I’ve been contemplating a dropper post and came across the KS LEV ones which seem like a good idea of having the cable static at the base of the post as many attach the cable to the seat end resulting in slack cable flapping about on compression. My frame can’t take internal and I’m not drilling holes…
Just wondering how people have found them in normal use? good idea/bad idea? anything worth keeping an eye out for?

I’ve got one, it’s been back a few times under warranty though.

I prefer my Thompson dropper though.

I’ve also got one, if you don’t have internal routing it’s the neatest option.

Mine started to sink after very little use but a full strip/bleed/rebuild fixed it and it has been perfect since. Luckily they’re quite easily diyable so no need to send away. Not a fan of the original lever, replaced it with a southpaw and much prefer it to both the original and the Reverb on my other bike.

I have one, it’s fine as long as you service it periodically (not a difficult job but you might have to get a couple of new tools). The cable can still rub your frame a bit, but a patch of heli tape or one of those spiral rubber fibrax thingies sorts it.

I’ve compared it to a Kronolog and an Uptimiser, and the KS beats them both for me. The red lightweight cable KS ship with some of their posts was crap though (yes, I did double check I’d set it up correctly), and it worked much better after I replaced it with a standard cable.

Tip re servicing – if you don’t Have a strap wrench like the dude on the KS video, a piece of fabric elastoplast round the shaft gives plenty of grip. Also, if the bushing comes out of its carrier during the yank it apart phase, be careful putting it back in, it’s quite soft 😐

An inner tube also works if you don’t have either of the above.

Also, if like me you don’t like the OE remote but don’t want to shell out for a southpaw you can quite easily mod a lh shifter to do the job.

I really like mine, it has a snappier feel with the southpaw remote and there is no faff with hydraulics or that ridiculous reverb remote that just begs to be broken.

I think i have run mine for about 6 months with no issues. I have some slight oily marks on the stanchion now and again but as nothing has stopped working yet i am not too worried.

get the southpaw upgrade as soon as you can and ditch the red cable, and it should be pretty good.

I have the Lev on my hardtail with southpaw lever.

Never misses a beat, just keeps working, easy to self service.

I got one with the little carbon lever and black shaft. Its been ace!!!!

Mine has been great – has only needed one full service in last two years.

Mine’s great. Needed a little TLC recently, mostly because I ran it without any maintenance (clean & lube) for over a year.

Those of you who have had Levs serviced rather than do it yourself, who have you used? Have you had to send to manufacturer / UK official partner or do LBS tend to be able to handle them?

To OP, mine’s been OK. The cable doesn’t quite return fully so the lever doesn’t sit properly in the neutral position and, more seriously, it often won’t descend on command but I suspect this is poor installation on my part (hence query above).

Those of you who have had Levs serviced rather than do it yourself, who have you used? Have you had to send to manufacturer / UK official partner or do LBS tend to be able to handle them?

To OP, mine’s been OK. The cable doesn’t quite return fully so the lever doesn’t sit properly in the neutral position and, more seriously, it often won’t descend on command but I suspect this is poor installation on my part (hence query above).
Use Jungle (STIF Cycles near Pateley Bridge) for big/warranty jobs.

There are some great vids on the net of how to do a strip down and re-grease and change cable. It’s really straight forward stuff especially after you have done it once. That can make it feel like new again. The lever return issue is almost invariably slight error on instalation as it is tricky to get the cable length just right.

I used Southcoast Suspension. Service was good.

I’ve had one for a while now. As above it keeps plodding on but is freshened up by a quick clean & lube, which is about as demanding as an air can service on a shock. I recently replaced the bushings in mine as part of preventative maintenance, got the bits from S Coast Suspension as above for a couple of quid.

ive got a 27.2 version of the Lev. when its working its great. i got it from bike discount de before they where released in the UK. It had to go back to bike discount twice for fault repairs in the first 6 months which was a PITA but it got sorted without any issues. The third time i had issues it was due for a service in any case and by that time they where available in the UK and being serviced by my local suspension service guy Grant at Southcoast Suspension. He sorted it out and its been fine since. Ive got a reverb on the other bike and i do prefer the Reverb to the Lev.

Yeah I have one, it has been excellent until recently when it wouldn’t extend the last 10mm so it had to go away for some warranty work. It has just arrived back after about 6 weeks! Also the red KS cable cover appears to have been destroyed by someone removing it with a screwdriver. It has been away so long it’s borderline if it’s worth the hassle of sending it back again! a shame as I do love it, I think the design is far better than the Thomson I had before.

John

Cheers for all the feedback chaps. Sounds like the usual ‘keep an eye on moving/sliding parts and clean as necessary’…now, just have to choose the right one of the variants, LEV, LEV DX…
Decent exchange rate on the euro at the moment (thinking bike-discount). Southpaw over looks like so much more sense than the stock one, I’m assuming it’s easy to swap out old for new…