Done a search and nothing came up.

Adding a remote to my KS i950 is going to cost the best part of £100, so revising my thinking.

Assuming cost isn’t in the equation for a new purchase….

KS Lev
Reverb (non-stealth)
Thomson Elite
Other?

Cheers

Reverb all the way. Most common(AFAI can tell) for a reason.

Reverb. Just works.

Loved my KS Supernatural. Never missed a beat.

Fox DOSS. I like the 3 positions but not the clunkiness, but as it’s my first dropper I’ve nothing to compare against

chris_db – Member
Reverb. Just works.

Or doesn’t. Everyone I know with a Reverb has had to send them back for fixing under warranty.

My Reverb has been faultless.

I’m swaying towards a KS Lev as having to bleed the Reverb is putting me off.

Another vote for the Reverb here too, mine has also been faultless.
I had to shorten the hose on mine and there was no need to bleed it afterwards either.

Had nightmares with my Reverb…now running 2 LEVs

Hold on…why will it cost you £100? I thought the remote kits were £40-£50?

Gravity Dropper….

Having done the cheapo Forca types, Gravity Dropper Turbo and now Reverb, the nicest to use has been the Reverb. The GD Turbo was also very good but not nearly as slick on the plus side it was easy to maintain and parts are reasonably priced. I like the Reverb for being able to set it at any height, it’s smooth and looks very nice!

My Reverb has been great, so I’ll chuck another plus one against it. It’s all black too.

Bleeding them is a piece of cake.

I was originally going to get a KS, but it was just at the time when there was no UK importer do I bottled it. I’ve used one before and it was pretty good (I didn’t like the lever integrated into the grip though).

Been impressed with my lev so far but options are limited in 27.2

seavers I would agree with that summary

No-one tried a Thomson?

No-one tried a Thomson?

Would like to, and they have a stealth post on the way as well. “Cheap” at Merlin with the extra % off as well.

I have a Reverb (Warranty replaced), will be buying a Reverb stealth.

I’ve been really happy with my Gravity Droppers, but I’m stuck with 27.2mm on my favourite bike so my options are limited. There’s no denying the Reverb action is nicer than a GD though.

I’ve got 2 KS posts,they’ve both proved more reliable than any mates’ reverbs which have all been returned on warranty at least once. Fair play, there’s a slick warranty machine there, fast turnarounds but since it’s always the same faults maybe that’s not surprising.

I’ve had one new £5 bit for the KSs as a bushing wore after 3 years, can’t complain really.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member

No-one tried a Thomson?

Yes I’ve got one, only had it a few months so can’t say about reliability. Following plus points for me.

1, No need to bleed
2, Smoother than other droppers tried
3, Fits easier with Shimano XT iSpec
4, Thompson seat clamp

I have the original KS9xx Lever post – after an initial fail it still works.
Running the Lev now and it’s great.

Reverb all the way. Most common(AFAI can tell) for a reason.

Yep was the first of the new gen proper droppers that was out and established market domination despite some fairly big failure rates 🙂

I much prefer the static cable position of the Lev and depending on your bike the hose on the reverb can kink.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member
No-one tried a Thomson?

As it’s their fist ever moving part I’d like to see a lot of other people test it first.

Just to complicate things…

X-Fusion Hi-Lo is pretty sweet and had no trouble with even in the crap weather. Seems to be very good quality and well sealed. Wiggle have been selling quite cheap. Got mine for £130ish

Just fitted a Thomson to my Endiuro SL. Only a few rides on it so far but it’s very smooth, beautifully made and feels like it’s going to last.

beautifully made and feels like it’s going to last.

Come back with the 6 month results….not knocking Thomson but just seems to be a theme with dropper posts

Thomson, mine has been flippin’ flawless.

Admittedly more time will tell (only had a handful of rides on it) but I’ve known a few Reverbs to go back for some TLC. And one of those with a Reverb commented how much more ‘refined’ it feels, although not really sure what that means.

I’d like to have had the chance to look at a D.O.S.S. the 3 position seems pretty logical but THAT lever!

😯

Come back with the 6 month results….not knocking Thomson but just seems to be a theme with dropper posts

I’ve seen a Reverb stop working after a couple of rides. Fluke, possibly. But time doesn’t need to be ‘months’ to tell.

Bottom line, it’s whatever you like the look of. I wanted cable operated and Thomson edged it on pure looks for me.

I’ve seen a Reverb stop working after a couple of rides. Fluke, possibly. But time doesn’t need to be ‘months’ to tell.

Mostly it’s giving enough time for crap to get into it and the new parts to bed in/wear a bit and any key tolerances to be passed. Again not knocking it in particular but with anything new you have to decide if you want to be the beta test group or not.
Also you need a decent volume in the market to see how it’s fairing overall.
Good luck and I hope it works well it would be nice to see a product that has been tested properly before release. The Lev with the cable is doing well for me 6 months in – only issue was getting the cable trimmed precisely.

Gravity Dropper. They just work. And on the very rare occasions when they don’t they’re dead easy to fix yourself. When they get graunchy/sticky feeling after tons of use in filthy conditions they’re quick and easy to clean and lube and when they get sloppy after even more use you can buy the parts to properly service them for very little or send them back for a full service for little more.

They’re not smooth feeling in their action, nor do they have multiple positions (up, down and one other). But they’re not suspension forks, they’re seatposts. Does smoothly damped action matter? I just want my seat to be up or right down or occasionally just a bit down for technical climbing.

And if you change frame to one with a different seatpost size you can buy a different outer post and swap the parts – I’ve just done it and it required undoing three allen bolts and unscrewing the top cap and everything comes out of one post and then doing the reverse with the new outer. That’s with the new Turbo LP, which is particularly satisfyingly simple.

And I believe they’re the lightest dropper posts you can buy. Up to 5″ drop in the bigger sizes, and 27.2mm 4″ drop available (I’ve been using one of those for three years with one cable change and one service, about twice a week in all weathers with lots of mud).

Nice little company too, who are extremely helpful – and as far as I know they invented the modern dropper post or at least made the first one that really worked.

Admittedly more time will tell (only had a handful of rides on it)

Come back in a handful of years! 😛

I wont be buying a GD, nor will I be buying an X-Fusion (despite owning their forks)

I wont be buying a GD, nor will I be buying an X-Fusion (despite owning their forks)

I like your reasoning, so well considered…

😛

With all due respect chief, you don’t know my considerations, as I didn’t reveal them 😉 😛

Up to a month ago I would say KS Lev but now it’s seen some bad weather, not so much. The threads on mtbr paint a fairly terrible picture too, I think I got a “good” one!

My KS i950 has been faultless – but I do try and keep it clean

There’s the new ks lev ti seat post and Ks lev-dx seat post due soon

Very impressed with my Thomson. Still rock solid with zero play after a few months of being ridden 6 hours + per week.

so there’s evidence here and elsewhere that Reverbs, Thomson, and KS Levs are all problematic but not every seatpost. Clearly we are in the realms of statistical analysis here, and someone being happy or not with an individual post tells us virtually nothing.

Does anyone have a view on what to buy other than their own experience?

I’ve got a Reverb. It broke (stuck fully up) but I only found out when I’d dragged the bike up a mountain which was annoying. It had been used a fair amount (once a week for long rides) but still not great.

However, I’d still buy another. It was 11.5months old when it broke and had never been touched service wise. I posted it off and received a brand new 2013 one as a warranty replacemement. So at least the backup is good.

I’ve had (have) 2 KS non-remotes, which are still working faultlessly and went for a reverb. It went back under warranty once about a year ago and has worked faultlessly since.

The missus had a gravity dropper which gradually stopped working properly over about 6 months. Got a refund and went for a Hi-Lo. I put too much air in it, it blew up mid-ride, and the replacement one has worked perfectly for over a year now.

Interesting thread… please keep adding thoughts/info.