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EB13: FSA Adjustable Height Road Bike Seatpost (Possibly) Twists Into Production

Written by Tyler Benedict
14 Comments
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Ivan Basso FSA adjustable height seatpost for road bikes

Found on Ivan Basso’s training bike is FSA’s adjustable height seat post to let him fine tune his position during training while in motion.

The benefits are obvious, taking the classroom (fit studio) and applying it to the streets. A simple twist moves the saddle up or down by 1mm per click, with a 20mm range in the latest version (this one’s 12mm). It’s cool because it’ll keep the saddle in the same rotational position but can easily let you see how power and comfort change.

It’s only been for pros so far, and has been spotted as far back as 2011, but word is it’s now going into production. It’s really intended as a training aid only. Weight is around 400g, but not final. Maurizio Bellin, FSA’s European OEM Sales guy, says triathletes might like it because they could tweak their position on long courses to better prepare their legs for the transition to running.

Twist past the break for more pics…

Ivan Basso FSA adjustable height seatpost for road bikes

If you don’t mind the weight, this could actually be a pretty functional addition to gravel racers and endurance cyclocross, too.

Ivan Basso FSA adjustable height seatpost for road bikes

Now, if they just added a motor to raise and lower the post, they’d take Shimano’s idea to market.

FSA also had some new new stuff on display, like their new hydraulic mountain bike disc brakes and some very nice road clincher/tubular wheels.

FullSpeedAhead.com
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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BT
BT
11 years ago

Road bike dropper post?

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Kevin
Kevin
11 years ago

This is an excellent way of finding out what saddle height is best for you. A few clicks in either direction and see what the effect is. No one would have the patience to experiment with 1mm differences otherwise. Bike clubs or bike shops should have them on hire.

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David
David
11 years ago

This is cool – but doesn’t it also change the distance to the bars by moving the saddle backward (when raised)? More of a compound adjustment than a pure height adjust. Not saying that is bad, just an observation. I’ve always wanted to mess with the height alone, but thought I had to adjust the saddle fore/aft to account for the change to keep my properly over the pedals.

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Dave
Dave
11 years ago

Sure it could be good for triathletes… but their seat posts typically look like the one in the background of the first pic… :-/

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Ventruck
Ventruck
11 years ago

It’s a good fit development tool above anything. I really wonder how it’ll be priced/offered to the public. Would we see it as a pricey tool only in shops/fitters, or literally in our own hands? Arguably no one needs it after they got dialed in. I wouldn’t be so convinced Tri guys would be so bothered with it over the little bits of aero advantages they’d want with other posts.

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Mike
Mike
11 years ago

Nice to have on a completely new bike for the first few weeks, but really after that?

I wonder how many people constantly are adjusting their seat height after the first thousand km’s?

Are we going to see pros having the height adjust a mm or two mid race by someone in a team car?

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mudrock
mudrock
11 years ago

Like Tyler said, a great tool for clubs or shops that take fitting seriously. David, don’t be a tool.

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Devin
Devin
11 years ago

@mudrock- stop slinging mud, David is spot on. This isn’t adjusting height in a vacuum- you are also getting progressively further back, the amount depending on your seat angle.

I personally find that making any change on the bike takes me a good week of riding to determine if it’s right or not, making the on-the-fly aspect pretty worthless.

Always remember: bike “fit” is a moving target, some days the same position you’ve been riding for months or years feels wrong and making changes based on that (not being warmed up, haven’t ridden for a few days, tired, sore back from raking the *$%# leaves, etc) is almost always a bad idea.

Or this is the next big thing.

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deboat
deboat
11 years ago

Dropper post on my road bike would be fun for decending!!

Imagine TDF bike needing some weight added, so they install a dropper post and the rider decending times drop too!!

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Topmounter
Topmounter
11 years ago

I like it, especially for the riding I tend to do on my road bike… some combination of paved roads, gravel roads and paved roads covered in gravel.

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duder
duder
11 years ago

This summer I was descending a long road descent on my MTB and ran out of gears and was just tucked and coasting. I noticed that dropping my dropper post improved my aero position and gained ~3-5 mph. If pro bikes are already at the UCI weight limit, why not throw on a dropper post for better aero on the descents?

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Chris L
Chris L
11 years ago

@ David:
Yes, though in theory more than reality. Nobody sits in exactly the same spot on their saddle every minute they’re riding. On seated climbs you’re likely to be shoved farther back on the saddle than if you were putting out a time trial effort (the phrase “On the rivet” reflects this). It’s also why vertical seat height is fretted over far more than horizontal seat height. A difference of 5-10mm in seat height really won’t make much of a difference in reach and horizontal position relative to the bottom bracket.

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maddogeco
maddogeco
11 years ago

I’m going to wait till Campy makes one then wait 30 years for it to become vintage before i buy one.

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Ham-planet
Ham-planet
11 years ago

I’d love a light weight dropper on my road bike, but I don’t think this would do. Looks like you need a fair bit of post showing to make this work. I wonder if you could get a hydraulic dropper to adjust in 1 mm increments? Isn’t Thomson working on a ‘Roubaix’ dropper?

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