I went riding on Dartmoor today where there is some proper steep stuff.I realised that I’m old and scared now and could do with a bar controlled dropper. But I have no idea about what’s good and also what, if anything, can work well with a rear bag. Any advice (apart from MTFU)?

Whats your seattube inner diameter please Dave. Personally IMO once you go dropper, there's not really much going back. Like going back to 2.0 wheels IME or v brakes (but more serious).

Brand X Ascend at 89£ at Wiggles. 2 year warranty. Remote is crap (but works well enough) so factor in £20 for a decent upgraded remote. Think about the length it needs to sit inside you seattube as there might not be enough depth.

That's all really. If you have holes in the frame to take an inner hose (whatever the posh term is) then that's even better. I drilled into the Ramin with some input from James Olsen. Ensure you have a nice relaxed curve as you'd do with normal gear cables etc etc.

Drop, well 100mm should be plenty!

Option 1 if you only have a 27.2 diameter https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/compo ... er-review/

Option 1 if you have bigger https://www.wiggle.com/p/brand-x-ascend ... 25-and-150

Both above are internal routing. External looks ugly

Topeak do a think called a DP Mount which lets you use a seatpack with a dropper.

I have one, it works very well

Thanks. It’s for a Canyon Exceed so I’ll look into cable routing. Pretty sure it can go internal. The Brand X looks a good bet as not too much cash

I have a brand x dropper- it's great. I use a tailfin instead of a standard saddlebag and pack it in such a way that I have full use of it.

I have 2 brand x droppers - they are brilliant and I find the remote fine.

Have ridden on Kindshock, OneUp, Reverb, Crankbrothers and Fox dropper post the last... 15 or so years and find the Fox Transfer posts to be by far the best working and most reliable posts.
Mate's have been on Bontrager, Cube, Bikeyoke and PROs and they had issues I never experienced with the Fox.

I use lined Jagwire hoses with thin Shimano cables (which I lube with a general chain lube during installation) or smooth actuation. Makes quite a difference on long rides for a beaten up thumb. Lever mostly the long version from Wolftooth. Yet from what I can tell, the latest Fox levers (and some others) have become pretty good too.

Topeak do a think called a DP Mount which lets you use a seatpack with a dropper.

Same, they work

Another vote for brand x ascend here. Proved much more reliable (and cheaper) than the reverbs I have used in the past.

I did my first ever ride with a dropper on Saturday- the Brand X one on my new Ragley.

I was cynical about them but I’m a definite convert- so much easier to shift your weight about.

Have had both Reverbs and Brand-x droppers on various bikes - no problems with brand-x at all, excellent value for money and haven't noticed any issue with the stock lever.

Have used various makes on the mountain bike for a while. Won’t buy another reverb as they are shockingly built and have had nothing but problems with them including 4 replacement from the local bike shop which failed with in the month of getting them.

Brand x work and are good value for money.
The fox transfer has worked well and is good to service and work on at home which helps hopefully with it longevity.

Another Brand X + Top Peak thingy user here. Advantage of Brand X is that swapping to a standard post is dead easy - release the cable and go. Hydraulic posts are a bit more involved. the Brand X get rebranded as all sorts - I have a Bontrager branded version from years ago.

Fitted it this weekend. That was hell! Took me ages to route the cable through the frame. Ended up with a bolt on a bit of string then a massive jiggle session to get it down to the BB then up the seattube.

I am well proud of the grommet I 3D printed and fitted into a hole I made in the blanking plate. Saved £40 for a Canyon kit. The bar control is fiddly as hell to get installed. Much swearing after I dropped the ferrule several times.

But it is in and I’m well pleased with getting that done for less than a ton. Cheers all

Well done and congrats Dave. Enjoy. You can go plummet down your local steep(est) steps now (and have people wonder how you just disappeared). Don't forget to keep that wieght back