At title, after a 27.2mm dropper, can’t afford ~£300 for a thomson so looking at:
KS LEV ETEN at around £125
X-Fusion HiLo at around £160

Looking for opinions which is the best one to go for or any others? cheers.

(Not really interested in the cheaper gravity dropper type posts or changing the frame….)

Do not buy an X Fusion Hilo. Mine spaffed its guts up all over itself after 12 months. X Fusion were a nightmare to deal with, and did everything possible to worm their way out of fixing it, despite it coming with a 2 year warranty.

My latest bike then came with one fitted as standard! I’d never have bought another one. It did the same within 5 rides!

The dropper test in this months mag details the Hilo losing its pressure and becoming a suspension seatpost

Absolute shite! Wouldn’t touch ’em with a bargepole!

Had an X fusion Hilo for a couple of years and eventually the main tube cracked.

Good points:
Decent length post
Fully home serviceable
Reasonable weight
Good operation if looked after
Remote or under seat lever, good for easy bike swaps

Bad points:
Needed regular tinkering
I snapped it.

Now got a KS cruxi which I believe is the intergrated version of the eten. It’s too new to judge reliability.

Good points:
Cheap
Cable will run through a bottle boss without needing modifications to the frame.
Action is as nice as my reverb.

Bad points:
Despite being a longer post than the xfusion it has a much deeper minimum insertion depth leaving me right on the limit height wise depending on saddle fitted.
Does not seem to be user serviceable using a cartridge.
Heavy

I have an eten (about to go in the classifieds 😉 )

Really good post. Easy to service. It’s been “sticky” a couple of times but taken it apart and re-greased it and it’s been fine.

Stif in summerbridge often have good deals on ks stuff (when in stock)

I also ride with a guy who has a Raleigh rsp one that has been very good.

Binners, do you still have a broken 27.2 Hilo? I’d quite like to fix my cracked one.

ok, cheers for the info!!!!

Check if the ks is stealth routing. Not many stealth 27.2 frames out there.

Did the cheap RSP thing and to be fair it worked for a year or so then gave up. Cheap, a bit agricultural but gets the job done.

Against advise I went for the x fusion. Couldn’t stretch for a Thomson. It started slipping after a few rides and I thought crap. But then I replaced the inner and outer cable and put a load of grease on the mechanism at the top of the tube. Been perfect since (few weeks and several rides later) so, so far so good. I guess time will tell. The original fit cable is crap, got wet and rusty which contributed to the problem.

I hesitate to say I like mine! Hope it keeps going

Another for avoiding xfusion hilo. I went through 3 in a couple of months.
Be aware with the KS e10 even though they are a 380mm length there’s only 280mm available (100mm from base to min insert line)

Thompson dropper is awesome

Turn around time on warranty repairs is dreadful. 5 weeks and no word….

jamesoz – its fixed and behaving itself at the moment. A situation I’m not optimistic about lasting long

where did you send it to boltonjon?

gravity dropper, absolutely faultless. why discount such a great product that just works and works and works!

Back to Thompson for its warranty – through the LBS so not sure exactly where its gone

I miss it terribly 🙁

For a bit of balance re the Hi-Lo, I have two 27.2 versions both over three years old and apart from one needing topping up with a few cc’s of oil after a couple of years use both are working well.

Funn updown dropper due January in 27.2 around 150 quid. If you can run internal then brand x ascent. Again 27.2 due spring.

All based on tranzx which are on bike.de for 100 quid.

Same position myself but waiting until new year
funn link

I’ve a +3 y/o Hilo on my HT, never touched it and it works perfectly. I use the underwear handle as I need to swap it between the HT and the kids bike.

As I said before, internal can be used on a cable dropper as the cable can thread through a bottle boss as I have done on my 27.2 Kona Steely

Has anyone tried the Forca Sports SPS400 dropper?

“Underwear handle” … snerf

Got my Thompson back – 5 weeks but they did give me a new upgraded unit

Slightly different cable arrangement – certainly looks better

Beautiful bit of engineering

assume by ‘cheaper gravity dropper type’ you mean the tmars clones on ebay etc

so why not get an actual gravity dropper. too expensive? get a 2nd hand gravity dropper. 🙂

@sideshow – yes tmars, new gravity droppers are almost thomson money, don’t seem to be many used ones around.

This looks good: 105mm travel, 630g, internal, ~£100
http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/tranzx-remote-seatpost-internal-27%2C2mm-574087/wg_id-369

That’s a shame. If you did see one they’re probably a better 2nd hand buy than most dropper posts as very home serviceable.

Get a gravity dropper direct from the USA, they will do you a deal on the price if you ask! The only thign is exchange rate has screwed it up a bit now but worth a try!