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Dropper post choice

May 27, 2014, 9:58 p.m.
Posts: 242
Joined: May 14, 2012

I have had the Thomson functional for a year now. not one issue, goes up and down like the first day I had it. Has around 3,000km on it now…

May 27, 2014, 10:05 p.m.
Posts: 1172
Joined: Feb. 24, 2017

pardon the attempted thread hi jack but what's gone wrong with the KS Lev? i've been lucky, about a yr and a half and flawless so far. given its price, i dread the thought of it going south.

May 27, 2014, 11:13 p.m.
Posts: 24
Joined: July 29, 2011

pardon the attempted thread hi jack but what's gone wrong with the KS Lev? i've been lucky, about a yr and a half and flawless so far. given its price, i dread the thought of it going south.

I've had my Lev since February and it's needed to go back to the shop twice so far. It seems to only lady about 2 months before it starts sinking.

May 28, 2014, 8:45 a.m.
Posts: 1095
Joined: Jan. 31, 2005

A couple of things to consider when you are getting dropper recommendations. The weight of the rider, seldom mentioned, is pretty important. At 220 no gear, the comments of a 150 pounder is not necessarily valuable or even relevant to me for this type of equipment..

I'm 215 and running a KS Lev 150 on my Enduro (which has a steep seat angle). So far the post has been awesome. I love the stationary cable mounting. The cable actuation has needed servicing twice in the 18 months I've had it, both times fixed quickly and easily (at Corsa and Obsession). The post is very sensitive to cable and housing tension but once you've got it dialled it doesn't really come up again. Also the way the cable is anchored at the post end is tricky (but not impossible) to get just right.

An important thing to note is that the minimum insertion line on this post (and maybe others too) is very high up from the bottom of the post. Way higher than for a regular static Thomson post. Keep that in mind when doing your measurements because even though it might have a total length of 430mm it has a few cm less usable length.

Overall it's a great post and I would fully recommend it.

There's nothing better than an Orangina after cheating death with Digger.

May 28, 2014, 8:56 a.m.
Posts: 5740
Joined: May 28, 2005

I'm 215 and running a KS Lev 150 on my Enduro (which has a steep seat angle).

maybe it has a steep "effective" seat tube angle, but specialized's fsr bikes all have pretty slack actual sta, around 68/9*, which i think is what a dropper post will be affected by/responding to

"Nobody really gives a shit that you don't like the thing that you have no firsthand experience with." Dave

May 28, 2014, 8:58 a.m.
Posts: 1095
Joined: Jan. 31, 2005

maybe it has a steep "effective" seat tube angle, but specialized's fsr bikes all have pretty slack actual sta, around 68/9*, which i think is what a dropper post will be affected by/responding to

This is true. I've been running it at the minimum insertion line since I got it and so far so good.

There's nothing better than an Orangina after cheating death with Digger.

May 28, 2014, 10:34 a.m.
Posts: 103
Joined: June 5, 2013

i don't think i'm worried about min insert length as the post will be pretty much slammed all the way down my seat tube with not much room to spare as it will hit the braze on's for the cage bolts

May 28, 2014, 11:22 a.m.
Posts: 2313
Joined: Sept. 18, 2008

i've had a flawless KS lev for a full year with lots of use, and one of their older 950's gave me no grief for 3 yrs before that.
same for gravity dropper, zero issues with 3 different posts over several years - required only yearly cable change and service.
have 3 reverb's on various bikes - all required a service very soon after new, 2 have been fine since, the other is a turd.

May 28, 2014, 12:11 p.m.
Posts: 11680
Joined: Aug. 11, 2003

i've had a flawless KS lev for a full year with lots of use, and one of their older 950's gave me no grief for 3 yrs before that.
same for gravity dropper, zero issues with 3 different posts over several years - required only yearly cable change and service.
have 3 reverb's on various bikes - all required a service very soon after new, 2 have been fine since, the other is a turd.

I bought two of Clark's GD posts, and they are still going strong now after 3 more years of hard use.

May 28, 2014, 12:19 p.m.
Posts: 8256
Joined: Nov. 21, 2002

pardon the attempted thread hi jack but what's gone wrong with the KS Lev? i've been lucky, about a yr and a half and flawless so far.

ditto.

3 years on the GD's is pretty impressive

WTB Frequency i23 rim, 650b NEW - $40

May 28, 2014, 1:14 p.m.
Posts: 5635
Joined: Oct. 28, 2008

Here's a question about the Gravity Droppers. With the multi-position models is it hard to get into the middle position(s)? Or is it fairly intuitive while riding?

I have a Hilo and it's ok but it does require pretty frequent fiddling and making sure the psi is 25 lbs/ft or it won't easily rise back to full travel. Also the remote lever and the seat clamp (single bolt) are crap. It looks like the Hilo SL is a big improvement over those issues though.

But I can't help but be drawn to the simple, easy to maintain, and reliable Gravity Dropper Turbo even if it looks like an industrial toilet plunger.

Wrong. Always.

June 1, 2014, 11:25 p.m.
Posts: 5740
Joined: May 28, 2005

bottom line, i think either option will be fine for sea wall schralpin' and able to facilitate mid-ride smoke brakes

"Nobody really gives a shit that you don't like the thing that you have no firsthand experience with." Dave

June 2, 2014, 7:44 a.m.
Posts: 103
Joined: June 5, 2013

bottom line, i think either option will be fine for sea wall schralpin' and able to facilitate mid-ride smoke brakes

LOL must have seen me on the weekend riding the wall, sitting on the bench havin a smoke

June 2, 2014, 10:42 a.m.
Posts: 5635
Joined: Oct. 28, 2008

bottom line, i think either option will be fine for sea wall schralpin' and able to facilitate mid-ride smoke brakes

Good to know. I was going to post a question about all-mountain ashtrays but I think I will just pm you instead.

Wrong. Always.

June 3, 2014, 11:06 p.m.
Posts: 9319
Joined: Nov. 19, 2002

I currently own a Thomson and it is in for warranty work now, an issue with the seals that they have a running fix on so new posts should not have it. Will have a full review on my site after I test out the replacement post.

One thing I will say about the Thomson is the quality is just so amazing, smooth action and I never had to worry about the saddle moving or the post breaking…just an amazing product.

My KS experience was shitty, the last time I had it serviced it came back from L2P and still did not work right…so I sold it and the guy I sold it to loves it…lol.

I think my weight and hack riding style is a huge factor in why I eat up dropper posts like they are going out of style, I also used to bend cromo saddle rails a bunch too.

I have yet to ride a X-Fusion (I want to try the 6" dropper they have), RS or any of the other big names…would love to be able to put them through the paces.

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