SDG is best known for its legendary saddle catalog and innovative I-Beam interface, which has focused on durability, simplicity and easy installation for over 30 years. They recently entered the dropper seatpost market in 2018, following the same ethos of creating a seatpost designed for durability with easy-to-maintain components to suit the widest possible variety of frames. For 2024, the Tellis V2 builds on feedback from athletes and OEM partners to refine the already proven platform into a more compact package with more sizes and lengths than before.
Highlights
- 3D forged head
- I-beam cradle design
- 30.9mm, 31.6mm and 34.9mm diameter
- 55-230mm travel options
- 26mm standpipe
- Spacers available for travel adjustment
- Wintek cartridge
- Available with or without remote control lever
- Easy to maintain
- Lifetime guarantee
- MSRP: $199.99 without leverage
The lineup and first impressions
The new post features a redesigned head that utilizes the same I-Beam technology SDG is known for, but with a new user interface. Side mounting screws allow easier access to the seat rails and help reduce stack height by 10mm. Designed to minimize side play, the polycarbonate keyway system has been redesigned to tighter tolerances but now includes copper washers in the lower portion of the post to reduce drag. The standpipe diameter has been increased to 26 mm to avoid unwanted bends fore and aft. This is particularly helpful as the Tellis is now offered with the most extensive travel options on the market, ranging from 55mm to 230mm. Additionally, caster travel can be easily reduced when mounted to the bike with split spacers installed under the dust wiper seal head. These are available in 5, 10 and 20mm increments to make fine-tuning the fit easier.
At first glance, the Tellis V2 looks very similar to the original Tellis. A mix of satin finish on the lower part of the seat post provides an excellent non-slip surface for seat tubes and a bright anodized finish around the seal head ensures a good fit when adjusting travel, giving the seat post a clean and understated look. The seat rail clamping interface is different from any post I’ve seen, making access to the clamping screws much more convenient. The I-beam style head offers a wide range of motion and the position of the seat can be fine-tuned much more quickly than with a traditional rail clamp system. The torque levels on the saddle rail clamps are high, which is ideal for holding things in place and preventing slipping off the seat, bouncing when jumping, or sitting in dips when pedaling.
On the handlebars, the revised dropper lever has a great tactile feel with grippy grooves and a nice concavity. The lever travel is very light and feels almost hydraulic, but the lever travel is relatively long. I adjusted the cable tension to shorten the post actuation to a value that I found comfortable. The return speed is neither particularly fast nor does it delay until full travel is reached. It’s a little slow, but it lands almost in the middle of the road and makes a powerful thud once full travel is reached. It’s worth noting that SDG has since increased the pressure in the cartridges of all production-ready posts and should ensure a faster return speed than the post I tested. Dropping the post didn’t cause any significant resistance, nor did it reach the ground quickly, but once again it felt pretty middle of the road.
While the clamping interface for the seat rails is innovative and easy to adjust, installing the saddle was more difficult than usual. This may have been due to the seat used in the test and may not be an issue with longer or wider seats, but it did prove a bit difficult. While swapping saddles isn’t the most common affair, if a swap is necessary, be prepared to completely disassemble at least one of the clamping interfaces to get the seat rails into place.
On the path
My testing period spanned two months on various trails in Northern California. Most climbs kept the cadence at saddle height, but some rides required more frequent body movements and a different cadence. I liked the sound at full deflection as the post was a little slower to reach full travel than I’m used to. It wasn’t inconvenient or problematic in any way, but rather felt a bit laggy until I got used to the reverse speed. Deleting the post has a similar reaction; It didn’t drop too quickly, but it didn’t feel like it had any unnecessary or significant resistance either. On uneven terrain, there was no noticeable rattling or movement at the head of the post when the post was lowered, and no movement was noticeable even when fully extended. After a few days of sitting, the first pass of the post lagged more than others, but after a pass or two it returned to normal speed and that was never an issue once I was on the trail.
These characteristics remained consistent over the two months I spent with the brace on my bike, so I don’t have much to report other than that it simply worked well for its intended purpose. Two months may not be enough to raise concerns about durability, but I didn’t expect it to come up during the testing period. While there was a significant amount of grease leaking from the dust wiper seal head, it appeared to be more of an excess of assembly lubrication that could be wiped away and did not continually return. The only maintenance I thought was required on the post was to unscrew the post’s seal head, lubricate the bottom with the recommended grease, and screw it back together in case the post experienced friction.
What is the end result?
The Tellis V2 lands right in the middle of the pack in all categories, including return speed, seal resistance and lever feel, and presents no durability concerns. It’s as intuitive as it gets, which is reassuring considering how often it’s used as an OEM Product is specified, be it under the name SDG or as an in-house brand component. While it’s nothing flashy or groundbreaking, it offers consumers a product they don’t have to think about, a hassle-free service procedure when it’s time for maintenance, and a price that makes it accessible to everyone. As an aftermarket option, the number of configurations available and the simplicity of the column are hard to beat. I think the Tellis V2 is an excellent base for dropper posts. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do and requires virtually nothing from the end user. Strike www.sdgcomponents.com For more information.
