Posts: 2395
Joined: 6/26/2009
Location: ID, USA
Administrator
Posts: 18
Joined: 1/23/2018
Location: Phoenix, AZ USA
Edited Date/Time:
looks like it's 'remember the hite-rite?' season again. it comes around every 5 years or so.
http://dirtragmag.com/a-brief-history-of-the-dropper-seatpost/
Posts: 15
Joined: 8/3/2014
Location: AUT
I remember when we were 14 years old that for quite a while we actually made fun of these hite-rites. "Why adjust your saddle on the fly?" little did we understand their future significance...
Posts: 26
Joined: 5/19/2011
Location: Durango, CO USA
Posts: 10
Joined: 1/12/2016
Location: San Juan, PR USA
Posts: 8
Joined: 1/16/2013
Location: Van Nuys, CA USA
Posts: 1695
Joined: 2/1/2011
Location: Oceano, CA USA
Moderator
Edited Date/Time:
Yeah, I'm that old. Had them on the old fully rigid. I've got both travel versions in my parts collection. I also had what I'm pretty sure was the first real adjustable seat post. First I'd seen at least. It was a Price Point item that I saw in the back of a magazine. OG lever under the nose style. It started acting like a suspension post on the second ride and sure enough, in the next issue, it was labeled a suspension seat post.
And in terms of that rebound speed, they never worked that fast when I used one. There must have been zero grease in that frame. If anyone's tired of working for a living, just go test ride a specialized with their brand post. Smash yer nuts with one of theirs, sue for millions and live the leachy dream.
Posts: 5
Joined: 2/8/2012
Location: Vancouver, CAN
In 1992 I put a hite rite on my used 1988 Rocky Mountain Avalanche with Syncros forks and rear u-brake. I loved it and even used it once in a while but didn't really get the point.
Posts: 18
Joined: 1/27/2016
Location: GBR
I used these in the 2005 and 6 Megavalanche races when no one else had anything similar. They're awesome.
Apart from the fact that they quickly wear the inside of your seat tube out if you use them a lot
Posts: 63
Joined: 6/17/2014
Location: FRA
Tristan_Mayor wrote:
I used these in the 2005 and 6 Megavalanche races when no one else had anything similar. They're awesome.
Apart from the fact that they quickly wear the inside of your seat tube out if you use them a lot
Put some grease. Same with noisy disc.
Posts: 4
Joined: 7/31/2017
Location: Providence, RI USA
Posts: 1
Joined: 4/6/2018
Location: Jenkintown, PA USA
Edited Date/Time:
I'm from nashbar and have been messing around with the Hite Rite since we got that box of them. It's surprisingly effective -- took a little while to get everything just tight enough but not too tight. And yeah... the rear wheel would hit the Hite Rite before it bottomed out, but we could just flip it around. I'm surprised they didn't survive as a low-cost entry-level dropper option.
Posts: 1
Joined: 10/17/2017
Location: Traverse City, MI USA
There was a remote available for your Hite Rite in the day. As I remember it, it worked by opening and closing the seat collar QR. Had to be adjusted just right, and readjusted over and over so your post didn't slip. The Hite Rite spring also came in Ti. No one really wanted one back then...fork travel was at 63-80mm except for full DH forks at 100mm (wicked nuts!). Rear suspension was a tension disk, so going faster meant grinding the ups faster than everyone else...Did wear out the inside of the frame with repeated use and did require a nasty amount of grease in a place that contacts the body a lot especially during the back in the day required hike-a-bike sections. Thankfully frames had bolt on shoulder straps.
Posts: 2395
Joined: 6/26/2009
Location: ID, USA
Administrator
Posts: 58
Joined: 1/5/2012
Location: OR, USA
Spomer, you've gotta get Joe on The Inside Line. He knows more about the early history of mountain biking and cycling in general than anyone else I've ever met. Plus he's gone from pioneering downhill racer to framebuilder to company owner to overseeing a bicycling museum and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Been loving the interviews with all the 90s-era MTB trailblazers but would love to listen to some in-depth chats with the folks who got things started in the 70s!
Posts: 178
Joined: 12/11/2011
Location: Orange, CA USA
Had all the models and sold them at the shop I worked at as a grom, was the greatest invention, until the hydraulic dropper....and one by.
Posts: 18
Joined: 1/27/2016
Location: GBR
Tristan_Mayor wrote:
I used these in the 2005 and 6 Megavalanche races when no one else had anything similar. They're awesome.
Apart from the fact that they quickly wear the inside of your seat tube out if you use them a lotmamath7 wrote:
Put some grease. Same with noisy disc.
Mmm I'm not sure adding grease to a noisy disc brake would be a great idea
Posts: 20
Joined: 8/2/2009
Location: Moab, UT USA
Had one on 98 Mongoose IBOC Pro. They worked alright, sometimes my seat would be slightly crooked.
