Wolf Tooth Resolve rev2 Dropper Post
Available Dropper Lengths: 125, 160, 200, and 242 mm (can be reduced up to 50 mm in 5 mm increments)
Available Diameters: 30.9, 31.6 mm, and 34.9 mm
Configuration Tested: 30.9 mm x 242 mm
Blister’s Measured Weight: 601 g
MSRP (as tested):
- Seatpost: $396 USD
- ReMote Pro Lever: $70 USD
Test Bikes: Contra MC & Geometron G1
Reviewer: 6’, 165 lbs (183 cm, 74.8 kg)
Test Location: Washington
Test Duration: 5 months
Intro
The original Resolve was an impressively refined first attempt at a dropper post and brought some compelling features and design details to the table. I’ve been riding one for nearly two full years now and it’s still working great. But Wolf Tooth thought they could improve upon the original in a few ways, and rolled out the Resolve rev2 last year. So is this a case of small refinements, or broader reinvention? I’ve spent the fall and early winter finding out.
Design and Options
The high-level design details of the Resolve rev2 are not wildly different from the original version. Check out our Full Review of the original Resolve for a more detailed rundown, but here are the main highlights:
- The Resolve uses a self-bleeding design. Air that makes its way into the oil inside the Resolve is purged back out any time you lower the post with the bike upright. (Our Full Review of the original Resolve goes into a lot more detail on how that system works; it’s functionally the same in the rev2.)
- The Resolve is fully user-serviceable without any specialized tools apart from a hollow 16 mm triple square socket, which Wolf Tooth sells for $2.95. Wolf Tooth also sells every part of the Resolve individually on their website should you damage something.
- The Resolve’s stack height is notably low, at 32 mm measured from the bottom of the collar to the center of the seat rails, with the post lowered. When the original Resolve launched, it was the shortest stack height post we were aware of. It’s now been (narrowly) bested by the OneUp V3 (30 mm for 30.9 and 31.6 mm diameters, and 25 mm for the 34.9 mm version), but the Resolve is still shorter than most.
So what has Wolf Tooth changed for the rev2 iteration? The first, and most obvious, change is the addition of some new sizing options. Like the V1, the Resolve rev2 is offered in 30.9 and 31.6 mm diameters, with 125, 160, or 200 mm of drop. But the rev2 adds a 242 mm drop version, making it (again, narrowly) the longest travel dropper post we’re aware of. It also comes in a 34.9 mm diameter version in all of the same drop options apart from the shortest 125 mm one. As with the original Resolve, the rev2 one can be lowered up to 50 mm in 5 mm increments by adding spacers internally — but doing so requires opening the hydraulic cartridge and essentially performing a full rebuild of the post.
The 30.9 and 31.6 mm versions of the Resolve share the same internals (which also means that you can swap between the two just by replacing the lower tube rather than needing a whole new post). The 34.9 mm Resolve uses a larger diameter stanchion and correspondingly larger diameter internals to take advantage of the extra room afforded by the bigger outer diameter.
Wolf Tooth has also made some tweaks to the Resolve’s internals. The concept of how the rev2 post works is the same, but the design of the valve that controls the post’s movement has been changed with two goals in mind. First, Wolf Tooth says that the new spool valve requires less lever force to open (and takes the same force whether or not the seat is weighted, in contrast to the rev1 post which felt stiffer with a lot of weight on the seat). Secondly, the self-bleeding function works more quickly with the new valve.
In a nice extra touch, the rev1 Resolve can be updated to the new valve design via an $80 parts kit rather than needing a whole new post, though it’s (unsurprisingly) not possible to extend a rev1 post to the new 242 mm drop option or 34.9 mm diameter without swapping the vast majority of the parts.
On The Trail
The original Resolve stood out for being notably smooth in its actuation, both in terms of the feel at the lever and in the movement of the post itself, but with one caveat: the force required to actuate the lever is considerably higher when there’s a lot of weight on the seat than there is with the seat unloaded.
I frankly hadn’t really noticed that asterisk across my time on the rev1 until I deliberately tried it to compare to the rev2 — but the rev1 does firm up by a good margin with the seat fully weighted. (This is how I discovered that I habitually unweight the seat when actuating the lever to lower a post, something that I must have unknowingly picked up from earlier dropper posts that also got stickier with the post weighted.)
Anyway, the Resolve rev2 has indeed addressed that issue. Both the rev1 and rev2 posts offer impressively light action when paired with Wolf Tooth’s ReMote Pro lever (which I’ve used to test both) so long as there’s not a lot of weight on the seat. The rev2 still feels a tiny bit stiffer with the seat weighted, but the difference is much, much smaller than with the original.
I can’t detect as clear a difference in the lever force required if the seat isn’t weighted. Wolf Tooth claims that the rev2 post takes 25% less force there, too, but that difference feels much more subtle. To be fair, I’m also comparing the rev1 and rev2 posts on different bikes and it’s entirely possible that the routing on the rev2 bike just isn’t quite as tidy, or its cable is a little more gunked up or something along those lines (though both cables and housings are pretty fresh at the moment).
In any case, I’d caution folks who are familiar with the rev1 to not expect a big difference in the (already very light) actuation of the rev1 post with the seat unweighted; the seat-weighted difference is significant.
Apart from that, the performance of the rev1 and rev2 posts feels pretty much identical — which is great, because the original already worked really well. Both have reliably moved when I want them to and stayed put the rest of the time — by far the most important criteria for a dropper post — and feel notably smooth and well-built in their actuation. As I noted in my review of the original Resolve, I don’t find that smooth action to make that great a performance difference most of the time when it comes to the actual on-trail experience, but it (1) just feels nice, and (2) does make it easier to place the post at a precise height in between the ends of the range.
Personally, I find myself appreciating that more precise actuation most on a not-super-steep climb late in a long ride when I’m starting to get gassed. In those situations, I often like to lower the seat fractionally just to use my muscles a little differently. But there are plenty of other valid reasons to make small seat height adjustments, and the Resolve rev2 is especially nice to use when you’re looking for fine control.
Like the original Resolve, the rev2 version makes a solid and audible thunk when it reaches either end of its travel. I’m personally a fan because it makes it clear when I’ve raised or lowered the seat fully and can let off the lever to lock it in place, but if you want the most silky smooth top-out and bottom-out feel, the Resolve might not be the post for you. Wolf Tooth seems to be in my camp on this one — they tout the “loud, crisp sound every time it tops and bottoms out” as a feature.
The Resolve’s return speed is adjustable by varying the air pressure in the return spring. Wolf Tooth says you can run 150 to 260 psi, but recommends at least 200 psi for the most consistent actuation. At about 210 psi (my preferred setting), I’d rate the Resolve’s return speed as being slightly faster than average, but still within a pretty normal range; at 150 psi the Resolve is notably slow, but it gets rather quick at 260 psi.
Durability
The original Resolve that I reviewed a while back has been in regular use for almost two full years now without issue, and the rev2 one has been faultless so far, too. The Resolve is also legitimately easy to work on, spare parts are readily available, and the self-bleeding function works as advertised. As with the original Resolve, the rev2 one can get spongy if it’s left hanging or otherwise upside down with the post lowered, but a few actuations of the post takes care of things.
The rev2 post also seems to be a bit more resistant than the rev1 to developing sagginess if it’s left hanging with the post raised at least part way (which is how Wolf Tooth recommends doing things if you’re storing the bike vertically). That’s a nice bonus, but given the automatic nature of the self-bleeding, I haven’t really minded on either iteration despite having exclusively hanging bike storage at home.
Bottom Line
Making a dropper post truly stand out in a crowded market isn’t so easy — after all, their job is a relatively simple one, and nowadays most work in more or less the same fashion. But Wolf Tooth has come up with something unique — the Resolve is especially smooth in its operation, the automatic self-bleeding function works great, it’s fully user-serviceable and easy to work on, and it’s pretty short for the total amount of drop offered. The rev2 post isn’t too dramatically different from the original, but the additional size options are welcome, and Wolf Tooth has made a few other nice refinements, too. It’s a nice update to what was already a very good post.