A dropper post that requires very little maintenance

**jetski** · 05-26-2016, 07:40 PM

Ya ya I know all you old ballz already know about these but I haven't seen one in years! And it still did what it was designed to do.

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And after a day of high end bikes behaving badly, I yearned for the good ol days. When shit worked...(usually)

**grinch** · 05-26-2016, 07:57 PM

Think I still have one somewhere. Seem to remember it requiring a perfect fitting post to seAtube. Needed maintenance. Albeit, no cost maintenance. My gravity dropper was amazing for 3 1/2 yrs. One 15 minute clean/repack in that time. It just broke but I think only because it is 27.2. I bet a 30.9 would last forever. Would recommend. Just sacked up for a new race face dropper. Only about 10 rides and no probs except it cost 500 fkn dollas. Got my eye on some pro core tubes now. Only 300 fkn dollars . Wish I could ride the old shit I used to but I've matured into a fool

**Telemahn** · 05-26-2016, 08:18 PM

would you like an old ballzer to tell you exactly how those failed, along with all the other old skool shit gear. Getting through a ride in the 80's without breaking something was a win. Then again you could buy about 50 hite-rite's for the price of high end dropper today.

**jetski** · 05-27-2016, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by Telemahn

would you like an old ballzer to tell you exactly how those failed, along with all the other old skool shit gear. Getting through a ride in the 80's without breaking something was a win. Then again you could buy about 50 hite-rite's for the price of high end dropper today.

Haha... Old Ballzer, good one...
I wasn't shredding hard enough in the 80's to break anything. My first "real" bike was 88. Couldn't make it go fast enough to wreck anything. Just getting a little burnt out yesterday on the industries current quality control programs...or lack thereof. Love seeing the old bikes still being ridden. New day, fresh perspective!

**strawjack** · 05-27-2016, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by grinch

Wish I could ride the old shit I used to but I've matured into a fool

Ha! I feel the same about myself.

**nickwm21** · 05-27-2016, 08:34 AM

My gravity dropper has had zero issues with zero maintenance in 5 years of riding.... just saying.

**jamesp** · 05-27-2016, 09:22 AM

Gravity Dropper for the win. All I've done is replace the cable a couple times, going into the 4th season.

**Dantheman** · 05-27-2016, 09:31 AM

Two first gen Contact Switch posts in my house that are going into their 4th seasons and still work as well as the day I bought them. A couple cable replacements and nothing else.

**jamal** · 05-27-2016, 10:18 AM

Orbea makes a modern version of that:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/orbea-d...look-2015.html

Although I think you have to manually raise it.

**TahoeJ** · 05-27-2016, 10:25 AM

For all the complaints about reverbs, the maintenance is actually pretty basic and less work than keeping your drive train clean. I think a lot of the negativity you hear are from those incapable of doing basic bike work. At least that's been my experience with the Stealth - I realize their older versions of the original reverb might be a different story.

**Dee Hubbs** · 05-27-2016, 10:31 AM

Reverb maintenance requires a bleed once, maybe twice a season. The odd crash breaks a hose barb if your remote is not placed in a protected position. If you keep your bike (or seat post) more than 3 season you may need to pay for a seal rebuild for $60.
Pretty easy and cheap for a no fuss, works all the time, reliable dropper.

**Shredhead** · 05-27-2016, 10:55 AM

Hite-Rite's didn't really work very well.

**jamesp** · 05-27-2016, 12:00 PM

probably true re Reverb maintenance but that's still 2 bleeds / year that I haven't had to do on my GD.

My buddy sent his Thompson dropper away for a re-build/service in the winter, preventative only. They sent him a whole new post instead of servicing it.

**jetski** · 05-27-2016, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by TahoeJ

For all the complaints about reverbs, the maintenance is actually pretty basic and less work than keeping your drive train clean. I think a lot of the negativity you hear are from those incapable of doing basic bike work. At least that's been my experience with the Stealth - I realize their older versions of the original reverb might be a different story.

I get what you are saying...I work in the Industry

Its kind of like being a Gynecologist... You don't get to look at the nice ones very often...

**grinch** · 05-27-2016, 03:58 PM

^hahaa getting an awesome visual on that

**TahoeJ** · 05-28-2016, 03:18 PM

I went on a ride this morning and the first time I used my dropper I had this image of a sloppy gash in my mind... So thanks for that! Haha.

**ZomblibulaX** · 05-28-2016, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by nickwm21

My gravity dropper has had zero issues with zero maintenance in 5 years of riding.... just saying.

And if you do need a factory rebuild, its $15. I sent one off this spring, CO to MT, it was back on my bike before the end of the week. Completely user serviceable, every individual spare part available, replace a cable every year or so and you're golden.

**HankScorpio** · 09-25-2016, 12:12 PM

Bumping this read bc I've had 3 failed/seized Reverbs since the start of the season and I'm done with them.

I'm going to warranty my Stealth that seized up on me yesterday, sell it and replace it another dropper. I hear the Race Face Turbine is the way to go. Is anyone running this?

I'm also curious about ease of installation on the Turbine.

**TahoeJ** · 09-25-2016, 01:51 PM

How often have you bled the reverbs? I do it just on the trigger side every several rides or so. Takes like 5 minutes or less.

**smmokan** · 09-25-2016, 04:24 PM

Reverbs fucking suck... a lot of times it's not that they just need to be re-bled, they need brand new seals (I had mine rebuilt twice in a year).

The KS Lev is hit or miss... of the handful I've had this year, it seems they work perfectly or shit the bed out of the box. Not something I'm willing to deal with.

I work with Ibis, and they switched over to the Fox Transfer on all their new bike orders. I've used one for a few weeks now, and it seems way more well-built than either the Lev or Reverb. No long-term reviews yet, though.

I'm planning on getting my hands on a PNW Rainier soon too, I'm interested to check it out.

**HankScorpio** · 09-25-2016, 04:59 PM

The seals are what always go too soon on the Reverbs that I've owned. I'll bleed them every couple hundred miles but that doesn't seen to help their longevity.

The one that seized yesterday just started working after fiddling with the button. But it's returning very slow even with the rebound dial on its fastest setting.

The Fox Transfer also looks good so please up date as you use it.

**JayPowHound** · 09-25-2016, 05:34 PM

#appstillcantdeleteposts

**beaterdit** · 09-25-2016, 06:15 PM

I guess I've been extremely lucky with the Reverb. Two hard seasons of flawless performance without so much as a single bleed. Now 1 1/2 seasons on the rebuild of the same post.

Had good luck with the pre-LEV KS in the past.

New BikeYoke "Revive" post looks really good.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/bikeyok...drop-post.html

**esseff** · 09-25-2016, 06:51 PM

Thomson Elite is about as good as it gets for cable. I just bought a Fox Transfer post: first one failed out of the box, sent it back. Second one failed first ride. Sent it to Fox. It works perfect now. Half the price of the Thomson and it's based on the 9point8 tech.

Droppers are the probably the most likely failure point on any bike.