2012 is the year of many things, but one thing we’re sure it is the year off is the dropper post. The latest to join the growing choice of adjustable height posts is the newly released CrankBrothers Kronolog.

The US company has been making adjustable height seatposts for ages, over five years, so it’s fair to say they’ve plenty of experience. With competition from the excellent RockShox Reverb, they’ve upped their game with the new Kronolog.

It’s been two years in development, and the company says they started with a clean slate when designing it, and distilled their previous product knowledge into a seatpost that is ‘the eggbeater of the adjustable seatpost market’.

Reliability and durability are key concerns with dropper posts, most complaints are of degrading performance in typical UK conditions, and to get around the problems CrankBrothers have opted for a simple mechanical design. Rather than opt for a hydraulic system (like the Reverb) which they reckon is ‘heavy and problematic’ they went with a design that uses as few moving parts as possible. Less moving parts means less things to go wrong.

Sounds good in theory, we have to agree. The post offers precise and infinite adjustment, and is claimed to feels as smooth and supple as a hydraulic design. An air spring lets you adjust the preload and the return speed, and two-stage damping returns the saddle to normal height in two smooth stages.

To avoid the saddle rotating, a keying system between the quill and shaft should keep the saddle pointing in the right direction at all times, and prevent the ‘wobble’ that can often occur in dropper posts after time.

The cable routing leaves the post halfway down and a smart remote adjust lever at the other end attaches to the handlebars, and can be set to the left or right.

It’s 50g lighter than their previous post, weighing 494g (30.9mm and remote control) and comes in 30.9mm and 31.6mm sizes. The range of adjustment is 125mm (5in), several colours are available and it comes with a two year warranty.

The Kronolog will cost £249.99 when it arrives in UK shops in June. More info at www.crankbrothers.com/seatposts.php

You can win one of two Kronolog posts over at Dirt all this week!

Rider testimonials

And already it’s being testing by CrankBrother sponsored athletes, here some of their riding impressions on the new seatpost:

Richie Schley

I have been testing the kronolog and working with the product managers and engineers for the past year. It is a mechanical system, so it is light, strong, and reliable.

Don’t let the “mechanical” throw you off though. It is a crankbrothers product, so it has a sleek look with attention to design, right down to the cool crankbrothers logo remote.

Chris Van Dine

For trail riders, the dropper post is one of those products that drastically improves

the ride, regardless of genre, travel, or wheel size. It’s worth its weight in gold. Crankbrothers has been in the drop post game from the beginning. The kronolog is something we’ve been working on for quite a while now, and it is the evolution in adjustable post technology.

I’ve been thrashing the kronolog for months in different conditions, environments, and applications, with no play or failures. This is refreshing because I’m not a fan of bleeding my post after a failure on the trail. The kronolog is packed with features and refinements, and it is by far my favorite drop post on the market. Take one for a spin and you’ll understand.

Jill Kintner

I am not willing to compromise on a good descent, and the kronolog post does what it is supposed to do. Let’s me climb with full extension, and reacts quickly and quietly when I want to drop my seat down to shred.

For a cable driven system, the feel is really smooth and consistent, plus reliable in all conditions. I find the routing off the back of the post an obvious improvement and the logo as the lever a thing of beauty. Adjustable posts make riding more fun.

What do you think? Let’s have your thoughts in the comments box: