TESTED: One Up Components Dropper Post V2

Words: Hayden Wright

Photos: Gerard Lagana

OneUp Components pride themselves on making no-nonsense, value driven products for the everyday mountain biker. Their first foray into the world of product development and sales saw the release and instant success of their ever-popular cassette and derailur cage extenders some nine years ago. Fast-forward to 2022 and OneUp now design and sell a wide variety of parts spanning from your handlebars right down to your pedals. One of their more common products out on the trails are their competitively priced dropper posts, with the V1 being known as a reliable and tunable option suitable for most frame designs and leg lengths. Over the past few months, I have been putting the V2 dropper through its paces in a variety of conditions to see if OneUp have improved on what is already a favourite within our ranks.

Out of the box

Thanks to a concise and easy to understand post length selector, it was easy to choose a post suitable for my needs. After taking some quick measurements it was decided that a 210mm post would be best for use on my Forbidden Dreadnought test bike. It is worth mentioning that you can achieve drops from 90mm right through to 240mm in 10mm increments with the V2 post, which can be shimmed relatively easily to achieve drop lengths outside those which come from factory. The post body itself has a very low stack height meaning that you may be able to run more drop than what you would be able to run with comparative posts, due to the decreased amount of post extending above your frames seat post collar.  As for the install, it couldn’t have been any more straight forward. This sealed cartridge dropper post is cable actuated, and all that was required was to hook it up to my existing routing and dial in the barrel adjuster to get the cable tension just right. The post comes as a standalone unit, and in my case was being actuated by a PNW Components lever. OneUp also sell their own levers if you want to keep it all under one roof. My test post weighed 590g in the 31.6mm diameter. 30.9mm and 34.9mm are also available.

On the bike

The first thing I noticed when riding with this post is just how much drop it has! Moving from a 185mm Bikeyoke Revive to this post gave me an extra 25mm of drop, which is much more noticable on the trail than I anticapated – particularly when things get steep and you are hanging off the back of the bike. While I used to think 185mm of drop was more than enough, I would encounter the odd sternum-to-seat moment which is now all but gone with the 210mm OneUp. The post action is smooth, however not as buttery as a Fox Transfer or Bikeyoke Revive. It did feel as though there was a little stiction in the action of the post, but this was only noticable when cycling the post with my hands rather than on the trail. There was also a slight amount of side-to-side play with the post (~2mm at the saddle nose) which again was noticable in hand but not while riding. 

Through many muddy rides, changes in altitude and variances in temperature the V2 dropper was a reliable performer giving me no headaches or hair-raising moments due to it not working in times of need. The return speed of the post is adjustable through changing the air cartridge pressure, which is accessed through the head of the post. This allows you to run the post as slow, or in my case as fast as you would like within reason. While not being scarily fast like a Specialized Comand Post the V2 dropper has a nice snappy return when set to 300 psi, giving the cartridge the pressure required to spring up instantly with a quick blip of the lever. While some may prefer a quiet post, I personally would rather hear an audible ‘clunk’ when the post hits full extension – acting as a clear indicator that the post has raised to full extension. Again, within this criterion the OneUp delivers, as they have not specced the post with an overly damped bumper within the cartridge which would otherwise decrease this ‘clunk’. 

OneUp must also be commended for the range of small parts and technical info you can get from their web page. It is obvious that they want riders to use their parts for season upon season, and thanks to this you can order replacement pieces ranging from air cartridges right down to oversized pin kits to tighten up the lateral movement should your post develop any more during its life on your bike. They also offer complete, easy to follow tutorials on how to perform minor or major services on the V2 dropper which should keep any home mechanic happy and their post in good order for years to come.

Verdict

OneUp have hit it out of the park with the V2 dropper. While its action is not quite as smooth as some of the competition, they can be forgiven when you consider the price, wide variety of sizes and reliability on offer. If you are looking to give a dropper post a go for the first time or looking for some more drop from your post, the V2 is definetly worth considering.

RRP: $329.95 (excluding lever)

From: mtbdirect.com.au

Hits 

+ Affordable

+ Size options to suit any rider

+ Reliable 

+ Product maintenance support

Misses

– More stiction than higher end posts