Decided to get a seat dropper and as both bikes are 27.2mm, the choice was rather limited.

Managed to pick up a X Fusion Hilo from Action Sports in Germany. Cost £143. Ordered Monday and delivered Thursday.

The box arrived with no instructions, just the post. Info here.

Seat fitted no problem and did first ride this morning. Very impressed so far. Nice smooth action. Only a very small amount of play from shaft. Drops seat 4″ but it is possible to just drop the seat a little as you like.

So far looking good.

IMGP3441 by jh_buchanan, on Flickr
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IMGP3444 by jh_buchanan, on Flickr[/img]

Can you get a remote for it?

I think we go our the same time didn’t we – haven’t had a chance to ride mine but fitted OK – The only thing was getting the air pressure in the bottom correct as my Shock pump lets all the air out on detaching 🙁

My remote lever had a little play and the seal a little stiction but overall very happy.

Edit: mine was the remote version 🙂

Squirting it with some fork juice helped. Not had the same issue with air valve.

I think it was my shock pump not the seat post – used a normal pump and pressure gauge and all fine now 🙂

in.
depth.

not.
paid.
should.
be.
working.

I’m sure someone said you get both the remote and lever in the box, true/false?

Leku – Member

not.
paid.
should.
be.
working.
🙂

mine was just the lever.

mine was just the lever.

Actually, it’s more likely it was if you bought the remote version it also came with a lever I guess.

I’d recommend checking the bolt that holds the lever on. Mine was loose from the factory and was almost lost on a ride. A teeny bit of Loctite and properly nipped up, and it’s been fine since.

That looks so much nicer than my ‘industrial’ gravity dropper

Have to admit I’m quite tempted by the Hilo now. the 27.2 would cover me for 2 of my bikes potentially. And alot of the pricier posts seem to have more mixed feedback at the moment.

Even ran the spend past ‘Er indoors’ this morning anx have a provisional thumbs up….

Sod it, I’m having one!

the magazine reviews say it comes with both lever and remote, so possibly what actionsports are selling were intended for OE fitment?

the seatclamp/cable routing/lever arrangement looks very joplin-esque.
MBR or someone did a grouptest which can be found scanned online if you look, the hilo came out of it pretty well (they hated their GD but it sounds like they got a duff one).

be interested to hear a longer term review as reliability is a bugbear for many posts and it’d be nice if a new contender had solved problems rather than copied existing designs.

Oooooh, mine’s just been dispatched from Germanian….

I’m getting all excited now about owning a cheap uppy/downy seatpost now.

Quick question, have any current Hilo owners bothered to put any form of extra shite protection on theirs? a lizardskin cover or length of inner tube for instance?

Obviously it would make it look far less sexy, but the thing is directly in the spray line from the back wheel, and I’m keen not to to Bollocks up too soon it if I can help it…

Yeh mine from actionsports came 2 days later – very impressed – The kit does NOT come with the lever if it is the remote version – comes in several bags in the box so is OEM style not fully boxed retail 🙂

@cookiea – http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/x-fusion-hilo-any-good

My mate has one which i fitted for him.

One thing i noticed is how careful you need to be tightening the seatclamp, a little too tight and the post doesn’t retract.

I use a Lizard Skins inverted fork boot and also a small fender for the clamp. Pictured in this thread.

Yeh mine from actionsports came 2 days later – very impressed – The kit does NOT come with the lever if it is the remote version – comes in several bags in the box so is OEM style not fully boxed retail

Yep I figured that much, Action sports sell another one with the Bar remote for ~180 Euros but I think I’ll be happy with the cheaper Non-remote version for now, it’s probably going to be shared between 2 bikes (at least to begin with) so life will be easier with the ‘Vanilla’ version…

@Three Fish – That looks like a pretty sturdy weather proofing job, the little fender for the clamp is vey neat, old plastic milk bottle?
I may well do the same, Cheers…

Just ordered some of those boots from Swinnerton Cycles for £11.30.

Enough for two posts of course…

Was considering one of these but was a bit put off by weight any idea what yours comes in at?

Got mine the other day and have used it twice now. No instructions so no idea what PSI to put in it so just ramped it up. One thing I’m noticeing is that when it is returning the last inch or so really slows down (regardless of seat clamp tigtness or air pressure). My mates 30.9 one doesn’t do that. It is also quiet noisy when pushing it down, which reminds me of the scraping sound that occurred on an i900 on another bike just before it scratched the stantion and stuck down 🙁 Hopefully just a tight seal needing bedded in, so have oiled/GT85 it.

http://www.xfusionshox.com/product.php?pa=15

Instructions downloadable at bottom of page.

?Air ?pressure ?must? be? set? to ?25?PSI.?

Postage scales have mine at 740g including saddle (SDG Ti Fly C)

Was quite noisy at first but Fork Juice has helped at lot.

Just bought one as well. Been umming and arring for ages, but after both my Thomson posts now seem to slip, rather than spend £50 on a new post, an upgrade to a dropper seemed like a good idea.

Well to the fiscally irresponsible anyway 😉

I have a “speed stuff” neoprene fork boot from CRC on my joplin, zip-tied on at the top to stop gunk getting “over” it. Regularly remove to inspect and so far nothing has got thru or under it the inner shaft and seal are pristine.

If the hilo is anything like the joplin (which it certainly looks like) I unscrew the top collar on the outer shaft (red in your pic) and put a smidge of grease in there. had it since Xmas and it is as silky smooth as the day I got it.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=34471

Got mine today, no remote I’m box ad with other threads, but seems pretty decent similiar movement to my ksi950 but the finish on the ks seems slightly better, but the return on the x fusion is quicker, another plus point is the saddle clamp the ks are ultra awkward.

Does anyone know if the ks remote will work with this post? If so is anyone selling one ?

Got mine today.

Intial impressions are very good.
Whacked 25psi in and put it on my hack bike (27.2) and went for a local spin. there is a little radial play but only really detectable when off the bike, playing with the saddle. When seated it seems good and solid.

you get quite a bit of post for your money, min insertion would be enought for a 6’_5″er to ride a 14″ frame in comfort I reckon.

The action seems quick, slighty damped. but I did notice a bit of stiction on the return stroke, hopfully some fork lube and a bit of bedding in will ease this.

There is a bit of adjustment (a slot) on the lever and its easy to find. I can see how handy the bar remote would be but as it was more money and the post will be used on two bikes I think a lever operated job will do me for now.

without any previous uppy/downy post experiance to compare it to I’m pretty impressed but obviously its too early to really say how good the thing is.

Just got mine from the States this morning. Went for the X-fusion as its for my Prophet and that is a 27.2 post, like the lack of the reservoir ala KS. Didn’t come with any instructions (google is a wonderful thing), but I did get the remote included. Fitted it, not had a chance to take it for a test ride, but going to GT over the weekend so that should be a good test.
Nice action, but a bit squeaky around the seal. Going to apply some slippy stuff under the lip of the seal and see how it does.

hi guys i bought an x fusion hilo post from action sports, I to was unaware at the time that a remote wouldn’t be included, I’ve since searched the net but it seems that you cannot buy them seperatley, any one know if the ks remotes would fit? Or a long shot does any one have a Hi lo remote for sale or any other Ideas thanks paulo6624

Just as a follow up I though I’d give a quick 1 month on review of my HiLo now I’ve had a few outings on it…

like other people have done I decided early on to “Weatherproof” it further by fitting a length of chopped up inner tube over the shaft and using a chopped up milk bottle and some zip ties to make a little fender forthe underside/rear of the seat rails to try and keep crap from the back wheel out of the lever mechanism, thus far these measures are working well they’ve kept the post itself mostly crap free on the wetter rides I’ve had lately, althout they obviously don’t improve the aesthetics much…

Functionally I’ve found it pretty good, Drops pretty quickly if you need it to, although it doesn’t quite return as fast as I would like, it does mean I can drop the seat, and just keep rolling into the descents, the ability to drop an inch or two means you can set a good height for flatter pedally singletrack if you want, I did find myself wantint to play with it a bit too much during the first couple of weeks, and started trying to plan more descents into my routes (and of course climbs to the top again), now the novelty has worrn off a bit I’m still using it as and when I need to but I probably don’t flick it down quite as much as I was. doing.

The version I have with the under-saddle lever only has been perfectly adequate, however I have had the odd moment on bumpy trails or when going for the level a bit late, I think on balance I would advise most people to go for the version which includes the bar remote, I’m now quite keen on finding a remote for the post, either an x-fusion aftermarket job or seeing if I could use the Pure switch (with integrated Loc-on clamp) as both look quite handy.

Although there is a little detectable play when off the bike, when sat on the bike you cannot feel it and the post feels solid and sturdy.

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the thing, I think a bar remote would improve things a little but otherwise so far it’s been a good bit of kit: B+