Crank Brothers Joplin seatpost

If I may reminisce for a second, back in the late 80’s early 90’s I had a Hite Rite. A simple little bit of spring steel that connected your seatpost to your quick release so that you could drop your seat by opening the QR and putting your weight on it. Reverse the procedure and it was back up again.

I loved it.
So simple, so effective.
It was kind of like an old pickup. You know that it will start every time, but it wasn’t going to win a beauty pageant.

But in comparison, the Joplin Seatpost from Crank Brothers is a Ferrari. Slick air charged cylinder, remote control on your handlebars (lever model available), smooth easy actuation of the post. Basically everything that you would expect from a high-end piece. Including some of the headaches of having expensive toys.

The Joplin does need to be rebuilt regularly; the rigors of riding in a wet climate can catch up with you quickly if you don’t stay on top of it, so a tear down is recommended at regular intervals. It does weight more than a standard seatpost, but in my mind it is well worth the weight penalty, especially since it is unstrung weight. The seatpost does have a bit of side to side motion, it should be less than 10mm, but frankly any amount seems to be weird since I have never experienced it.

What I liked about the Joplin was that the remote could be positioned anywhere on the bars, above, below, it didn’t matter since the remote could work in any direction. I did notice was that I had to double check sometimes to see if the post had returned to it’s full height. The gravity dropper has a resounding thud when it expands fully, while the Joplin is way smoother and frankly a sexier option.

As it stands I have ridden the post for 3 months now and it has worked almost flawlessly for me, but if I were to get one again I would go for the lever version to reduce clutter on the bars.

Opinion: Great option for the bike, not really necessary, but if you have the money it is pretty cool.

Pros: Drop/raise your seat with the flip of a switch.
Cons: Price, maintenance issues.
Sizes: 31.6mm, 30.9mm, 27.2mm
MSRP: $260 usd.
Website: http://www.crankbrothers.com

Rating: 4/5