Race Face is late to the dropper post game. So has Race Face (and Easton, who share the same design but call their's the Haven) included enough features in the Turbine dropper seatpost to put it on par with the established leaders?
In terms of options, it’s just the usual 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters, and internal cable routing only. There’s a choice of 100, 125 or 150mm extensions, but no 170mm version to match RockShox’s latest Reverb post.
Our 30.9mm sample weighed 616g, which is lighter than Thomson and KS’s posts, but 75g heavier than a Reverb and 100g heavier than the new Fox Transfer. The big vertical remote lever that comes as standard is black, but you can get the optional under-bar version in anodised colours. The curved pipe on the standard remote makes for a neat cable line over the brakes.
The cable-actuated hydraulic internals are a proven design licensed from Canadian brand 9point8. The hydraulic lock can stop the post at any point in its stroke and because it only uses a small amount of oil it’s less prone to problems in sub-zero temperatures than some other designs.
While Race Face claims that detaching the assembly to remove the post is ‘tool free’ we found we needed a spanner once it had been sat in a damp seat tube for a few months
Paying extremely careful attention to the instructions is crucial for successful cable set-up though. Even then you’re likely to take your patience to the limits fighting with its need for exact millimetre positioning and minimal cable protrusion through the actuator shuttle.
The tiny cable-clamp grub screws also need to be tightened exactly flush to stop them sticking inside the post. We never managed to get the post working with one test bike (Jimmer’s Orange Five), where the internal cable routing required a particularly tight bend.
While Race Face claims that detaching the assembly to remove the post is ‘tool free’ we found we needed a spanner once it had been sat in a damp seat tube for a few months. Unscrewing the valve cap of the air spring hidden under the saddle clamp is far from easy too, but it does let you tune the return speed rating from ‘future parental advisory’ to ‘mild peril’.
Once set up, the twin-bolt ‘Hunter Head’ seat clamp is totally secure and there’s minimal saddle twist or rock when pedalling. We’ve had no reliability issues either, and it still feels as smooth and clean in operation as when we installed it several dirty months ago. The price is similar to that of its premium competition too.
