August 22/09 15:20 pm - Crank Brothers Joplin

Posted by Editoress on 08/22/09
 

Sometime in the late 80's Joe Breeze attached a spring to his seatpost and seatpost QR so he could adjust his saddle height 'on the fly.' This made getting behind the saddle much easier for better control on steep sketchy descents.  Then by simply opening the QR the saddle pops back to it's full extension.  It caught on and the Hite-Rite was born.  History lesson here ...

Fast forward to 2009 and we now have a plethora of modernized Hite-Rite style devices on the market.  Being reviewed here is the ever-popular Crank Brother's Joplin.  No longer just a simple spring, the post has transformed into an air sprung hydraulic telescoping seatpost!  All that means is that the seatpost relies on air to spring it through its 75mm of travel and the oil holds it in place.

There are two models available, the Joplin and the Joplin R.  The later comes with a remote lever to attach to your handle bar for remote activation.  The standard Joplin has the lever below the nose of the saddle; forcing you to take a hand off the bar (much like the Hite-Rite) to change the saddle height.

Installation

For the Joplin, Crankbrothers opted to use a Bontrager one bolt seat-clamp, since it's reliable and among the easiest to adjust.  Aside from dialing in your saddle height and setback, there are no other adjustments necessary.  It's a good idea to pull apart the seapost clamp and apply a liberal amount of grease to everything.  This will ensure that the saddle stays put and won't rotate backwards if you land on it hard.   One other thing to note is there is

a very slight amount of play in the saddle when unweighted; but the movement isn't noticeable out on the trail.

On Test

After smashing this post for a season I'm quite impressed at how well it's held up.  It's been dragged through the worst of conditions countless times and so far it has done its job dependably.  On the maintenance front, it has needed to be disassembled, cleaned and lubbed a few times and most recently I changed the oil; and now it feels as good as new.

What type of rider would benefit from a telescoping seat post?  For those that ride very technical terrain where really steep descents are common, and proper pedaling is a must, then the Joplin is for you!  It gives that added control when ripping down hill and gives you a proper saddle height for the power needed to climb back to the top.

The length of the post is 382mm, available in 30.9 and 31.6mm widths, and weights 461g.  The Crank Brothers Joplin is distributed through Norco and retails for $379.99.

Review by Chad Grochowina