Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 48 total)
  • KS LEV in 27.2mm Diameter – Are they actually available anywhere?
  • chives
    Free Member

    As topic – I seem able to locate the LEV dropper post in larger sizes, but no one has the 27.2mm diameter, has anyone found anywhere or is it all marketing smoke & mirrors?! 🙂

    JoeG
    Free Member

    Not available in the US yet either. Some places are taking preorders, though.

    stewartc
    Free Member

    Saw a few at my LBS this weekend, however they did not have any 30.9’s which is what i was after.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Which they won’t ship out of Germany.

    warpcow
    Free Member

    Have you tried other German stores? bike-components.de have them in stock and will ship to Sweden without problems at least.

    Edit: works for me on bike-discount too (up to giving CC details), so I’d have to assume it’s the UK distributor that has thrown a spanner in the works. Superstar!

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Aren’t there some euro rules about free trade?

    warpcow
    Free Member

    Yep!

    spacehopper
    Full Member

    i got one from here last week..

    http://www.hibike.de/shop/product/p0f890fc01f40aa5d4d5827f58c9a73d9/s/Kind-Shock-LEV-Remote-Vario-seat-post-stroke.html

    theyre not in stock right now.. but i pre-ordered mine mid january and the post actually came before they said it would.. (looks like their next delivery of 27.2’s will be next week)

    it came into stock last friday.. and was delivered to me on tuesday this week 🙂

    chives
    Free Member

    Thanks spacehopper, looks like zee germans are cheaper zan zee french…!

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    And a lot cheaper than zee english. Mine is now on its way from Hi Bike.

    Taz
    Full Member

    Do the 27.2’s look the same as the 30.9 / 31.6.

    I know they will be thinner but the last KS 27.2 model had that piggback resevoir.

    Pictures imply they look basically the same

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Correct, no piggyback on the lev.

    Taz
    Full Member

    Cool – thanks

    May ‘need’ one 🙂

    nicholas_yiu
    Full Member

    I got one when I was out in Hong Kong over the new year. There is a difference between it and the bigger sizes models. I could not find the air adjustment valve. On the bigger diameter ones it is directly under the saddle clamp. Could not find it on mine. Pressure adjustment is one of the main reason for me to buy a lev in the first place as my Hilo was fine. Let’s hope it is just hidden somewhere.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Didn’t know that. Wonder where they’ve put it then.

    nicholas_yiu
    Full Member

    Some pictures for you to see. I got bored and took a few pictures before installing it but never got round to post them. This is a good opportunity!

    From the box:

    Delivered compressed:

    27.2mm, need a strap wrench to undo the bottom cap which I will buy tomorrow:

    Clamping mechanism:

    No Air Valve there!

    Even the box says there should be an air valve there!

    Installed with Fibre Grip as instructed:

    Remote:

    Activation mechanism:

    Cable Routing, the length of the inner needs to be exact, took me a few go to get it right. So start long!

    Activation mechanism installed into cable:

    Remote installed on bar clamp:

    Cable routing:

    Adjustment mechanism installed onto post:

    That seatpost just look way too thin:

    Feedback so far is that return speed is ridiculously slow. Even slower than on my HiLo. I’m going to go mad if I can’t find where to adjust the air pressure and probably go back to a HiLo.

    Luckily, it was “only” £250 which is less than what I paid for my Reverb when it first came out.

    Hope this helps anyone who wants a 27.2 Lev to make a decision.

    ivantate
    Free Member

    I was stroking a 30.9 in my local shop here in Turin at the weekend. He offered to get a 27.2 in for 290euro which was very tempting but the missus was with me and would have noticed.

    I also wasnt sure if 100mm was enough?
    Not sure if they have limited it to fit in the reservoir or because of increased overlap for the small diameter.

    chives
    Free Member

    Thanks for the pics Nicholas, as you suggest, it’ll be a bit poor if it’s not possible to alter the return speed. They must’ve pressurised the thing at the factory so there must be a valve somewhere eh? The KS website doesn’t appear to offer up any answers though.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Bit concerned about this air valve business. Anyone else with a 27.2 care to comment/check?

    Guess I’ll know myself by the end of next week.

    andyl
    Free Member

    for the air valve have you tried using the tool with the dimples in to remove the bit in the top of the post?

    See page 5 here: http://kssuspension.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/english_web.pdf

    That is how you rotate the saddle clamp by the looks of it and the valve might be under there.

    edit: see page 14.

    JoeG
    Free Member

    nicholas_yiu – as far as return speed, you control that with air pressure. I have 2 of the 31.6 mm Lev, and the schrader valve for the air is where you are looking under the seatclamp. Mine looks more like this, with a little slotted cap covering the schrader valve

    Also, if you overtighten the seatpost collar, it can slow or even prevent the post from returning to the up position. In fact, if its too tight and the post stops, hold down the remote lever while you loosen the seatpost collar and it will start moving as you loosen it up a bit.

    I see that you used carbon paste, so that’s good. One other thing that you can do is put the seatpost collar so that the gap in it is 180 degrees from the slot in the seat tube. Doing this can help the seat tube stay round when the collar is tightened.

    I hope that you find the air valve!

    Edit – Andyl – that’s not a tool with the dimples, that is part of the seatclamp. The dimples index on those raised dots to keep the saddle clamp pointing in the direction that you want it to be.

    andyl
    Free Member

    ahh, I get it now. I wondered why there was so many dimples.

    That’s very odd. Looks like they have forgotten to amend the manual for the 27.2 then.

    nicholas_yiu
    Full Member

    The saddle clamp is quite loose, that’s why I had to use carbon paste.

    Just got a strap wrench today so going to try removing the bottom cap later and see if there is an air valve there.

    Thinking about it, wouldn’t it be rather dangerous to service the post if you cannot relive the pressure somehow. There must be a way.

    nicholas_yiu
    Full Member

    Double post

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    From the service videos, it doesn’t look like that bottom section lets you into the air chamber so you should be fine.

    Try dropping an email to ks in the states. They should be able to tell you where the valve is.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    slightly off topic, but can you repressurise the ks i900, or is that a sealed unit?

    chives
    Free Member

    I’ve emailed KS, let’s see what comes back…

    blahblahblah
    Free Member

    Any word back from KS yet, Chives?

    chives
    Free Member

    I got a reply today, – not good news I’m afraid. And I quote;

    You can’t adjust the air pressure in the LEV 27.2 there is no valve.

    Respectfully,

    Ron Easton
    KS USA
    26741 Portola Pkwy 1E658
    Foothill Ranch CA 92610

    So there we are then. Not quite as user-friendly as it could’ve been.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    That’s a bit of a bugger.

    Actually, I’m now curious to know how they get the air spring in there.

    mmel
    Free Member

    Just a thought, but maybe it’s not air in there at all, but a coil spring?

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    I’m fine with that. How do you change the spring?

    goatster
    Free Member

    On a side note for all you ks post people, there is no uk importer/distributor or warranty at the moment…

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    If it goes wrong, I’ll post it back to Germany. I’ve saved more than enough to cover postage. Doesn’t ssc/pure racing/fruit import them anymore then?

    chives
    Free Member

    I saw a press release somewhere (could’ve been on here?) where Pure Racing basically said KS were making it untenable for them to continue importing / supporting KS products. Which is a bit of a shit for them (Pure Racing) given they’ve tried to carry the KS flag in the UK for a while now. That’s just from memory, so don’t shoot the messenger eh?

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Odd, as the Germans seem to be making it work.

    chives
    Free Member

    Bump for Onzadog – did your post arrive & have you tried it in anger yet? I’m still wondering if it’d be worth the money..

    Loco’s selling the ‘bighorn’ (fnarr fnarr) – but not sure if DSP do a 27.2mm or not?

    nicholas_yiu
    Full Member

    Well, I have been using my 27.2 KS Lev and the inner cable has snapped (This is a common problem with Lev I believe)

    I tried replacing the inner cable but it does not seem to come apart the same way as the bigger diameter version. I ended up unthreading the “air rod” from the piston by mistake. It has now lost all pressure and still doesn’t come apart for cable replacement.

    I have contacted KS to get it repaired (probably at my own cost) and ordered a new Hilo (shouldn’t have sold it in the first place!)

    The KS will be up for sale when it comes back from repair. (probably for quite a low price) That inner cable is a design weak point for the post. It’s not so much of a problem for the bigger diameter ones as it’s easily replaceable. However, seeing that you probably have to send it back every time the inner cable snap on the 27.2, I think the simpler Hilo is a better option.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 48 total)

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