Still working on this sodding creak on my new Aether7 frame.

Todays ride it was silent for the first hour then came back with a vengeance! Out of the saddle, silence. So we got back to a mates and threw a bit of WD40 at seatpost, seat tube and the 30.9>31.6 shim.
Instant silence. Hmmm.

I thought it may have been cranks/BB but pretty sure now that it’s post related.
Problem is that the frame is 31.6 and my Magura Vyron is 30.9 so I bought a metal shim to shim it out, all fits fine, but I suspect the shimming is part of the issue.

I’d rather not have to spend £300+ on a new Vyron dropper, but I’m not completely against it.

However, any tips, tricks or ideas appreciated to save me doing that please?
Would a plastic shim instead of a metal one be better? Do they even make one? Or not strong enough?
Any lube/compound that is good for it? Heck, I don’t mind if WD40 every week or two is the best answer, long as it keeps it silent.

Have you greased the shim?

Not the saddle, is it? I was convinced I had a creaky seatpost, but turned out to be where the saddle rail met with the hull. Squirt of chain lube sorted it out, for now at least.

Yeah tried that last week. Also tried it completely clean. It’s a weird one as sometimes it’s silent, but when it comes back its proper irritating

Don’t think it’s saddle, I’ve tried 3 of them.

try a bit of carbon assembly paste.

Buy an eBay special 31.6mm fixed seat post just to check?

Or the £15 OnOne El whatever one that my son had that’s actually pretty reasonable. Gives you a spare when the dropper is in need of a service.

Tried that last week, noise present after not very long.

I’m thinking of biting the bullet and buying either a Brand X or RSP in 31.6.

Buy an eBay special 31.6mm fixed seat post just to check?

Got one here in spares pile. Will fit tomorrow and do 10-15 road/simple trails on it.

The trouble with shims is they aren’t long enough, barely longer than the minimum insertion marking on the post, sixpack do a 120mm long one but strangely not 30.9 to 31.6.
I once used one with another slightly trimmed down one installed on the post before inserting in the frame, bit of a pain retrieving it from inside the seattube when taking the post out, so can’t recommend if you leave stuff long enough to seize.

Much as I liked my Byron for the aether I think a cable dropper is a better option. That brings the cost down a lot. Probably less than you’d get for the vyron.

I have a USE one on my Aeris 145 without any issues, I forget the length but it’s pretty long and I think I used carbon paste

Much as I liked my Byron for the aether I think a cable dropper is a better option. That brings the cost down a lot. Probably less than you’d get for the vyron.

I’ve had the vyron 6+ years now, their aftermarket service has been amazing. I’ve sent it for repair/service 3 times, no charge for any of them, plus the last time they sent me back a brand new post, so it’s only 12 months old.
That said, I’ve deffo had my moneys worth out of it. But I do like how it works and rides as far as posts go, so would be nice to get and keep it silent if possible rather than replacing.

Well i took the bike out with a standard 31.6 seatpost in and we have complete silence from the bike… Which is both good and of course bad.

I would love to think that i’ll get this to work shimmed, but i think it’s time to cut my losses and just buy a Brand X dropper in the right diameter. Grease, carbon paste, WD-40, etc all may resolve things short term, but i think longer term, throwing a new post in the right size is the way forward.

A long time ago I had a seatpost on test that was designed to be shimmed with a length of clear plastic sheeting – like the sort of thing you’d make overhead projector slides out of. Acetate sheet? You literally looked on a chart what diameter the frame took, cut that length off the roll, wrapped it around. It worked too.

Problem with 31.6 to 30.9 shims is just how thin the shim is – it’s a 0.35mm wall thichness – that’s why they’re not longer often, as holding tolerance to make them is a right fiddle.

Maybe a rolled piece of this? 🙂

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/metal-sheets/0680959/

Not to worry, I mentioned it to a mate, he said “I’ll have that” and sent me money 30s later. I then bought the brand X about 2 mins after that.

But thanks for the thought

I’ve got cider can shims shoe-horned into both my bikes to address post creak/slippage issues. Fit and forget for the price of a pint.

Maybe too late but I have a little used Bird rebranded Brand-X 150mm dropper in 31.6 going spare.

A long time ago I had a seatpost on test that was designed to be shimmed with a length of clear plastic sheeting – like the sort of thing you’d make overhead projector slides out of. Acetate sheet? You literally looked on a chart what diameter the frame took, cut that length off the roll, wrapped it around. It worked too.

I used a strip of something like this when I bought a 27.2 seatpost from china that actually measured 27.0. Worked well.

USE seatpost shims are plastic.

USE seatpost shims are plastic.

Not their 30.9> 31.6