Actuation / Remote
The post is actuated via a normal derailleur cable that attaches to a lever on the handlebar. The lever is designed to attach on the left side of the handlebar, and it can double as the inner ring of a lock-on grip, but only with Specialized grips.
The cable attaches at the front of the seatpost head, meaning that as the post drops, the cable also moves. There are only a few posts that have avoided this problem (e.g. Rockshox Reverb, KS Lev, Crank Brothers Kronolog, and the Gravity Dropper), but even though it’s a common issue, I still find it annoying. When you drop the post, you have an extra 5” of cable housing to deal with.
The handlebar lever operates vertically—i.e., you push it toward the ground. The lever also has a fair amount of throw (similar to the Gravity Dropper, but quite a bit more than the KS levers). I found that the vertical operation combined with the amount of throw made the lever awkward to use.
If I positioned it so that it felt natural and comfortable, it hit my shift levers (only an issue if you’re running a front derailleur). This meant I had to rotate the lever up a bit, meaning I had to move my hand to actuate it. This obviously isn’t the end of the world, but the lever isn’t as good as some of the other options out there (the KS levers being my personal favorite).
So, How’s it Work?
At its core, the Command Post does its intended job: I push a button and the post goes up and down. It fulfills the basic function required of a dropper post, and thus far, it hasn’t broken. But the Command Post still leaves a lot to be desired.
As I mentioned above, the seal between the inner and outer post that keeps the dirt out and the air in is really tight. While I acknowledge that this is probably necessary, it also makes the post’s operation pretty sticky. Even with the maximum 40 psi in the air chamber, the post I tested often hesitated to pop up, especially when going from the middle to the top position.
I found that I generally need to butt-bump the saddle to make the post move. As a male, this is kind of scary. Like the Gravity Dropper, the Command Post is undamped, meaning that there’s nothing restricting the post’s upward movement. In other words, when you push the remote and the post pops up, it pops up fast. If certain sensitive bits happen to be in the way of this operation, one gets a harsh reminder to make sure you get out of the way before pushing that button.
But herein lies the conundrum: you push the button, but the sticky post doesn’t want to move. Now you have to butt-bump the seat to get it to move, all the while worrying that the seat is going to suddenly come unstuck and nut-slap you. This isn’t a problem I’ve ever had with other posts on the market, and if I’m going to scare myself on a ride, this isn’t my preferred method of doing so.
My next gripe is that, like the Gravity Dropper, it’s sometimes a little tricky to get the post situated into the middle position. All the way up and all the way down are pretty brainless, but it takes some semi-delicate hovering to get the post to lock into the middle setting. This is easy on smooth trails, but gets increasingly difficult on steeper and rougher trails.
Bottom Line
The Specialized Command Post BlackLite serves its basic function, and so far, appears to have no durability issues.
But it has all the downsides of the Gravity Dropper (uncontrolled return, hard-to-find middle position), with the added disadvantages of being heavier, less user serviceable, and it has a worse remote. When compared to some of the newer, more refined dropper posts like the KS Lev, the Command Post isn’t even in the running.
If you’re buying a bike and it comes with a Command Post, it’ll get the job done, but not as well as some of the other options out there.
Nice write up. I just retired a Command Post I got for my wife about 6 months ago. It was a good cheap way for her to test the waters of dropper posts, and a friend had highly recommended it. While she definitely got hooked on having dropper technology for jumps and downhills, she constantly struggled with the post.
As you mentioned, the lever was problematic. She runs a FD, so with the lever rotated up, she really had to compromise her grip on the handlebar every time she used it. This meant it was useless unless she could really plan ahead and have smooth trail to do it. The resistance on the lever was also pretty high, which exaccerbated this problem for her.
At 125 lbs, my wife also discovered that she had to but bump just to get the post to drop. Reducing the air spring pressure didn’t fix this problem. It seems to be inherent with the notches that the post rests in for the High/Medium/Low settings and only seems to affect smaller riders. Bummer for her.
Toward the end, her post started sticking down several times a ride. This was the last straw and now she’s totally happy on a KS Supernatural.
Agree with every single point… Pretty sure that when I got mine I could fire a full can of coke clean out of the earth’s orbit when releasing the post back to full height. I let some air out of the valve at the bottom of the post, and things were fine for a while (threat of castration temporarily banished), but then the internals seem to have become so sticky that releasing the saddle to full height requires me to pull it up with one hand whilst riding; I may as well have one of the old-skool models with the lever under the saddle, and no cables all over the place…
Agree with all above……came standard on my Stumpy. At first, sceptical as I ran a Reverb on my previous Zesty…which always needed high maintenance but worked well(Zesty and post!)…but it instantly got my approval as I like the simple 3 stage movement. But alas, the sticky issues set in….6 months on with 3 new cables and 2 returns to LBS I am told it has to go off to Spesh to be serviced. Looks like I will have to put my Reverb back on….OR return to old school seatpost and QR…..you know what, THAT THOUGHT HAS AN APPEAL!!
I have one of the original Blacklite posts (maybe 5 or 6 years old)? It has functioned flawlessly the entire time I have owned it! I have never even added air to it. The only thing I have ever done is move it to three different bikes, and replace the cable once. Granted the lever is a little stiff, and it does stick at the top a little, but hey, I never expected it to last this long. I can’t even imagine going back to a fixed seat post.
The only other comment is the need to super torque the clamp for the seat so it doesn’t tip. I just finally tightened it as hard as I could with a field tool while I was out on a ride, and it has stayed tight ever since.