Dropper posts became popular in mountain biking in the early 2000s. Modern technology allowed for huge advancements in the device which was first created in 1984. The Hite-Rite was the first adjustable seatpost for mountain bikes and featured a clunky, spring-like design that certainly worked, but didn’t work well.
The design of the modern dropper post was created by Wayne Sicz in 2002. The Gravity Dropper Classic and Descender were the first modern dropper post models that became wildly popular in the mountain biking community, and have paved the way for the dropper post revolution.