Dropper seatpost- under saddle lever actuated. What are my options?

New project bike is lurking.
Frame hasn’t got a dropper port, and I’m happy to go for under saddle actuation to keep things cleans. It’s a 31.6mm seatpost.
What are my options? I really want between 150-180-ish drop

I found the the KS eTen dropper, but it’s only 125mm…

It makes no sense to me, as my seat goes up and down multiple times, unless you are maybe making a jump bike that you want to pedal to the park

there’s no way i could safely actuate a dropper post while in motion

it’s pretty easy to drill or route an external post, or go wireless even

just my 2p, not what you asked

Drill a hole in the frame for a cable or go for an external cable. Either is fine and way better than not having a remote lever. Making it way less functional just for clean lines seems odd to me, but them some people route brake hoses through the headset 🙂

Personally dont mind lever actuated and never really saw the issue of raising/dropping it on the fly for general trail/xc riding back in the day but Id consider a external post or drilling instead from the perspective of maintenance; I had a couple of KS Dropzones and, to be fair to them, they were very reliable but the lever/remote mechanism did get a lot of mud/debris build up given where it was sited under the saddle which required proper cleaning out every now and then. Ive a brandx external on my hardtail now and it barely gets any mud around the cable entry area

there’s no way i could safely actuate a dropper post while in motion

It’s really not that difficult – just sometimes needs a bit of anticipation. FWIW I’ve been pondering a lever-actuated post for my gravel bike, because I’ll regularly be swapping it out for a non-dropper. I’m waiting for the 27.2mm KS dropper to become available, currently scheduled to be January. The bigger diameters are available already

depending on budget, a wireless dropper would do the job?

Is headset cable routing an option?

I can only think of KS. I use an old 27.2 100mm drop on my rigid mtb, it’s great for that.

Externally routed?

I resisted external routing. Now i have it on my gravel bike it’s fine. My cable just goes through the frame bag Velcro loops

Hite-Rite

Actually, that may not have enough drop.

Thomson do a decent under saddle lever, but I’m not sure how big a drop they do. But really just get an external one, they are a doddle to take on and off as required

It’s really not that difficult

Depends on the situation, had one back in the day (under the saddle lever) wouldn’t want to go back to it now – especially on techy stuff

Go Old Skool and get a Quick Release! 😉