We’ve seen an increase in the number of models available and (apparently) fewer reports of failures recently.

Joplins still seen to get the occasional mention.
Kronologs seem to have been still-born
The almost daily Reverb threads seem to have halted.

Not seen anyone complaining about the Fox post. It’s either still too new, incredibly reliable or so expensive no one can afford it.
Specialized/Giant?
And what about all those KS models?

What’s actually working?

What’s actually working?

reverb seems the most proven but still a lot of issues
(excluding gravity dropper)

Im going to keep waiting….. (edit: ive gone with Organics solution for now)

I was thinking of waiting for the Thomson Dropper to come out.

I’ve also seen very little about the fox post.. is it even on sale?

Thing with the fox is it looks very much like a me-too product. What does it offer over existing products on the market? Does it have internal routing? Nope- still uses the original hose on the moving part system. Does it have a nice neat lever that takes up less space on the bar or integrates with, for example a fox suspension lock out? Nope, it has 2 levers.. 2!!

KS Lev is the most sorted solution so far IMO but does need longer to discover issues/longevity.

my gravity dropper is great

and been problem free so far(nearly 2 years),
it is a bit clunky but ill take the reliability/home servicing, over smoothness
and ibeam compatibility is a big plus for me too
cant believe its taken so long for other folks to get with cable entry at the base too

I think the reverb stealth cable routing is an obvious step forward

and the idea of the lever on the KS lev is brilliant,

so if all these were combined into 1 uber post id be all over it

KS Lev in use here for about 10 weeks now and no issues to report. There was a review done over in the USA and it got 5/5 I think. Will see if I can find the link.

Here you go.
http://kssuspension.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/MBA-Review-of-KS-LEV.pdf

I think Dropper posts have been an invaluable tool in seeing what companies are really like.

It will be very interesting to see how the Fox Doss and Thompson ones work out of the box. It illustrates perfectly how much/vigorous internal testing was done and how sound the engineering was in the first place.

(note how well I trod the line there rather than just slagging Crank Br… – oh damn!)

Still happy with my Gravity Dropper, probably needs a service now after about 3 years of neglect, but that’s OK, I can do it all myself. Provided I can actually get spares in the UK.

interesting to see how the Fox Doss and Thompson ones work out of the box

cable entry under the saddle on both of those

fingerbike crc have loads of gd spares and ive had no probs ordering from gd in the usa

actually what i want is marzocchi (circa 1996) to bring out a
27.2
5 inch rapid fire indexed adjust
lock on grip lever
stealth routed
ibeam compatible
bomber post

I use a Joplin 4 and can’t really recommend it. It seems to require regular rebuilds and its favourite trick at the moment is to lose all its air. Not sure how much longer I will persist before going back to a normal seat post.

J

Not sure how much longer I will persist before going back to a normal seat post.

<echoy evil voice>You can never go back mwahahaha!</echoy evil voice>

I agree that the Gravity Dropper remains the one to beat. If only it didn’t look so damn clunky and was available in all diameters without resorting to shims.

Gen. 2 DSP Racing ‘Bighorn’ droppers due soon, have been tested for the last 8months on Welsh slop with a big lad on it with instructions to try and break it/abuse it, still working well. 😀

are they in 27.2?

buying a new frame to go with a decent dropper posts seems a step to far…

I find my KS i900Rs reasonably easy to live with, following some initial problems (that were all sorted under warranty). They are the generation that predates the Lev, though.

I have two Joplin 3s. One had to be fixed under warranty and both can be a little temperamental. Got them cheap but wouldn’t buy again.

I also have a Reverb which has been faultless and is much, much nicer to use. Bar mounted lever is a big plus and the hydraulic one on the Reverb is much better than a cable.

We are using 5 Specialized Command posts in our family. All are working great

27.2 were held up due to having a re design so have yet to be released at all.
I’m currently waiting to hear whther they’ll be available in this batch.

The trouble with 27.2 is the getting all the gubbins inside the post.

We have been supplying quite a few Reverbs too, which have been pretty good too, the Fox ones are pretty good too but as with the Thomson you’re gooing to be paying a premium for them.

Not wanting to tempt fate but my 2012 Reverb has been faultless.

Hydraulic button works great and its easy to moderate the drop should the downhill require pedalling.

my gravity dropper is great

and been problem free so far(nearly 2 years),
it is a bit clunky but ill take the reliability/home servicing, over smoothness

cant believe its taken so long for other folks to get with cable entry at the base too

Ditto. Though I snapped the cable once and had to change it – still worked better than a normal QR even with a broken cable…

and the hydraulic one on the Reverb is much better than a cable.

Err why? One of the reasons I went for a Lev is I didn’t want a hydraulic remote, I see it offers zero benefits for a system that’s either open or closed and requires minimal force to operate.

How many months/years of enjoying the benefits have you missed by waiting and fretting about if you’re buying the right one?

Provided I can actually get spares in the UK.

Last time I checked CRC had full range of spares

This will be my 4th winter using a gravity dropper, no issues yet, takes 15mins to strip down clean and re-grease once or twice a year.

I’ve owned two and could never go back to a standard post.

The first was a Specialized Command post which was the one with the crap lever and stupidly sized cable that Specialized ran out of replacements for for 3 months in English winter time. Despite this it was always reliable as long as you topped the air up every now and then and of course kept the cable lubed. The updated lever and standard size cable was only £15, probably admitting that the first type was crap!!

I now have a Reverb which was particulaly cheap from Hi-Bike and came with all of the bleeding kit etc. It has proved completely reliable and the fact you can stop it any where you want makes a massive difference over the Command post. Word of advice though, if you intend running the lever on the left, get a right hand lever as it will then sit under the bar, a much better position and out of the way if you need to turn the bike upside down.
I do have a mate who had one of the original ones and that went tits up but was replaced by Rockshox with no fuss.

KSi7 Remote here – the 27.2 one with external reservoir thing.

Been using it for 18 months with no problems. Took it apart a couple of weeks ago for the first time to clean/lube – it had no signs of any wear & tear to the seals/shaft.

So no complaints at all.

Sorry just to add, a mate had a Giant one and said it was toss. He now runs a Reverb. Think he got the Giant one trade though but even discounted said not to bother.

Thompson one looks the nuts though!! Don’t really see why the Fox is so expensive, does not bring anythig new to the table.

My KS is as faultless as it’s been for 2 years… Did just replace the cable, the old one had got a little sticky. Well sorted bit of kit.

My Gravity Dropper has seen a lot more use- it was well used when I bought it tbh. And it’s feeling a wee bit worn now, but it’d only cost £30 or so to get it back to like-new. But it still works fine so I’ve not bothered.

Waited for the Kronolog…pish.
Waited for the DOSS…hideously expensive (and heavy)
Going to wait for the thomson (or just buy a reverb).

Dont wait, just go and by a Reverb. Cables will get gritty, you need as much drop as you can get and one thats infinatly adjustable.

I have two blacklite Command Posts and have had no problems, I actually like the three positions as I bet I’d be faffing around all the time finding the ‘ideal’ height. I do like the action of the reverb though.

Hydro vs cable- cables work just as well as hydro, when both are working. But cable is far more damage-tolerant, and easier to repair if need be.

Example: At glencoe on sunday some poor sod broke the barb off his reverb while loading the bike onto the chairlift. Seatpost jammed at full height, impossible to adjust. Nearest Reverb spares? No idea. Think he ended up gutting the seatpost to get it to drop, so he could race.

Example: Northwind’s KS lever loses a fight with an alp. He bodges it back together with cable ties, and it still works. But if he wanted to replace the cable, he could buy the parts in any bike shop in the world, and fit them in about 2 minutes.

Previously owned…

Joplin 3 – had it for 2 years, broke twice – repaired under warranty – sold it after the final warranty repair

KS i850 – also had it for 2 years, eventually it decided not to stay up when you sat on it. They don’t make it any more & the design wasn’t that great in the first place so I got rid of it

Now own a KS i900R which I’ve had for 3 months – it’s probably too early to comment on reliability (no issues to date)

I know a couple of people who’ve had reverb issues – one managed to rip the hose clean off while taking a bike out of the work stand. We were on an away weekend in Wales so he had to bodge a thinner post to fit by shimming with gaffer tape. Another had a crash & it broke the push button clean off – couldn’t refit, so the post was stuck at full height.

I considered the options before buying…

Gravity dropper – seems to be the most reliable, but the appearance & sideways waggle put me off
Reverb – seem to have ironed out most of the teething problems but I wanted a non-hydraulic solution
Joplin/Kronolog – previous experience put me off
Fox Doss – very wary of any new to marked product until they’ve ironed out the issues, especially given the stanchion issues with forks
X-fusion Hi-lo – not heard anything bad but still fairly new to market

So I went for the KS – why? I spoke to my LBS & asked which post had least warranty returns – they said it was about equal between the Reverb & the KS. Quite a few of my mates have KS posts & only one has had issues. The design has been around for a while so they should have had chance to sort the bugs. It’s also a bit cheaper than the Reverb.

Got me a DOSS .Nice bit of kit,dont care its a few grams heavier than the rest of the posts out there.Time will tell ,but my local muddy trails and half arsed bike maintenance should see how it holds up.

the only one i’d consider at this point* is the GD, and that’s much too expensive for what it is..

do not want air/oil in my seatpost ffs, it’s not suspension, it doesn’t need compression/rebound control.

*ex-Joplin owner and KS user who enjoys getting smacked in the nuts.

got a Specialized post here, original one did break but replaced under warranty with newer blacklite version. used twice a week for 6 months now with no problems. Serviced it myself last week, they are very simple inside and with a bit of practice you could strip and rebuild one in a couple of minutes. Though reverbs seem ok I would rather have the simplicity of the specialized post and their reputation for warranty back up.

I use a Joplin 4 and can’t really recommend it. It seems to require regular rebuilds and its favourite trick at the moment is to lose all its air. Not sure how much longer I will persist before going back to a normal seat post.

Had this happen with my sons joplin, it was just a dodgy valve core letting out all the air. Also clearly let out oil as well as started to get squidgy at full extension. Replaced the valve core and gave it a full oil change and its good as new again.

I have had various droppers and all seem to have their issues. Liked my KS post but the cable would always seem to loose smoothness in that the spring in the lever return would not be strong enough after a couple of outings to return the not perfectly greased cable…..found a solution for that though and never had to replace a cable again, beautifully made post otherwise though and very reliable.

Had a 2011 reverb which developed a huge amount of forward and backward play but to be fair to rockshox I got a full refund as I also had the KS at the time. Few mates have 2012 reverbs, some with no play, some seem to be developing a bit though and will be sent back under warranty shortly.

Got a gravity dropper now that I use and really like that.

My Giant one’s still working after 8 months of use and I’m heavy enough to have snapped/bent quite a few normal posts in the past.

my son has just bought a hi-Lo which in my opinion isn;t great,It took about two hours to instal properly and it’s still not quite right.
It does work but not with the efficiency you would expect from something that cost that much.I was considering one but am now thinking of getting the GD but they don’t seem to come in 31.6 and I am not sure about shimming a dropper post so it will probably be a Reverb though I agree with smiff about unnecessary mechanisms in a seat post