Posted on March 28, 2022 by Jessie-May Morgan

The Bike Yoke Revive dropper seat post now joins posts from Fox, e*Thirteen, OneUp, PNW, RockShox, RaceFace, KS and TranzX in the list of droppers compatible with Aenomaly Constructs’ SwitchGrade. Replacing the stock rail clamp atop the post head, the SwitchGrade clamp offers on-the-fly saddle tilt adjustment. There are three positions to choose from; -10°, neutral and +12°, accessible via a lever positioned just under the nose of the saddle (or under the back of the saddle).

The SwitchGrade is CNC machined from 7075 T6 / 6061 T6 aluminum in Whistler BC and assembled by hand in Vancouver

The latest Type 4 SwitchGrade is designed specifically for the popular Bike Yoke Revive dropper, said to have been one of the more challenging seat posts to design a SwitchGrade around due to its smaller post head dimensions. Its design demanded the engineers at Aenomaly Constructs take a slightly different approach in order to keep the stack height to a minimum while also leaving sufficient clearance between the top of the clamp and the underside of the saddle.

The regular 2-bolt micro-adjustment allows the rider to tune the exact angle of the “neutral” position. The component can be installed with the lever facing forward or rearward.

The SwitchGrade for the BikeYoke Revive features a unique base that departs from the quad-scallop design seen on Aenomaly’s other models. The Type 4 model sees the introduction of dual asymmetrical bridge structures for added strength, ease of installation, and to reduce the SwitchGrade’s overall size. This one weighs a claimed 163g, with a net gain in weight of around 100g.

Aenomaly Constructs say the SwitchGrade’s optimized haptic feedback and audible locking engagement inspires confidence and eyes-free shifting

If you’ve read this much and are still wondering what the SwitchGrade’s raison d’être is, here’s a quick overview. Basically, the team at Aenomaly Constructs, like many riders before them, recognised there are ride quality and performance advantages to be had from running one’s saddle at an aggressive downwards or upwards tilt angle; especially, in scenarios involving steep terrain whether you’re climbing up or riding down.

Switching the SwitchGrade’s position to a nose-down tilt should, theoretically, help make steep technical climbing a little easier as it should prevent your bum sliding rearwards off the back of the saddle when the gradient tips up. You can focus on driving down through the pedals while the increased height of the saddle’s rearward portion should allow the rider to keep weight over the front more easily and prevent loop-out scenarios.

Aenomaly Constructs tells us a negative tilt steepens effective seat tube angle by >1 degree, raising the rear of saddle approx. 20mm, and moving the rider forward approx. 10mm

A riding scenario that may benefit from the Switchgrade’s nose-up position is descending, specifically on steep technical terrain where clearance over the dropped saddle is paramount to good technique and thus, good bike control. Tilting the saddle through 12° to bring the rear portion down gives the rider more of that all important clearance so they can move around the bike more freely, and get lower to the bike’s centre of gravity when the terrain demands it.

Riders of full suspension bikes should bear in mind how much clearance they have between the rear tire and the back of the saddle when the bike has been pushed through all of its rear wheel travel. Aenomaly Constructs give a ball-park idea of how much the positive tilt drops the rear of saddle as around 30mm.

Just how much tire-saddle clearance you lose will depend on the length of the saddle and how far along its rails you have it clamped. Dumping air out of the shock and cycling the bike through its travel should give you a good idea as to whether there’s enough room. Do also bear in mind that the Switchgrade adds around 8mm of stack height to your post.

The Type 4 SwitchGrade for the Bike Yoke dropper seat post is available to purchase now at a retail price of $295 CAD in the Blackout colorway only. It is compatible with saddles running 7mm tubular rails only. Current lead times are 4-6 weeks.

Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor. She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing, and all the technology that comes along with it for 3 years. Prior to that, she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland, and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley, and prior to that, a Biological Research Scientist at the University of Edinburgh. Based in Innerleithen, Scotland, Jessie-May can regularly be seen riding the Tweed Valley’s Enduro and Downhill Tracks, often with a race plate tied to the handlebar.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

I just don’t get this product and can’t see an instance when I would need the tilt. I’ve been riding for a long time, anything from BMX to road to DH to cyclocross. Looking at the diagram of how this works, it still makes no sense. While climbing, yes your nose of the saddle is pointing up, but so are your wheels and controls. The same for going down. I’m not saying this is a a useless product…. I just don’t get it. Maybe I would have to try it to understand

Totally feel you. Not my product! Especially while getting of the bike to change the saddle … would hate it.

Actually, dismounting to change the SwitchGrade as seen in the video was just to make it easy to see how it’s done. You can easily change on the fly which is what most users do. The other thing to note is that you generally only need to change once going up and once before going down. It’s not really intended to be used anywhere as frequently activated as a dropper post. Hope that clears things up.

It’s just trying to compensate for the change in incline. Imagine climbing a hill that is 10 degrees steep. The seat angle will also tilt 10 degrees. Now the seat is not at water level and you are slipping back. If you have a device to tilt the seat down to compensate for those 10 degrees you will be sitting back at water level so more comfortable. I have my own prototype that does the same thing and it is working as advertised.

You’re right on the money!

Yes it’s easy to understand where you’re coming from since many riders have just gotten used to riding with a flat saddle for so long. Stefan below has explained it well. Climbing with a nose-down (negative tilt) saddle prevents you from sliding off. It also opens your hip and torso angle which leads to increased efficiency and better breathing. The nose down saddle also relieves pressure which would otherwise increase as the slope increases.

And when descending, a positive tilt (nose up) saddle puts it in a better position for accurate steering while also providing increased clearance and standover. There’s a very good reason every single pro DH racer rides with a nose-up saddle.

Yeah but tilting the saddle down is going to change your effective saddle height since the bottom bracket won’t change position to compensate. So you’re going to have reduced pedaling efficiency even if there is increased comfort. This creates as many problems as it solves.

You would be correct if the rider persisted to sit on the nose of the saddle however with a SwitchGrade equipped bike, the rider no longer needs to sit on the nose of the saddle but rather the rear which in fact raises roughly 20-25mm when tilted forward.

….why not just use a Selle SMP Drakon saddle…..?

For climbing and moderate trail rides it might be a good choice but the rear scoop would be a hard pass for aggressive riders who frequent steep and gnarly trails like those on the North Shore, Squamish or Whistler or similar regions around the world.

© Copyright 2022 Bikerumor, All Rights Reserved