Took my post apart today, cleaned and greased it – working a treat now.

apparently you can buy any parts on their own, anyone have link for that please?

grease def. helped, action loads better on mine now.

only problem with action is it’s a bit too hard to compress to bottom (i’m a lightweight) yet not quite strong enough to reach top if you don’t really lift right off the saddle. doubt anything can be done about this.

I still like my one of these, but I’m finding out little bits as I go along, and generating more questions as well!

I stripped, cleaned and greased a week ago. Two very wet and muddy rides later I felt the need to do it again. I have bodged a mini mud guard by stretching a part slit inner tube over the post and attached to rails with zip ties and sealed with some double-sided. Now seems to be back to condition, but only a real world ride will prove it.

One thing that is really bugging me is that the pre-loader screw plug in the bottom of the post cannot do anything(?) The spring base is held in place by what looks like an immovable inner collar? The seat springs back at a potentially very eye watering speed whatever?

Anyone else puzzled by this?

Mine’s a Traildrop. Been on the bike since early last summer I guess. About 3 months after each service I tend to find it doesn’t return well, so time for another service. And the rubber boot is now broken at the top (I had it zip-tied on up there).

One question though. I’d like to get the spring out to give the whole thing a better clean. Do others find theirs come out easily? Mine seems to be very well stuck in there. How do you remove it?

To those asking about cable tension adjustment, mine has a barrel adjuster part way along the cable length. If yours hasn’t then it would be a useful addition.

Hows everyone getting on?

My Ice V8 is still going strong. 2-3 months since the last regrease. I think the rubber boot works well on rides at keeping out the crud. As long as caution with the hose/jetwash is exercised, then just the odd strip/regrease will keep it going fine.

I assume all of the above issues are with other seat posts and not the ICE as I haven’t had any warranty claims yet.

My TMARS one is still working great!

No issues whatsoever after 4 months (3 times a week) riding in these lovely weather conditions we’ve had this year.

Where can I buy spares ie the sliders and top and bottom collar?

And it all goes silent again.

Mine’s in the bin now (forca)
Replaced it with a hilo that cost double but is much nicer to use.
Buy cheap, buy twice?

Just bent the main tube on mine. Stupidly I ran a slacker head angle today on my Bullit, should have known as I’ve bent normal posts with thicker tubes in the past running slack angles and a high post. One of the plastic guides is also broken.

I do weigh 15 stone, maybe dropper posts aren’t for me as minimum sensible weight I can be is 14.5 stone.

@wobbem. Are you using an ICE post. If so get in touch with us http://www.r53sport.com If it is not an ICE then I’m afraid that not all spares are compatible. Sorry.

@Jamesoz is yours an ICE? If it is get in touch as we need to know if there are any issues. We have a 2 year warranty by the way.

Hi, yes it’s a v8 wish I’d known there was a uk importer, bought replacement parts from a Spanish website. Cheap but high postage. Will drop you mail with pics/more details. Will measure the seat angle that it failed at when I’m back from holiday.

Hi r53sport , I contacted you awhile back, and you said you sell the spares as a whole package ” full bushing kit which includes top and bottom bush, lateral bushes, top seal, red collar and rubber boot. The price for this is £25.00.”
Or I could contact distributors to get individual pieces, which I did, all of them…..but they don’t,( or didn’t then ) can you name one that does?
I don’t really want to buy the whole spares package.

bump

@wobbem they can buy the assemblies from us and then supply you in parts or they get a spares tray if they want. Call me on 02476 697225 and I’ll point you in the right direction.
Cheers.

@jamesoz. I got your email. Thanks for the heads up. I have replied too.

Any updates on these V8 posts. I’m in the market for a dropper just now.

Yes, but my update is not all that positive, I’m afraid.

The post is somewhere between mediocre and ok in my opinion. On the plus side:

It is very simple, especially to take apart and service, but it needs to be.

It works (after a fashion).

On the negative side:

The side to side waggle in the saddle is alarming on mine. The nose of the saddle moves at least 1cm either side of centre with a push of a finger. I am pretty certain the internal guides that form the slot for the bushes were poorly installed. The bushes seem to wear alarmingly on mine, despite a strip and regrease every three or four rides.

The spring in the cable to post assembly slipped off of its mount on mine once mid ride. I was left with a post that just sank and sprang back depending on whether I was sat on it or not. Probably a one off.

Routing the cable through the seat post assembly is an absolute bastard.

The warranty service from R53 is not exactly what I expected. I initially obtained a part set of new bushes from a bloke called Craig. Although he sent me something FOC, he didn’t send a complete set. When these wore down in about three months I tried again to get a set of replacements FOC. I dealt with a guy called Roger this time. He was extremely reluctant to send me any spares. He wanted to charge me something like £15 or £20 initially, even though the equivalent gravity dropper spares are less than a tender on CRC. He also partly accused me of abusing the post. I replied, and eventually he sent me some, but only after a further reminder email from me. He was adamant this was the last time I would get any spares FOC.

Reading between the lines (I may be wrong), I think there has been a change of management at R53 and they are now trying to push higher ticket items like complete bikes. There was an effusive thread on here a few months back about how helpful Roger was when someone wanted to demo a bike. I suspect they have realised that the seat posts (despite being their ‘breakthrough’) are actually a bit naff and a lot of bother to honour customer service on.

Anyway. If you want a crude but cheap dropper, these are merely ok. You can get them cheaper online, but without the warranty backup. But as the warranty backup seems to only cover cataclysmic failure, then I would save forty odd quid and buy online.

I now have a reverb at just under twice the cost. It is easily twice as good.

I have a Tmars and it’s ok-for the money. Full rebuild kits (for the ICE LIFT) are available from France for under 10€, they are essentially the same posts inside.

Shame I didn’t find this place in France sooner…..

I paid £26 for the 4 bush/slider parts from my LBS (who buy from R53). They did try and charge me£35 till I moaned!

And local shops moan about people buying online!