Weirdly little chat about this, it’s been slipped low-key into some ads but finally something longer than the Reverb… In production now so not quite here yet and as usual you have to be out of your tiny mind to buy a new dropper post on day 1 before the paying alpha test but still, woo, 5mm longer! What a time to be alive…

And also available in the carbon Ci model, which is claimed to be 458g for the 175mm, 31.6 version- over 200g less than the 170mm reverb (apparently; Rockshox say 560g but that seems to be bullshit. Who knows if the KS figure is true. Not announced for the bluetooth version, yet, it only goes to 150mm.

Will that be worth paying a million pounds for? Will it work properly? Who will be first to market with the 176mm post? When will Shimano respond with a cutting edge 125mm option? Who on STW will buy one and discover it doesn’t fit their frame? All to be revealed…

Or the soon to be released Reverb Etap…

I’m almost hating myself for typing this bug what the hell! I’m not sure I need my saddle lower than 125mm allows anyway. My saddle when fully dropped just isn’t in the way…

How tall are you? If all I could do with was a 125 drop I would, but I prefer a 150 or more, being a bit taller.

Reverb Etap would a great use for the left shifter on my future Fargo 😀

Just give to a 150 drop on my process, I’m only 5’8 and I’d have a 170 or 175 dropper if i could afford one!

As the owner of 3 KS lev integras I’m unfortunately on 1st name terms with the local shop warranty staff member. Love the lever, hate the reliability. I think 175 might be pushing it for how many people it’ll work for. I’m 6ft and on an large Ibis so have plenty of seatpost showing with a 150, I think a 170 might just fit but 175 might be just too much.

What issues have you had with the integra?

I’m interested. Reckon I could get a 190mm in my current frame theoretically. Maybe a 200mm
I quite often drop my (dropped) 150mm i950 in the frame for more clearance. I’ve used a conventional post uplifted in the alps before for the extra drop ..

For the little I’ve looked into it, it looks like both the 170mm reverb and 175mm LEV are both stealth routing only? No good for me atm

Nice! My lev has been faultless over the last two years. I’ve just bought a Southpaw for it. If this was available if have bought it when I got mine. I’m 6 foot on a large frame.

It’s not 5 mm longer, it;s a full 25 mm longer than the current longest Lev. And reckon they’re changing the internals at all? Just lengthening it so that the extra leverage is dealt with?

Jon Taylor – Member

It’s not 5 mm longer, it;s a full 25 mm longer than the current longest Lev.

5mm longer than the Reverb, which is currently the longest on market, was what I meant (the Vecnum is out of production and the 9point8 seems to be vapourware)

I’m 6’2″ and ride an XL PP Shan with a 125 mm dropper post. The seat post is fully inserted into the frame and at full extension the pedalling position is perfect, I wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals with a 175mm post!!!

Do people really have frames that are that small to require so much seat post?

Do people really have frames that are that small to require so much seat post?

that’s my thought – surely the reach is tiny to get the seat tube short enough.

With respect to issues.

2 of them both started leaking oil almost from new.
One of the replacements did the same.
The other replacement became very sticky on the rebound and was replaced.

For balance the one on sweamrs bike has been faultless so she blames user error for my woes.

The cable on one of mine slipped midway through a race and so I was left in a situation where if I sat on it it would drop but when I stood up it extended (so the exact opposite of ideal).

I find the mechanism very sensitive to cable tension and fiddly to work on.

shindiggy – Member

Do people really have frames that are that small to require so much seat post?

I’m 5’10 and ride a size large Remedy, it’s got more than enough space for a 170mm dropper, just because it has a sensibly compact frame. 27.2 seatposts aside I don’t think I’ve had a bike in the Modern Age that wouldn’t be able to take the length.

Controversial hat on- in a year or two, three at the outside, we’ll consider frames that can’t realistically accept a longer drop seatpost to be as outmoded as straight steerers. Not XC frames, but trailbikes and up and certainly something like a Shan. It’ll be something we take for granted in a new frame, same way as droppers have made 27.2 posts a rarity today.

There’s plenty of brands that are there already- every cotic since day 1 frinstance has a smaller triangle and a longer seatpost, back then it just meant you could slam the seat further. In a lot of cases it’ll just mean getting rid of ugly seatmasts. It’s all win- makes it easier to go up a size too.

Hob Nob – Member
How tall are you? If all I could do with was a 125 drop I would, but I prefer a 150 or more, being a bit taller.

Good point. Shade over 6′. 34″ Inside leg.

6ft with a 35″ inside leg so I’m all leg and not much torso. I ride a HD3 which are known for being short on reach and it works for mm e but with a 150mm dropper I’ve easily got a few cm of seatpost showing.

I’m 6’3″ (and a half since we’re counting) and have an XL Stumpjumper with 170mm Reverb. Still got about 20mm of the post between clamp and collar. Reach is 463mm from memory so pretty long if not as long as the latest gen frames. I could defo go 480+ on the reach though

I have a bird Aeris, XL, with 150mm dropper. I’m 6’3? Seatpost still an inch or two up, so realistically I could fit a 170mm dropper in there. Having said that I don’t feel I need it dropped any further.

Getting a dropper on my hardtail and think 125mm is all I need to get it out the way. I am thinking of buying one of the shimano posts everyone is excited about*

*they’re really not

9point8 seems to be vapourware

Not so @NW. Mate has the 170mm which he imported and it’s a thing of beauty. The seat clamp is genius. No sign of the 200mm one yet…

@SuperStu you’d get a 170 in there I think. I spoke to Bird and I reckon I might just have got the 170 in my M aeris..

I also rode my mates Stache with a 125mm post back to back with mine with a 150mm and I noticed it. So much so I sort of modified a 150mm reverb to fit in my M Flare-Max. That one’s never going back under warranty 😉

seven or eight inches of extension with easily 90kg or more in some cases perched on top is quite a strain on bushes & seals, I’d think. Reckon warratnty dept may be kept busy

(that said, my Rase 8″ post is going fairly strong after many years of lightish dryish mileage (heavyish, moist rider 😳 ) but then it’s spring-loaded and almost totally unsealed)

“Do people really have frames that are that small to require so much seat post?”
that’s my thought – surely the reach is tiny to get the seat tube short enough”

19.5″/Large frame V3 (the longer top tubed/slacker one) El Guapo:
I’m 6’2, 32″ inseam trousers. I think I’m relatively longer backed than legged

150mm KS i950, not measured, but might just/nearly be room for a 200mm?
Its pointed downhill btw, hence the saddle-bar drop. And no I don’t ride with dropped toes.

My word that’s fugly bike! Soz james, as long as you like it that’s what matters etc…..

But it is minging.

Medium 2014 Spitfire with 170mm Reverb. 5’10.5″ long-limbed rider not pictured. On the 2017 version I’d be able to fit that post on the large if I wanted a longer reach (this is 430mm reach and 430mm seat tube).

Extra points if you notice what’s unusual about it…

It is what it is

@cheifgrooveguru: narrow bars?

thomthumb – Member

that’s my thought – surely the reach is tiny to get the seat tube short enough.

Seat tube length and reach aren’t related.

Here’s mine with the 170mm reverb btw, at ride height- loads of room to spare on the seatpost, and I can slam the post down to the collar in the frame (but only just, because of the pivot)

Alex – Member

Not so @NW. Mate has the 170mm which he imported and it’s a thing of beauty. The seat clamp is genius. No sign of the 200mm one yet..

Ah, they do exist! I assumed they’d given up after it turned out they can’t make the 150mm work properly.

scaredypants – Member

seven or eight inches of extension with easily 90kg or more in some cases perched on top is quite a strain on bushes & seals, I’d think. Reckon warratnty dept may be kept busy

Less stress than on a fork, mind. Thing is, with most droppers it’s not this that causes issues. With the Reverb, it’s mostly air leakage. Traditionally with KS it’s been the actuation. Bushings do wear over time but they’re DIY replacable in the Reverb and I assume the Lev (I think it uses an evolved version of the design of my ancient i950)

The bushing is more easily replaceable in the Lev than the Reverb. If you want replaceable bushings on a Reverb rather than a £35 top cap assembly, then you have to make them on a lathe.

KS Levs have the same sinking issues as Reverbs, and a DIY fix has been extensively documented, but KS/distributors/etc. don’t like users servicing damper cartridges because when they’re dismantled with internal pressure built up, they make a vey loud bang and you’d better have it in a vice.

150mm posts seem about right for me, but despite only being 172cm tall, I could easily fit a 175 in a Stif Morf as the standover’s absurd (edit: I did have a quick measure. 170mm reverb almost certainly, but maybe without the connectamajig).

Yup, it’s not cheap on the reverb (I think both have similar brass keys too? Older KSs did but I’ve never had a lev on the bench) But thing is, if all we had to worry about was bushing wear, dropper owners would be a pretty happy bunch.

@cheifgrooveguru: narrow bars?

You’re half right – they’re my local trails bars, cut down to 740mm (though they measure 750 to the ends of the grips) after much experimentation to find the most I could get away with before the tree gap problems outweigh the handling and fit benefits. For away trips I have a very nice set of SixC 800s (so an epic 810 to the ends of the DMR Deathgrips).

The more notable thing is that it has a -2 deg Works headset for a most righteously gnarly 64.1 deg head angle and 335mm BB. Amazingly it works great on that woodland singletrack and unsurprisingly it was incredible when rock munching down Welsh black trails at the weekend.

Given some of the pics and related heights stated I’m starting to wonder if there are a lot of people who are running their saddles way to high for their anatomy.

rase made their 200mm drop, 27.2 post about a decade ago. It’s a shame they went bust as mine is super baggy now and I can’t buy another to replace it

Given some of the pics and related heights stated I’m starting to wonder if there are a lot of people who are running their saddles way to high for their anatomy

You might think that – but what I recently realised is that proportions vary so much that height is a poor indicator of required saddle height unless you’re very tall or very short and that trouser inside leg measurements are pretty random and depend on where you shop, the cut of items and how low you wear things on your hips.

And it’s not just leg vs torso length that throws things off – someone with a long back will also have a long neck. If they also have a big head you could have a 6′ tall man who is the same height to the shoulder (which is what matters for fit) as a 5’10 man. And the 5’10 man could have 34″ legs but the 6′ man 30″ legs. So that 5’10 man’s correct saddle height could be 3.5″ higher than the 6′ tall man’s.

Ah, they do exist! I assumed they’d given up after it turned out they can’t make the 150mm work properly.

I might be wrong here but isn’t this the design licensed to RaceFace and Easton?

psycorp – Member

Given some of the pics and related heights stated I’m starting to wonder if there are a lot of people who are running their saddles way to high for their anatomy.

Mine is lower than most people would have it, because of my ****ed leg, if I had it at classic pedalling height it’d be about 10mm taller.

But look, not being funny but how does it make sense that, when people say “This works, I’m doing it, here’s my bike” instead of “Hmm, I guess it does work after all”, you go “You must be doing it wrong?” Especially based on a picture of a bike with no rider on it? (The El Goppo looks a bit funny shaped but it’d be like that regardless of the saddle 😉 )

5lab – Member

rase made their 200mm drop, 27.2 post about a decade ago. It’s a shame they went bust as mine is super baggy now and I can’t buy another to replace it

Also, I always wanted to see people’s faces if I got an 8 inch Black Mamba delivered to my office.

170mm reverb almost certainly, but maybe without the connectamajig).

5’8″/172cm rider here with a 170mm reverb and I very nearly got caught by this. Although I’d carefully checked that I could fit the 170mm (why not go for the max you can fit I thought) the stealth routing didn’t fit because of the amount of post inside the frame. A plain connector in place of the connectamajig sorted it for me but it was close

I have a 150 reverb, seat tube length is 480mm, guessing that where the stealth hole is leaves me about 460mm(?), my post sits with about 25mm clear out of the tube. I have 34″inseam, Id like to have the post sit on the top of the seat tube as I think it would prevent some of the binding issues I have had in the past. (fixed with a beer can shim).

Ah, thanks Rubber Buccaneer! I thought it might be like that.

Northwind – Member
Yup, it’s not cheap on the reverb (I think both have similar brass keys too? Older KSs did but I’ve never had a lev on the bench)

They do. I kind of like the RS approach of etching keys to indicate slightly different diameters, so that rotational play can be eliminated. With KS, they’re all the same and if there’s any rotational play, you either live with it or make your own keys.

I’ve been putting of servicing a knackered Reverb I’ve got, but thanks to a few friends who’ve had sinking ones as well as my own posts, I’m getting fast at dismantling and fixing Levs.

How is it that we’ve managed, in 5 years, to go from nearly all of us having absolutely no seatpost travel to 125 & 150mm not being enough?

because when we had zero seatpost travel, we had to stop to lower our saddles, often by around 100-200mm…

(and 5 years? i bought my first gravity-dropper in 2007, and they’d been around for a short while before that)