I’m thinking of trying a dropper post on the bike but know nothing about them.

I’m after something in 30.9mm and doesn’t need a huge amount of drop (I don’t think)
I quite like the looks of the Stealth Reverb as I don’t fancy having any extra cables/hoses if I don’t need to.

Is the Reverb the best thing around or is there anything else that’s any good?

I’m 2 rides into a brand x ascend and it’s really good so far. Less than half the price of a reverb too.

+1 for Brand-X (from CRC).

Reverb is the best in my experience. The no quibble warranty is a big selling point. I cashed it in twice before I got one that worked which has no been going strong for 4 years.

I’m 2 rides into a brand x…..

Come back in a few months and let us know how you’re getting on with it.

For reliability and fit and forget the Specialized Command posts have worked well for us. They are fitted to all our bikes and have been faultless. Oldest one is a 2011 and still going strong.

The no quibble warranty is a big selling point. I cashed it in twice before I got one that worked which has no been going strong for 4 years.

Call me old fashioned but it working and never requiring a warranty is my starting point for calling it good

Gravity dropper if you want it to work in 15 years time

Call me old fashioned but it working and never requiring a warranty is my starting point for calling it good

You might be old fashioned but that’s beside the point. Dropper posts break. They wear out and scrape up and down. The get stuck either up or down in the middle of a ride. It’s a fact of life.

Reverb’s at the minute, as far as I know, are as painless as it gets. My current one is perfect. All the unbranded one’s I’ve seen make awful noises, have loads of saddle wobble and spend more time going back and forth to wherever it came from than on the bike.

I’d rather have a decent normal post than a cheap dropper.

They are all shite. Big long uppy downy thing with a large human bouncing up down on it that gets sprayed in mud and grit – something has to give.

Big long uppy downy thing with a large human bouncing up down on it that gets sprayed in mud and grit – something has to give.

Only reason I bought a rear mudhugger. Now all the mud and grit goes on my drivetrain.

Gravity Dropper. Ugly, agricultural, but reliable and easy to sort out if you have any problems. I’ve been running them since 2012 with no problems (although the first three years were in sunny California where my bike never got muddy, so it probably doesn’t count).

They are not pretty, not refined, but they go up and they go down. The new Wolftooth lever works really well with them too.

For cheapness, simplicity and reliability an RSP Dropper also called a Satori Pro, or something like that.

Not the best looking thing but totally reliable.

Currently also trying the Brand X dropper. Good so far and 2 year warranty.

I have a brand x and have been really pleased however my collar came undone (no idea how) so I decided to unscrew and clean out before re-tightening. Once unscrewed it looks like the post has some issues with the stanchion movement which has caused all the anodising to run off. It’s still working and under warranty so once it packs up I will send it back. But completely fed up with droppers now. I have a brand new boxed reverb I can’t sell and look set to lose a fortune on after my LBS and SRAM wouldn’t refund me.

I bought a reverb from LBS as part of a bike build 4 years ago. It was warrantied around 2 yrs ago and again last week. So I currently have a brand new one on the bike, that I paid for 4 years ago.

My point being that whilst most droppers are prone to failure, the reverb warranty is so good that it puts it ahead of many others.

I’ve had a few Reverbs, which over extended periods of time have developed a bit of play at the top of the stroke. serviced & they are good to go again. The last one was 2 years before that happened with a lot of use.

That got replaced with s KS Lev which is 18 months old & never been touched either.

If I was buying again it would probably be the KS, as the Reverb lever is still rubbish.

Dropper posts break. They wear out and scrape up and down. The get stuck either up or down in the middle of a ride. It’s a fact of life.

Mechanical ones, like the Command Post and Gravity Dropper generally don’t.. If the CP had an inline clamp I’d be buying one for my new bike.

The get stuck either up or down in the middle of a ride. It’s a fact of life.

I must have a word with my two gravity droppers that are still working and have never done anything like this.
There is basically nothing to break on a GD and they just keep working IME.
Simple, mechanical and reliable but not pretty or smooth in operation
They really do just keep working try one and see.

Your argument it is then,

Out of interest, does anyone make a decent 27.2mm dropper post?

Decent as in reliable? Yes.

Decent as in looks good? Not so sure.

The RSP/ Satori comes in 27.2mm. Reliable but not a looker.

Well don’t buy the Giant connect SL! After having my 7 month old post replaced under warranty for excessive play, I have just this very minute come in from fitting my brand new one. What an utter pile of sh*t*!!

It has a ridiculous amount of play forward & back (for a new post) & of course the standard torsional free play. My flabber is ghasted 😡

Rage mode is engaging.

^^^^^ my warranty Giant one has a lot less movement than the 4 ride old one it replaced, and indeed seems to have similar play to the brand new reverb (warranty replacement last week also) on the other bike..

Haven’t been able to get out for a try of either of them yet..

Surely it cant be cost effective for the manufacturers to keep churning out sh*t*, only to have it replaced numerous times during the warranty period?

Crank Brothers.

Bear with me, I know their previous offerings have been utterly useless, but the latest Highline is the best one I’ve used so far. It uses the same internal cartridge as Thomson, but they’ve solved the ‘blowing up’ issues that by using a lower pressure, making it all very reliable.
It’s also got a brilliant ergonomic remote, is really easy to remove from the bike if you wanted to swap between bikes (actuator unit on the bottom comes off with just one tool free lockring thing), and I’ve been able to take it apart and rebuild it in about 20 minutes.
3 year warranty too.

vongassit – Member
Surely it cant be cost effective for the manufacturers to keep churning out sh*t*, only to have it replaced numerous times during the warranty period?

agree. Given that Giant are the biggest bike manufacturer in the world I expect they will have the dropper problem fixed soonish – TGF their top notch warranty 🙂

kept on blowing through reverbs so bought a KS Lev, service it myself and it’s smooth as butter. has been for over 2 years now

how about Fox Transfer ? I’m thinking about one as an upgrade from the Giant Connect….

Have done a deal with LBS on a Stealth Reverb, so my now once used Giant Connect SL will be on the classifieds next week 😀

Currently looking at upgrading my dropper on my 2015 Giant Trance, the side to side play has got past the point I can bare now. The other reason I’m wanting to upgrade is to go to a 150mm drop, has anyone got much to say about the latest iteration of the reverb? https://www.evanscycles.com/rockshox-reverb-stealth-150mm-dropper-seatpost-2016-EV270716

I can get a 12% discount at Evans through work and I have £20 voucher bringing it down to £200ish.

Spesh command here , had the giant branded one before and wouldn’t touch one ever again , total shite .

Expensive but…, the Fox Transfer has been awesome the past 7 months through some truly horrible Scottish winter weather.

I about convince myself to buy the reverb then see a horror story just before I buy it 😆 Can’t seem to find many other 150mm drop near the £200 mark(after discount) and evans selection isn’t great.

I had the original Giant and it was pretty resilient. I’ve now got the new version of the Giant post and it’s pretty poor – rough and gritty. It’s been back under warranty to get the internal piston replaced but still wasn’t great. I got a bit angry so completely dismantled it, including using the male bit of the post as a slide hammer to removed the silver bushing. I then thoroughly packed it out with some grease before reassembly and now it’s super smooth. Bit of inner tube over the seal should keep most of the crap off so we’ll see how it holds up.

Essentially, if you buy giant, be prepared to service it every few rides to keep it working. If you buy a reverb, be prepared to sent it back under warranty. However, I’ve only heard good things about the fox transfer so once I get properly fed up with the giant, I’ll buy one of them.

There is currently a new Thomson on eBay for £125 but has no cables or lever. £7.50 postage. Not mine btw.

My oldest Gravity Dropper was bought in 2006.

I had to service it last year as it was starting to get a little sticky. It took less than 5 minutes.

+1 Fox Transfer. Best lever I’ve used, no hassle to set up, works brilliantly with minimal play.

Ref 27.2 droppers, I’ve had two hilos, both second hand.

The first was faultless, only sold it because I sold the frame it was for.

The second, I bought but it was leaking from the top seals (common problem with the earlier models), easily fixed (new seals for about 15 quid) and it’s been bomb proof since. It certainly compares with my Reverb on another bike

I strongly agree with running some form of rear mud guard though for any dropper

For 27.2 I’ve had an xfusion Hilo for 3 years now, still works fine.

On my bouncy bike I’ve had a 170mm reverb, one year in and just had a bleed as it wasn’t returning smoothly to full height.

We’ve had a few different ones on our bikes, the one that hasn’t actually let me down and the one that I’ve kept wouldn’t part with (it’s now 2 years old) is a cheapy external routed one, it’s the DaBomb, only issue I’ve had is the grit getting in the leaver and the pully under the seat but that’s only by the time I’ve got back from a ride (as in back home) when it’s seized up, after a bike wash and a squirt of GT85…it’s as good as new and ready for the next outing. It doesn’t sink, it rises when you want it to, stays down when you want it to. Not had that with a Reverb even after a few months or with some Giant Contact even after 10 rides. I do think sometimes you get lucky with some.

I always end up with a Reverb due to the frequent discounts and good warranty (which I don’t need that often, really).

Would consider the Fox Transfer or Race Face Turbine though. Really liked the RF one on a recent demo bike.

I very nearly bought a Fox transfer at the weekend as am upgrading from a warrantied Giant Contact (anyone want one ? 🙂 ) however went for a Reverb Stealth, largely on the basis of the good performance in all weather of my current external one, which was bought 4 years ago now, and has been warrantied twice at no cost to me. I fully expect the new one to fail at some stage, so it was bought through LBS (at a slightly higher than CRC price) to allow the smooth and painless warranty process when/if required…

I’m loving my Brand X dropper so far, although only had it a few months. In response to the comments about Gravity Droppers, I can’t say that I’d agree with the supposed faultless reliability and I’ve certainly had to ride home with a non-functioning GD. I’ve had the following issues with my Turbo:

1. The bit of the post with the pin mechanism de-bonded from the post. Fixed by zip-tying it back on.
2. Cable clamp bolts on lever stripped threads. Fixed by using connector from terminal block.

So, I’ve been able to fix/bodge everything at home but I’ve been left with an even uglier dropper that works after a fashion (now requires a bounce on the seat when the lever is pushed to get seat to return, like the old non-Turbo versions) and that needs constant attention (the fixes need re-fixing every now and then). If GD spares were still readily available in this country then I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one, but having to get parts from the US is costly and takes a long time.