Matej Mohorić (Bahrain Victorious) spoke as fast as he went down the Poggio after the Milan-San Remo victory and was very pleased with how his secret plan to use an MTB-style seatpost worked and helped him win precious seconds on a technical downhill so he could stay out and win the Italian monument.
Mohoric is one of the best triggers in the peloton and made the supertuck’s aero stance so popular that the UCI eventually banned it. Now he has changed the descent and the sport again, perhaps forever.
“I knew this was a once in a lifetime chance and I wanted it to work for the team and the technical partners who had the idea,” Mohoric said after the race, revealing how he even teased his Milan rivals -San Remo” during the race.
“I went to the race favorites that I know and showed off the drip. They asked me what I was doing with the drip and laughed, but I warned them that if they followed me down the slope it was at their own risk.
“Once I destroyed cycling with a supertac, now I destroyed cycling again. Now I think everyone will start using dropper posts. This will be another thing to think about on a bike. It will be like Formula 1. Before there were only gas and brake pedals, now they have hundreds of buttons.”
Mohoric explained how he designed the dropper post with his Bahrain Victorious team and cycling sponsor Merida.
Image 1 of 4
At first glance, Mohoric’s bike looks no different from a regular bike, but upon closer inspection, a seatpost can be seen in place of his regular seatpost (Image credit: Bahrain Victorious). Image 2 of 4.
Mohorik’s bike was fitted with a dropper post and remote control for his pre-planned daring descent from Poggio (Image credit: Winning Bahrain). Image 3 of 4
Thanks to Merida Scultura’s round seatpost design, Mohorik’s bike could be fitted with a seatpost, and he opted for the Fox Transfer SL Performance Elite (Image credit: Bahrain Victorious). Image 4 of 4
It’s hard to tell which remote the team decided to use, but it’s not the one Fox makes for their transmission range (Image credit: Bahrain Victorious)
More common among mountain bikes, a seatpost is a term used to describe a seatpost that can be quickly raised and lowered, usually via a cable-operated remote control located on the handlebars.
This fall can be of various lengths, called the stroke length. Some of them can be dropped by more than 200 mm, but in the case of Mohoric it turned out that the stroke was from 50 to 70 mm.
The benefits of a dropper may seem minimal, but as any mountain biker will tell you, being able to lower the saddle and get it out of the way makes the bike much more manoeuvrable. Undoubtedly, there is a secondary advantage of a lower center of gravity.
Even though Bahrain Victorious sponsor FSA made their own dropper post, the post Mohoric used was the wrong choice of Fox Transfer SL Performance Elite sponsor. Fox touts it as the lightest mass dropper on the market and is designed for use on light cross-country and gravel bikes, available with a remote that Mohoric’s mechanics seem to have chosen not to use.
The decision to use a seatpost was made possible by bike sponsor Merida’s successful decision to equip their Scultura race bike with a traditional round seatpost. This decision goes against the recent trend of competitors towards more aerodynamic and pliable D-shaped seatposts, but in this case it has benefited Mohoric greatly.
“Due to UCI regulations, we had to use a dropper that was on the market and that’s why we chose the MTB model,” Mohoric happily explained.
“We tested the 12cm dropper, but it was too big and meant pedaling was no longer effective, so we opted for the 6cm device. I had a change of grip on the handlebars, and I lowered and raised it several times on the descent from the Poggio.
“People have long rejected the idea of using seatposts, but now the technology has become more advanced and they don’t weigh much more than regular seatposts. Perhaps next year all bikes will be available with a dropper. It is safe both in traffic jams and in training. You can brake better. I think that’s a big advantage in racing as well.”
Mohorić learned to descend while growing up with his Slovenian childhood friends, riding MTB bikes, trail riding and technical descent to test his limits.
He almost crashed twice while descending the Poggio, but he had enough cycling skills to stay upright.
He crashed badly with Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) at Strade Bianche, injuring his knee, but knew that the drip stand could be the opportunity of a lifetime if he could keep his fitness and recover. He combined his fitness, cycling skills and minor drop cycling win to win Milan-San Remo.
“I was not the most gifted descender among my friends, but I expanded my capabilities and quickly learned from mistakes,” he said.
“I was more persistent on the road and more gifted in climbing, so I managed to turn pro. But I never forgot my childhood lessons of descent and finding my limits.
“Indeed, I know where my limits are. I feel a slip point and if it happens I can react to fix it. A couple of times I felt the bike on Poggio and even lost a few seconds because of it, but, fortunately, I did not crash. It would look stupid because I was going to win Milan-San Remo.”
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