steal.
Having one post I know I’d be able to transfer between frames (assuming seatpost diameter is the same) and adjust to get the maximum travel possible for my little legs feels like a real win.
Looking at the long term
The guys behind Ascend know how pricey mountain biking is – delivering bargain products is one thing, but creating something that can be maintained is another.
It’s great to see Cowan and Mountain have considered this, ensuring that when parts wear, you can replace them rather than the entire component at a much higher cost.
Ascend provides all the maintenance instructions you need to keep the post working, as well as a guide to spare parts (which it also sells), in order to breathe new life into the dropper when the time comes.
To ensure you get a post that’ll definitely work with your bike, Ascend has a sizing tool feature on its website. It simply requires you to plug in your saddle height, maximum frame-insertion depth and seatpost diameter so it can recommend the best seatpost for you.
While I haven't yet ridden any of these posts, I’ve used numerous Brand-X droppers (who were owned by Wiggle/CRC) and never had any issues. If the Ascend series turns out to be as good, if not better, it begs the question, do we really need to spend more?
Once I've spent some time with these droppers, I’ll be sure to update the site with full reviews, so stay tuned.
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