Forca 27.2mm dropper seatpost review
You get what you pay
As the saying goes you get what you pay for. Dropper seatposts can really help your riding confidence over steep drop offs but they are expensive and for my Orange 5 you are limited to the less common 27.2mm size. Having seen the Forca seatpost online at £75 I thought it was worth a try.
The Forca dropper is basically a “Gravity dropper clone”. It’s well finished with a bar remote and matching annodising.
The action is a simple mechanical pin that allows the post to drop and a spring that forces the seatpost back up. The drop is only one position of 3inches, which unlike my Specialized Command post on Camber (mechanical) which has two positions or Joplin 4 on my Trek which is fully adjustable. It’s a slight issue but for £75 I wasn’t too bothered.
Setting up the Forca was somewhat of a pain. The bar remote seemed to be very sensitive to setting, either being unable to release the drop or unable to keep the post down once dropped.
Having used the post for ~4months the real issues are starting to show themselves. I always ride with a rear mudguard when using a dropper post to protect the post from the worst of mud and grit. However at our recent Moles trip to North Wales I rode the downhill day without a mudguard and the post got somewhat covered. No problem I’ve had this with previous posts. However since this ride I’ve had continual problems with the free movement of the post. It simply isn’t dropping as it should. Taking the post apart revealed that the paint finish had completely worn of the dropper shaft and even greasing the post fully hasn’t helped.
In conclusion the Forca is very low cost for a dropper post and initially worked well. However it doesn’t seem to be robust enough for long term use. You get what you pay for with the Forca, unfortunately that’s a low cost, low quality piece of kit.
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Dandy says:
Sorry to hear it’s not withstood a good ‘Moleing’ Tony. I’ve just fitted the new Gravity Dropper to my new 29er. Admittedly it’s £125 more expensive, but other than a little glue, it’s not required any maintenance over the last 3 years. Others (KS, Specialized) have all given me problems!
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 1:06 am
Markymark says:
Unlucky Tony but worth taking the chance.
I run Thomson (fixed) posts on all my bikes and as Matt reported back in August last year they introduced a hydraulic dropper at Eurobike last year to go head-to-head with Rockshox Reverb.
As we all know the Reverb is a beautiful piece of kit and has had some recent upgrades (such as improved hose connectors) to make it even more robust.
I’ve yet to see Thomson’s dropper in the flesh but no doubt its as well crafted as their stems and seat posts!
Price has always been a determinant of quality the hydraulic droppers really are in a league of their own.
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 9:31 am
Markymark says:
BTW, Thomson’s Elite dropper is out March/April 2013 and is cable actuated.
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 9:40 am
Markymark says:
Thomson Elite Dropper Details
• Telescoping seat post
• 5”/127mm drop (internally adj. to 4”)
• Infinitely adjustable travel
• Hydraulic internals
• Nitrogen return spring (not adjustable)
• Lever-adjustable return speed
• Weight: 450g (prototype)
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 9:42 am
Tony says:
Are you on commision from Thomson? 🙂
It does look like the Thomson post could be the best post out there, if it’s made to their legendary quality. However they aren’t making it in 27.2mm. Hence it’s either – suck up the cost like D’Andy – or buy a KS post. Either way the Forca has been a learning experience but not in a good way!
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Markymark says:
Not on commission Tone 🙂
I went off on a bit of a tangent didnt i, since your main reason for the purchase is your 27.2mm limitation.
Anyway, if you weren’t such a trail animal your kit might last longer – hahaha.
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Posted on January 20, 2013 at 10:24 pm
wobbem says:
I have the cheapy from Ebay. Had a similar problem, being that the plastic top bush got cut up from silt and even after cleaning a regreasing wouldn’t slide. I sanded with fine paper til all was smooth again and all is good . I am thinking about get a bush turned in brass or nylon to replace the plastic which should solve the problem if it fails badly next time.
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Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:34 am
Tony says:
Hi Wobbem. Thanks I’ll take the post out and have a look to see state the plastic top bush is in.
Getting a bush turned? Surely you’d need to know someone with a high precision engineering fabrication company. BigAl is your man!
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Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:57 am
wobbem says:
Ahhh, that is a very useful piece of information. Is he a Fitter turner?
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Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:58 pm
tony says:
Hi Wobbem. Well I sanded down the bush and the roughness on the post. It sort of remains to be seen how long it will continue to work but for now it’s workimg.
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Posted on January 27, 2013 at 7:03 pm
DaveW says:
Wob – didn’t you also drill an extra hole to make it multi-position? Or was that on a different post?
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Posted on January 28, 2013 at 10:01 am
wobbem says:
That was in my Gravity dropper, I thought the second hole from the top wasn’t far enough down for trail riding. Leed from the Diary mob drilled another hole in his as the fully extended height was to high for him.
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Posted on January 28, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Gordo says:
Holes in a 27.2mm seat post proved to be the weakpoint last night. It lasted 18 months, but last night my inner post suffered a bend and snap. Oh well, it’s in the bin now and I’ve a RSP on order.
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/rsp-plummet-remote-dropper-272mm-seat-post-id82603.html
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Posted on October 1, 2014 at 1:11 pm
Dandy says:
Did you come down a little too heavy on the landing of a big drop then, Gordo? 😉 I like the price of that RSP, and it seems to be Gravity Dropper copy. My original Gravity Dropper from about 2009 is now on the Surly, and is still going strong. It’s never been maintained, though the pin unlocking mechanism is now held on by two zip ties after the adhesive gave way about 18 months ago.
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Posted on October 1, 2014 at 3:40 pm
Gordo says:
I’m too gnarly for my gear! Albeit I am pretty gnarless.
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Posted on October 2, 2014 at 9:24 am