Possible purchase and I've seen the KS Eten and KS Exa Form. Just wondering if anyone has experience of either or both of these. Doesn't have to be a mega long drop or anything, just capable of functioning for occasional use.
Any other brands worth investigating?
I had one like this from Decathlon many years ago. Probably still got it in the shed to be fair. It worked, it got replaced by one that had a remote lever that was on sale
Not those exact models but I've got a KS something 100mm drop on one of my bikes. It just works, plain and simple. I'd certainly consider another if I needed one.
I had a KS crotch-grabber, can't remember which model but it worked just as it should for the time I had it
I investigated this when I was looking for a dropper for my gravel bike . The cheapest solution I found was a Meroca off eBay for about £40 but I never got round to it!
Does it need to be under saddle, or could you get away with externally routed? Brand x are doing most sizes
https://ascendcomponents.com/collections/dropper-seatposts
I had one like this from Decathlon many years ago.
Got one somewhere but they are not good at resisting water ingress and seizing up, unless you slather the actuator in grease.
It'd be good to hear what you end up getting & how you get on. I quite fancy one for my gravel bike. It has a port in the seatpost for internally routed (though no other cable management for it after it exits the seatpost), but one of these would be simpler to swap in / out as I use it for anything non-MTB.
A wireless one might be the better answer though.
Got a KS eten? 100mm drop 27.2 on my old rigid mtb. It’s perfect for a bit of ‘gravel’. Probably close to ten years old.
It’s got maybe a couple of mm sag, judging by the wear mark on the stanchion. Would buy again.
I've got an original version X-Fusion 'HiLo' that's got to be over 15 years old now: 100mm Drop, 27.2, leverunder the saddle nose.
Still works, because it's fully user serviceable and despite being a clone of the original Joplin they used a Stainless steel upper tube so it's not been shagged out like the old Crank bros ones. It lives on my rigid HT at present.
I also have a 150mm Brand X that will fit the same frame and a bar mount lever for it, but every time I think about changing it I just can't be arsed. That old HiLo is still going, lever under the saddle operation is a bit shit TBH, but there's no cables to manage and it's not a Rad^Gnarr type bike so dropping the seat is a less frequent requirement.
But yeah if you can find an old HiLo on eBay or somewhere, they're fully user serviceable, no sealed gas struts or anything, just fill it with fork oil and pressurise it with a shock pump. Can be run with a lever on the post or remote on the bar...
I've got an original version X-Fusion 'HiLo' that's got to be over 15 years old now: 100mm Drop, 27.2, leverunder the saddle nose.
An excellent way of stopping a steel frame rusting. Mine needed rebuilding more often than a Reverb. Maybe a weight thing.
I’ve got an Eten crotch grab. Don’t use it much now but ideal if you want to avoid the cable clutter or need to remove the seapost to get the bike in the car.
Only niggles I had was with certain saddles and positions the lever would sometimes latch under the nose of the saddle (could have sawn off and filed the lever if it was a show stopper) and sometimes the collar would loosen slightly which increased the side to side movement (thread lock sorted that)