It cost £64 straight from Taiwan via eBay and it took a little less than a week with no import duties etc added on which I was happy about. I have fitted it per the, very basic, instructions and with a little cable adjustments which is built in to the cable now it looks ready to go. I will update after a ride either later or tomorrow. Let’s see how it performs on the trail!

I have one, which works fine. I’d take it apart and give it a good grease. The cable seems to stretch a little, needing regular adjustment.

How long have you been using it? The reliability seems to be my only concern now as it seems to work fine while clean and new.

Poor butchered Sovereign

Yes it’s awaiting new forks while I decide which I like best between it and a hummer. I’m very undecided at the mo. ….

“Poor butchered Sovereign”

This! A travesty . 😉

Should sell in easily as its 650b compatible and a classic HT.

About 8 months now. It’s pretty simple mechanically, so regular cleaning/greasing will keep it good. The rubber gaiter on the shaft is good, but take care with a hosepipe not to get too much water down it.

That’s good to hear you’ve had it that long 🙂 I can’t sell the evil yet as it’s only had one ride out in Woburn!

That’s good to hear you’ve had it that long 🙂 I didn’t even know the evil was 650b compatible!

What seller did you get from? Cannot be any worse than the three crap reverbs I have had reliability wise so worth taking a punt on this.

Just had a quick scan…. 55 squid from a seller “hotcrazybikes” free delivery. That’s got to be worth a go! Not sure I like the red anodising though…. How does the remote lever actuate? Does it flick back or push in?

The remote pushes in any direction to release. You have to preload the seat first but is par for the course I think.

I wish they had more drop otherwise I’d have one of those, 100mm won’t get it low enough for my bike!

winch – Member

Poor butchered Sovereign

It’s the only way to get one down to a sensible weight 😉

Jeez man, put your brake clamp on the right way up will you. The tarts will have a seizure.

The drop is 110mm but I doubt the extra 10 will make much difference to you then!

I don’t like to have more cables than necessary, anyone knows if it’s easy to mod so it can be operated without remote?

Also interested. Is it ‘heavy’/as advertised too?

I don’t like to have more cables than necessary, anyone knows if it’s easy to mod so it can be operated without remote?

Why do you imagine the remote to be unnecessary?

Having just gone from a KS with lever to a KS Lev with remote, I would never go back. The days of the crotch grab are over.

Hora it really isn’t heavy at all in my opinion not for a dropper post.

Have you used it on a ride yet? How well does it work, any play/notchiness etc?

Mine lasted 3 rides before it bent. No chance of a warranty claim with the tai seller so replaced it with a hilo from wiggle. The hilo is a different league in terms of build quality and performance and only cost 120.

With hind sight I should have bought the hilo in the first place

Whilst riding there is no noticeable play or notchiness. If you are happy to strip and grease it every few months, and don’t mind the preset positions, they ar great vfm!

About 8 months now

lasted 3 rides

These things seem to be hit and miss. Mine lasted about 20 miles in all, during which time the cable had to be replaced (comes under general maintenance so excusable) and then the inner shaft cracked where the lowest of the three holes is drilled (could have been downright bloody dangerous!) and the pin would not stay in as the hole was deformed.

Sent it back to the UK ebay seller but I didn’t mention I knew exactly what was wrong as I did not want them accusing me of breaking it while stripping it down. Came back to me quite some time later after a less than friendly (on his part) email exchange having apparently gone “to our technical department for a minor adjustment” The minor adjustment seemed to consist of soaking it in WD40, it was absolutely dripping with it. Took the rubber gaiter off, the shaft was exactly the same as when I had sent it back. Raised a PayPal dispute and got my money back.

Mine lasted a couple of rides then it started dropping by itself(whilst I was sat on it), i’d do about 10 pedal strokes and then it would drop, i’d have to stand up on the pedals to get it to spring back up then repeat. No amount of stripping, greasing, cable tensioning would make it stay up past a few pedal strokes. It developed a couple of inches side to side play, i think the key it runs on must be made out of cheese. I think it cost me 60 quid with free postage.
It did make me realise the joys of not having to get off and pop my seat down but my back was frigged after an hour or so riding with it dropping and having to stand back up every 5 seconds or so.

Why do you imagine the remote to be unnecessary?

I thought maybe it’s possible to make a pull mechanism, just like the Gravity Dropper Descender has.

I thought maybe it’s possible to make a pull mechanism, just like the Gravity Dropper Descender has.

Would you put your front shifter under your saddle if you had a 5 speed cassette? Because that’s how often you’ll be using it…

I’ve used mine on two rides now using it ad much as I could and so far so good but I guess it is early days.

Mate of mine has a hi lo and doesn’t rate it at all

It always baffles me why people put cheap tat on expensive bikes.

One reason is I personally think dropper posts are way too expensive for what they are and they should be fairly ready to produce a lot cheaper. So far I’ve been proved right as it isn’t a lot different from my old gd but a third of the price.

Would you put your front shifter under your saddle if you had a 5 speed cassette? Because that’s how often you’ll be using it…

Apart from an extra cable, with a remote there’s also yet another thing that can possibily fail. My friend has a Crank Brothers Joplin without remote and he’s pretty satisfied the way it works. Although he never tried one with a remote, so he can’t really compare.

It always baffles me why people put cheap tat on expensive bikes.

If it helps I would not let you sit on mine 😉

Its not another component that can fail as i assume your bike also has a seatpost.
The worst that could happen on my GD is a cable issue[fraying] and I could manually shift it easily enough tbh- two screws to undo

Granted I may need to leave it up though as there is no room to drop but I do rate them tbh

Can any owners give us an idiot’s guide to what they include in their regular maintenance? (i.e. which bits you take apart in which order, are there any tricky bits that will spring off and hide under the fridge)

1. Undo the bit in the base of the seat post with Alan key.
2. Remove spring.
3. Remove saddle
4. Undo red screw cap holding on rubber seat boot
5. Take out inner seat post pole
6. Remove rubber boot
7. Clean everything
8. Grease everything
9. Reassemble.

I think that’s most of it – mines due a service, but its been smooth for a few months now, so haven’t got round to it.

My mate has one of these and it hasn’t lasted very long at all. It moves a lot from side to side so much so he can feel it whilst riding. My cable has also almost snapped so he’s taken it off.

Mmmm, I was just debating whether to upgrade my Gravity Dropper crotch-grab to “Turbo” for £75, or sell it and drop the wad on a KS Lev 27.2 von Deutschland. Also looked at this but don’t fancy the red anodized and looks like the quality is hit and miss.

Any long term KS users on here care to comment on the longevity and servicing? The GD is so easy to service – biggest obstacle to swapping for me. And while the GD rubber boots is fugly compared to the gold tinged KS stanchion – the KS just looks like a rock target for the back wheel…

Some info in here (clicky) which you might find useful. They are really very simple, don’t be scared to pull it apart.

As a note I found the grease it came with to be far too thick which stopped it returning to the top hole.

Ah thanks chaps, that’s really helpful