The Oneup V3 dropper is the latest generation of an old favourite. Designed in Squamish, the OneUp dropper is the benchmark in reliability, performance and price for the dropper post market. Coming onto the scene only a few short years ago, the V1 OneUp Dropper blew the competition out of the water with a seatpost that had more drop and lower stack than anything else, was affordable, easily serviceable, had great ergonomics and was more reliable than just about anything else. The V2 and, now V3, posts took the same recipe as the original and just refined and made it better in just about every way.
What's New With The OneUp V3 Dropper?
Voted best product by various magazines and #1 dropper post to buy by Vital MTB for 5 years in a row, OneUp could very well have just let it be, but in the spirit of staying industry-leading, there were a number of changes OneUp wanted to make to keep them ahead of the curve. The OneUp V3 Dropper improves three main things over the V2 - length, weight, and reliability.
Starting with weight, OneUp managed to shave 60-70g off the weight of the post compared to the V2, making it the lightest infinitely adjustable dropper post on the market, including the lightweight Fox Transfer SL. They managed to shave weight from a few places, the most obvious being the clamp area which is now hollowed out, though they say the most significant weight savings came from their new cartridge design.
Lighter is almost always better, unless it comes with a compromise. Thankfully this is not the case for the OneUp V3 Dropper - along with lower weight, OneUp also managed to shrink the overall length and stack of the post by as much as 10mm in certain sizes, that means more compatibility for more riders, and for those that were on the cusp, the possibility of sneaking a post with even more drop into their bike. What's not to love?
Finally the other major update is reliability. While the V2 dropper was extremely reliable and saw very few failures, things can always be more reliable. As with most droppers, play and flex in the post head can be an issue, more so the longer they get. For this reason, OneUp built more bushing overlap into the post in the lower half of the post, making it more solid overall, as well as using six keys to guide the post rather than three, two of which are plastic. This has the effect of removing any rotational play from the post. Larger sizes also get an additional bushing in the lower post, again to tighten things up and reduce flex. The cartridge also some major updates, biggest being the lack of Schrader valve, which means it's no longer adjustable, however OneUp found that in any defective cartridge, the valve itself was usually the cause of any leaks.
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What's Awesome About the OneUp V3 Dropper?
Updates aside, there are many reasons to love the OneUp V3 dropper, most of which carry over from the V2. Available in four different diameters, and six different lengths, with each size able to be shimmed down by 10 or 20mm, there's an option in 10mm increments from 70mm drop all the way up to 240mm. The OneUp V3 has the biggest and most customizable range of any dropper post on the market, meaning there's a dropper post to fit literally everybody.
OneUp know that serviceability is paramount, so the V3 Dropper, just like the V2, is serviceable without any specialist tools, and can be fully rebuilt with just a couple of regular tools in less than half an hour. Carrying a wide range of affordable spare parts, there's no reason that any OneUp dropper can't be kept running long term. Oh, and remember that new cartridge? It's replaceable, and now fully recyclable with their puncture tool.
Finally, OneUp droppers have always had a great feel, and with a new SKF seal in the head, the V3 has even lower breakaway force. Combined with the V3 remote, this results in easy actuation, a smooth easy drop and a quick and slick return with a nice top-out thud. In short, the OneUp V3 dropper is one of our favourites already, and we think you'll agree!
