Wolf Tooth Resolve Dropper V2

Peeling back the flaps of the box didn’t create much excitement. It was a seatpost. I pulled it out. Held it in my hands. Twirled it around a little bit. It smelled of oil. How long is this thing, anyhow? Doesn’t seem that big. I pushed on the actuator on the bottom. I pushed hard. I pushed harder. Oh my goodness! I blushed. How could something so big come in such a small package? How am I going to stuff all that, into that tiny little hole on my bike? Is it even possible for somebody to ride this thing at full extension?

I took it out to my bicycle. I held it up next to it. The physics of the situation seemed almost impossible. I realized that I live a bit of a sheltered existence. Meat and potatoes, really. I ride the same trails on the same adequate bikes, only swapping out parts out when duty calls. I’ve heard the calls from the sick freaks like Cam, who constantly just seem to be experimenting for the sake of it, just endlessly talking about length, and more of it. It never seemed necessary to me.

The Wolf Tooth Resolve Post

The first step here is to figure out what is new about this post from Wolf Tooth. I’m just going to cut and paste from Wolf Tooth here, lest we get anything wrong:

The Wolf Tooth Resolve Dropper Post rev2 expands the best-in-class, first-of-its-kind specs of the original Resolve Dropper Post with updates for new 34.9 sizing, new 242mm travel, and new internal components that improve rider experience. The Resolve Dropper Post rev2 has a self-bleeding cartridge for reliable performance, as well as short stack height, one of the shortest insertion lengths of any dropper post, and is one of the lightest dropper posts on the market when looking at grams per millimeter of travel. It’s lightweight, keeps a low profile, and will perform as expected every time it is needed. It also has a low lifetime cost of ownership because it is covered by Wolf Tooth Right to Repair and is serviceable at home.

• Sizes available: 30.9, 31.6, and 34.9mm
• Stock travel options: 242, 200, 160, and 125mm
• Travel is adjustable in 5mm increments
• CNC machined components
• Designed and assembled at Wolf Tooth in Minnesota, USA
• Replacement parts and service guides available via Wolf Tooth Right to Repair
• Service can be done at home, by Wolf Tooth dealers, or by Wolf Tooth
• Can be purchased with or without Wolf Tooth ReMote Pro Dropper Lever
• Tested to exceed all EN/ISO standards for reliability, performance, and durability

So, changes are mostly down to sizing (the new 34.9mm option), travel (the new 242mm drop option) and "internal improvements" in the name of improving the self bleed function and reducing actuation force. A new spool valve is specifically highlighted, and it's pointed out that all of the new internals are backwards compatible to the V1 post.

Pricing is listed at 350 USD for the new V2 post, and the V1 post is now available for 280 USD. The V1 upgrade kit is available for 80 USD. More information here.

So, it’s kind of new, but it also kind of looks a lot like the Resolve that we tested a few years back. Review here and teardown here. Except this one is longer.

The Remote Pro Lever

Included in my box (but not yours, unless you buy it separately) was a Remote Pro Lever, also tested here. Again, this is all just top notch build quality, nicely machined with perfect hardware. It’s available in all sorts of colours, and in all sorts of clamp types.

I got a little heavy handed on my install, and likely should have watched the instructional video from Wolf Tooth. It looks like they want you to cut and crimp your cable first, and then thread it through and clamp it. This feels a little bit precious to me. I clamped first and then when I tried to force my cable into the nice little cable tuck at the back of the lever it led to a mangled cable. I’d either follow their instructions, or just leave your cable poking out the back a little bit. The Remote Pro Lever is available for 70 USD.

Set Up

Setting up a dropper post is one of those oddly finicky little tasks that kind of suck. I’m going to blame most of this on internal cable routing. Wolf Tooth makes installation pretty easy in some regards, and not so much in others.

The first step is making sure everything is going to fit! It all seemed like it was going to work, but I did a couple of dry fits before I decided to plunge in. While the post is travel adjustable, it’s not exactly an easy process (especially when you don’t have the tool necessary to remove the clamp from the top of the post). It’s not something to take on as you’re madly trying to install the post and get a ride in.

The Good

- Having no separate lower rail clamp makes installing a seat quite easy. I know because I did it 3 separate times as I forgot to check the air pressure, and then futzed about trying to figure out if I had it right. I found the best technique is to get the front threads started, slide your seat in, and then work on threading the rear bolt

- Hardware is really, really nice and threads beautifully, which makes such a difference when your hand threading in bolts as you balance your seat

- The cable end sits in a nicely machined little nub. Honestly, it should be illegal to design a dropper that puts the cable end at the lever

The Less Than Good

- The recess for the cable end is quite shallow, likely in the name of reducing actuator height. It’s good enough, but it doesn’t hold your cable all that securely when you’re sliding your post in or out

- Clearance to get the cable in place it tight as well, also likely in the name of actuator height. It’s fine, just a bit tricky

- Clearance between the bottom of the seat and the front seat bolt is also tight…I’m thinking in the name of reducing stack height. This can make getting the front barrel nut seated a little tricky. The Bike Yoke Sagma that I have mounted is probably close to worst case though

- I don’t actually know what air pressure I have in the post right now. I only had a cheap shock pump handy and the clearance wasn’t enough to be able to thread it in far enough. Anything with a longer, skinnier end should be fine

Most of the futzy little bits seem to have been design choices in the name of reducing height, but they do have consequences during setup. I’d also like to point out that having a Min Insert line on a 242mm travel post feels a bit unnecessary, but I'm sure the lawyers insist on it.

Putting it all together

This is a true first ride impression. I’ve been sick. And then on vacation. And then this bloody heat wave. But in the name of journalistic integrity, I braved the scorching heat yesterday and went for a ride. What I can tell you is that this thing is buttery smooth. Comically smooth. The most consistently smooth posts I’ve experienced to date are the Bike Yoke Revive, with one perfect version on the Ibis Ripmo AF, and a cable routing compromised version on this here GG. It’s not exactly fair to make a direct comparison due to how much use these have both seen and the routing related challenges…but holy cow is this the new standard for light action for me. It’s a shockingly small amount of pressure needed at the thumb to get this post moving and it really took me by surprise as I started my ride. There was so little resistance it almost felt like something had broken.

Beyond that, the resolve function does what it says. It was spongy out of the box, but after I cycled it up and down once or twice, it was solid.

On length, this is my first time with such a long post. I’ve never been one to clamour for more length. 150mm is far too short for me. 170mm works, and 180-190 is likely my sweet spot. I can adapt pretty well to most things on a bike but I put seat height more in the realm of things like handlebar width or bar height, where I can make a variety of things work, but I’m much more comfortable once they are dialled in to my preference. I use my seat as leverage against my legs a lot when I ride, and if it isn’t just so, it feels weird for me. With my longer legs, it’s pretty easy for me to compensate for clearance issues but it throws me off if my seat is too low (or too high, for that matter). I’m only one ride in, but I didn’t last very long at full drop on this post. I wound up running it at about an inch or two up from full bottom…so likely in the 200-210mm of drop range. The good news is that I can adjust this down to that level! The bad news is that it looks like a bit of a process to get there. I’ll give it another few rides and see if I see the gospel, but I’m not sure I’m going to get there.

So. Who’s this thing for? What are we going to do with it? Why buy this post? Well, there’s only so many posts available right now that go to 242mm. Cam can probably fire them off by memory for you, if you’re interested (the answer AFAIK is - this one but the OneUp V3 is close at 240 -Ed.). This is clearly a premium product, made in the USA, with parts support that likely can’t be beat. What I should probably do is some kind of Wolf Tooth long term look in a few months, on both this post and the pedals that I’m running. It’s a bit too early to say if the post is worth the cost at this point. If that buttery smooth action keeps up though, it might just be worth it. I'll also try to do a better job on photos, next time through!

Wolf Tooth Components