Joplin vs. Gravity Dropper vs. SBI Command Post vs. ?

**frorider** · 07-25-2011, 12:30 PM

fvck. after 800+ miles of perfect performance, my reverb shit the bed. bleed didn't help.

RS will no doubt fix it up quickly, so not too worried about that, but now questioning whether i want any adj post on my bike that sees all-day rides in the middle of nowhere.

**XtrPickels** · 07-25-2011, 12:53 PM

My Command Post "Blacklight" has been pretty awesome. Some homers on MTBR were complaining that the lever was hard to push but I'll bet they had the cable routing wrong. No play, adjusts smoothly, no complaints.

**LeeLau** · 07-25-2011, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by frorider

fvck. after 800+ miles of perfect performance, my reverb shit the bed. bleed didn't help.

RS will no doubt fix it up quickly, so not too worried about that, but now questioning whether i want any adj post on my bike that sees all-day rides in the middle of nowhere.

That;s the only saving grace of the Specialized Command Post. It will fuck up. No question about that/ But at least it dies in up position so all you're left with is a heavy expensive post. Fucking pieces of complete corn-studded garbage. All of them.

**marshalolson** · 07-26-2011, 04:11 PM

http://blistergearreview.com/gear-re...ockshox-reverb

posted up a review, all said and done.

**El Chupacabra** · 07-26-2011, 04:41 PM

I've been using Joplin 3 posts with remotes, on 3 different bikes, since starting this thread. One post was new (Chainlove), one was ebay (claimed recently rebuilt by Crank Bros.), and one from Inspector Gadget (some new parts after a big crash).

All 3 posts have the rotational wiggle that the Joplin is known for; doesn't seem to be worsening on any of them.

The only one I've had any issues with has been the ebay post, which has shown some tendency to bob up/down when weighted/unweighted, whether at full extension or compressed -- but I think I've figured out why: the bike it's on is usually stored hanging from the rear wheel only, and the Joplin doesn't seem to like being stored that way. The other two bikes with Joplins are stored hanging from their front wheels, and haven't had this problem.

So far, so good, on the Joplin. YMMV. I don't tend to break bike parts much though.

**urbanburban** · 07-28-2011, 01:32 PM

RS Reverb quit returning on ride number 10. Bought it new, shortened the hose and bleed. Worked flawlessly for the 10 rides, stopped returning at full speed, then stopped returning all together. Check air pressure at the bottom and had 50psi, should have 250 psi. Going back to Sram. For the short time I had it, I really enjoyed it, made riding a lot more fun. Has very little side to side play also has a little fore and aft play. Hoping this is the only time it has to get sent off.

**beaterdit** · 07-28-2011, 05:59 PM

Well, apparently others haven't shared my experience with KS but I'm happy to report that my i950 (non remote) is still performing flawlessly. No side-side wiggle, goes up and down smoothly, holds it's position everywhere in it's travel. ONLY issue is that at full compression (all the way down), it tends to float up a few mm so when I sit back down on it I can feel it settle a bit. Really just enough for me to notice. When you lift the bike by the seat in this position it rises about an inch and pushes back down easily. Anywhere else in the travel and you can pull up on it hard with out having it move.

So when riding with it all the way down, it's a tiny bit annoying to feel it settle when I hit the saddle again but when it's all the way down I'm rarely sitting on it and if I am I'm just resting so it doesn't matter. Hopefully this doesn't portent future issues but for now I'm impressed with the product. Worth every penny of it's relatively modest price.

**Touring_Sedan** · 07-28-2011, 07:27 PM

Had the Reverb 1.0 (silver collar) since the middle / end of last season. Bled the remote first thing this season, and did a full bleed a couple of weeks ago. Still works great.

**Tech Tonics** · 07-28-2011, 10:48 PM

got a reverb in April.

started acting weird so had the local LBS bleed it.

now, it's leaking air/oil. totally shitting the bed.

will let you know how RS handles it. I feel like a $250 seatpost should last more than 3.5 months.

**Lev** · 08-02-2011, 03:33 PM

New Lopes seatpost from KS. Apparently has 6" of adjust. Looks dope

Maybe it won't require replacement every 3 months like the Reverb?

**Anospa** · 10-07-2011, 07:17 AM

My reverb just started acting up again. Had it serviced about 3 months ago, after only riding it for 3 months; I think I can get 3 months out of it at a time! Its staying put, but if I grab the bike by the seatpost when its lowered, the post comes up and will snap back down when released. It had the 2012 internals and valve at the seatpost, so apparently there's still issues with that...

I only noticed this because my leg pushed it as I got back on the bike last night when the seat was lowered. I'm gonna send it in for service today, but starting to feel like I should just sell it and get something else. When it works, its awesome; but sitting on a ticking timebomb of failure is pretty annoying, doubly so when its $300 +shipping back 3 times a year!!

**bean** · 10-07-2011, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by Lev

New Lopes seatpost from KS. Apparently has 6" of adjust. Looks dope

Maybe it won't require replacement every 3 months like the Reverb?

Anyone know when this one should be out? The repeated failures of even the new Reverbs has me less than thrilled with the idea of getting one. Non-moving cable/hose is $$.

**Lev** · 12-14-2011, 09:55 PM

MOTHER FUCKER!!! I just broke my Rockshox Reverb for the third and last fucking time. I have spent more time waiting for this piece of shit to be warrantied/replaced than actually had it on my bike. I've now had the seals break twice, and the the barb on the handlebar remote break once. Fuck this piece. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this thing. To all those who have had normally functioning Reverbs, it's only a matter of time...

**hitek79** · 12-14-2011, 10:55 PM

2 years on my Command Post and I still absolutely love it. Both my wife and I have them and they're great.

**Spats** · 12-16-2011, 01:15 AM

All Mountain Post failures in 4+ years:

-The remote cable broke after three years. Post was stuck in "up" position until I got home and replaced it.
-The internal travel limiting cable broke after two years. Post still worked, but you kind of have to "ease" it into the up position with your butt.

Never had it stick in down position, never had to send it in for service. I wish FSA/Gravity would hurry up and build the mass-produced version...

**urbanburban** · 12-26-2011, 12:26 AM

To update my RS Reverb post. After my post was rebuilt, only got 5 rides out of it until the same thing happened. My local dealer worked with SRAM and got them to send me a new 2012 Reverb, over 20+ rides on it and no problems so far, will update as needed. Was a bit disappointed with the several weeks I had to wait for the 2012, but its much lighter and so far it works much better.

**wildstyle** · 12-26-2011, 12:11 PM

2.5 years on command post.

First lever design sucked. Replaced with later lever design.

So far bomber . No issues with actual action at all.

**gunniride** · 12-26-2011, 09:57 PM

Command Post holding strong for me thus far- much superior design to my wife's x-fusion hilo.

**beaterdit** · 10-13-2012, 01:36 PM

Bump for another year on my KS i950. Finally got the remote kit which makes the post much more effective. It's now working better than new after a rebuild to address a minor issue and add a couple mods.

The issue I had was I wasn't getting full extension. It still worked great and stayed up at it's highpoint but the highpoint was about 15mm short of what it should have been. Did the full rebuild and oil change detailed here, also did a couple mods I came across in another thread over there. First, I vented the black, outer shaft at the red cap in the bottom. Drilled a couple small holes and cut a foam donut to go on the upper side of it, inside the shaft to keep debris out. This prevents the compression of trapped air when the post is down, trapped air works to push the post back up when lifting up on the seat and can cause problems if it leaks past the seals I guess. I think this may have been the root of my problems. I also sanded the bushing in the silver ring at the top of the outer shaft with some emory paper. This is where the stanchion rides and I read that some runs had poor tolerances here causing stiction. Way smoother now. When I reassembled I increased the pressure to about 225 psi (recommended is 125 I think). I may have over shot here a little because the post extends a bit violently but I've found the lightning fast action is awesome on the trail. Oh yeah, got all the travel back and also the post is REALLY hard to extend at all from the down position by pulling up on the seat now and if it does, it springs back into place immediately and forcefully when released. You can easily pick up the bike by the seat without having it extend though. The other issue where the post would rise a few mm from the lowered position and then settle when I sat on it is also gone.

Overall, awesome piece if kit, especially for the price I paid, about $225. I guess the new 'Supernatural' is more expensive now though, and the LEV even more so. I've got three hard seasons and then some on it now and have overhauled it once and it wasn't that hard. Thing works so well there's no way I can justify the upgrade to the LEV at this point, though the fixed cable routing is attractive.

YMMV?

**Dantheman** · 10-14-2012, 12:41 PM

I picked up a Giant Contact Switch recently. I only have about 6 hours of riding on it so far so I can't speak to long term reliability yet, but for the price I am impressed. Smooth consistent action and it was super easy to set up.

**Jethro** · 10-15-2012, 12:31 AM

I had a Command post on my 09 specialized enduro sl. It failed on the first ride, and was sent back to spec. It has been great ever since.

**Sirshredalot** · 10-15-2012, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

I picked up a Giant Contact Switch recently. I only have about 6 hours of riding on it so far so I can't speak to long term reliability yet, but for the price I am impressed. Smooth consistent action and it was super easy to set up.

I rode a bike with a Giant Contact Switch over the weekend. I was impressed, too. If the durability holds up, it seems like good bang for the buck.