On a recent ride up Armstrong, I found myself thinking a lot about this summer’s debates on e-mountain bike access. Perhaps this was swirling in my head because of the e-bikers I saw in the parking lot about to pedal trails which exclusively ban them. Clearly my ride was immediately ruined. As I pedaled my rigid, single speed, 26er with rim brakes and tubes up the hill, I settled on an indisputable fact. Big Bike has been shoveling these “innovations” down our throats for too long. Mountain bikes today have far too many assist devices: 29-inch wheels, suspension (front and rear!), gears, disc brakes, hydraulic disc brakes. Don’t even get me going on this carbon fiber revolution. Bicycles should be heavy and welded. All these changes have one simple goal: allow less fit and skilled riders to move faster and farther on our trails. But there’s one such device that rises above the rest in soiling our trail experience — the dropper post.  If you’re not familiar, these assisted seat posts allow a rider to have their seat fully extended for a nearly effortless pedal uphill. But the real impact is on the down. With a simple push of a lever on the handlebar, the post drops to the optimal descending position! This has fundamentally transformed how mountain bikers go downhill. No longer do they awkwardly squat with a saddle between their legs. No, instead the seat is conveniently tucked down out of the way, enabling twice or more the downhill speed possible with a traditional fixed seat post. We’ve had to craft purpose built descending trails to accommodate these drop post riders with their ability to rail corners and smash jumps. This madness must stop! I’ve even heard 90% of mountain bikes sold in Salt Lake come equipped with these assisted seat posts.To protect our trails, there is a clear answer here: Stop progress. We must freeze our trails and bikes in time permanently. Maybe we even need to move backwards, shut down these downhill-only monstrosities. The time to ban dropper seat posts is now! In the end I think e-mountain bikes have been nothing but a ruse to distract from the real enemy — the dropper post. Ryan GoffPark CityThe post The real problem appeared first on Park Record.