SDG is one of the biggest names in mountain bike saddles, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it's jumped on to the dropper post bandwagon — though it’s taken it a little while.
I've had my hands on one for a while now, so read on for more details on the post and my impressions.
SDG Tellis dropper details
SDG offers the post in 125mm and 150mm options, with both 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters. I have the 150mmx30.9 option, which weighs 552g. The under-bar lever comes in at 36g.
All-in with cables, you’re looking at a competitive 620ish gram set-up.
The post’s shaft is anodised, with height markings up its length, while at the base there’s a green plastic end of cable housing which gives a bit of protection to the actuation arm.
The lever at the bar is where the cable is clamped, with the nipple located at the base of the post.
The head of the post is 50mm deep, and it uses two bolts to secure the saddle.
The collar is 25mm deep and, with the seatpost fully dropped, from base of collar to the saddle rail is 60mm — if you’re on the cusp of frame sizes, or aren’t sure whether you can fit a 150mm post, this measurement is important to note.
The overall length of the post is 440mm (150mm drop) or 390mm (125mm drop) though this doesn’t include the lower diameter actuator protector, which is 27mm deep and sits below the post.
Internally the action is controlled by a sealed hydraulic cartridge, which is replaceable — there’s a two-year limited warranty too.
The infinite travel post’s internals are protected by wiper seals, SDG says they have been engineered for maximum performance. If you live somewhere chilly, SDG says it’s been tested to -20°C.
The post will ship with Jagwire cables.
SDG Tellis dropper post impressions
The first thing I noticed was that the post’s cable is clamped at the lever end. This is a massive plus point in my eyes, because setting cable tension and clamping the cable with a grub screw is approximately a million times easier when done at the lever end, rather than at the bottom of the post.
This means set up of the post took just a few minutes (once the outer had been routed through the frame’s internal routing — another story).
It did take a bit of faffing to get the cable’s tension just right. The lever has a very light feel and a slight cam in its action, so I had to use the barrel adjuster a fair bit to get it just right.
The cable slipped a couple of times too until I tightened the grub screw to a torque that felt more than the suggested 1.2Nm.
With the head’s bolts located close to the shaft, and not massively angled away from the shaft, adjustment with a multi-tool is a touch tricky. A ball-ended hex key makes life easier, but this is worth noting for on-the-fly adjustments.
I also found during set-up that with some saddles there's not a huge amount of room between the base of the saddle and the top of the clamp, so there's not much room to jam a finger between saddle and the post's head to keep the nuts in place when initially installing the bolts.
There is plenty of adjustment, angle wise, so you should be able to get your desired saddle angle on virtually any bike. The clamps aren't particularly long either, meaning there's ample opportunity for fore-aft adjustment.
The relatively low overall length of the post means that you may be able to fit a longer-drop version than you might think on your bike — the base of the collar to the saddle rails when dropped is only 60mm.
In use that light feel through the lever and a quick, but not wince-making, return speed means getting the post back to full height is very easy. There’s a gentle clunk when it fully returns, and as daft as it might seem, a light lever feel means you have to think about it less.
Through the first initial rides, I did have to adjust the cable tension a little. To get the post to drop it felt like I had to press the lever further than I did for it to return, however I think a bit more fettling with the inner and outer cable tension would sort this out.
There’s no discernible twist in the post when riding, which draws no complaints. The lever has a decent length and some texturisation to give extra purchase when pushing it — though they’re very rounded bumps, so I didn’t feel they added a huge amount of extra grip.
SDG Tellis dropper pricing and availability
In the UK the Tellis will retail at £219.
In the US the Tellis will cost $270.
