It isn’t unusual to have a little play in a dropper post, but I was alarmed at the amount in FSA’s new Gravity adjustable seatpost.

>>> The best mountain bike dropper posts

There was around a millimetre of movement at the saddle, and while this wasn’t actually noticeable while riding, there was a slightly slack feeling in the remote too. It had a mushy feel as it moved sideways with each push of the paddle lever, and, while it worked fine, I’m seriously considering swapping it for an under-the-bar design.

On the upside, the post was easily fitted and the internal stealth routing adjusted to perfection within a few minutes of connecting.

The saddle clamp was excellent, and easily snugged up with its dual bolts front and rear, although I did find it needed to be pulled down to its limit at the front just to get my Fabric saddle level — if I had wanted to drop the nose a little bit further, I would have been stuffed.

The post’s action, thanks to sealed cartridge internals, was beautifully smooth, and during testing never stuck or hesitated, no matter where it was set in the travel.

Together with the replaceable brass keyways, this cartridge system shouldn’t make servicing too onerous a task either.

A quick phone call did reveal the spare cartridge to be £69.99, and the bushing and seal kit to be £29.99, so it’s not the end of the world when the time comes for a gutting.

The ride height of the Gravity post is around 10mm longer than a RockShox Reverb of the same travel, so keep an eye on this if you don’t have a lot of post showing, or run a small frame.

It’s also carrying a bit more weight than similarly-priced competition, meaning you can get a comparable post for a lot less cash.