First Look: Fair Bicycle’s Drop Best Offset Saddle Clamp is Universally Compatible

Fair Bicycle has announced the Drop Best UC, a universally compatible version of their offset saddle clamp. It is a direct replacement for your dropper post saddle clamp, introducing 27mm positive or negative offset, dependent on how you orient it. It essentially allows you to steepen or slacken your effective seat tube angle to find a more comfortable effective top tube length and thus, seated pedaling position.
When Marco Giarrana and Valetin Wendel first launched the Drop Best in 2021, many riders were disappointed to learn it was compatible only with the RockShox Reverb Dropper Post. Now, almost any post that runs vertical mounting bolts (M5, M6 or M can be used with the Drop Best UC to adjust saddle position beyond the range permissible by simply sliding the saddle to either extreme. That applies to both dropper posts and some proprietary fixed posts found on road bikes – more on that on Velo.

Older bikes tend to have a relatively slack seat tube angle, and riders may well be looking to steepen their effective seat tube angle for a more comfortable climbing position. It can help give a more direct feeling to the pedal stroke, biasing your weight further forwards, something that can help keep the front wheel down on steep, technical climbs. I reckon the Drop Best could have been a good solution to the seat angle issues I encountered with the Pivot Shadowcat.

There will also be a smaller contingent who find they’d like to slacken off their effective seat tube angle. Not everyone is a fan of the trend towards steeper seat tube angles, and for good reason. A shorter effective top tube length puts more weight through the rider’s hands, which can be uncomfortable if you’re pedaling for a long stretch along the flat, or if your local trails are more undulating. It certainly seems to be a trend that best services the winch-and-plummet crowd.
Whether you want a steeper or a slacker effective seat tube angle, the Drop Best UC puts an additional 2° of adjustment (fore or aft) on the table. That example is in the context of a 680mm seat height and 76° starting angle. Importantly, it allows for independent adjustment of saddle position and saddle tilt.

The Drop Best UC is machined from 7075 aluminum and weighs a claimed 139 grams in its lightest configuration. There is no specified rider weight limit, but it’s recommended to stick with the posts maximum weight limit to be on the safe side.

Fair Bicycle don’t offer an exhaustive list for compatibility, but it is fairly comprehensive, covering most of the well-known and popular dropper seat posts on the market. Most notable are the Bike Yoke Revive and Divine, Crankbrothers Highline 3, PNW Loam, SDG Tellis, Fox Transfer (2020, 2021 & SL), the RockShox Reverb and the OneUp V2. It’s also sort of compatible with the OneUp V3, but the clamp does need to be filed down by 2mm – something we are told will not void your warranty. Fair Bicycle are already working on a better solution for the OneUp V3 post.

Those with access to a 3D printer can check compatibility themselves, as Fair Bicycle have an .stl file available on their website for download, so you can print a sample clamp.

For MTB, there are three versions of the Drop Best UC. One is for use with M5 bolts, the other for M6 bolts, and the third is for the 2021 Fox Transfer. The only difference between them is the hardware kit. Fair Bicycle also sell the specific hardware kits separately, for those who want to switch the Drop Best between posts. Pricing starts at $134 USD / $182 CAD / 125 EUR / 125 GBP / 119 CHF. Clamps are sold with a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects. Fair Bicycle will also offer Individual crash replacement solutions at cost plus handling expenses.