So, thinking about dropper seatposts……

Hello STWers,

I have decided I need one and with Christmas on the horizon I have some time for a bit of research. I am leaning towards the Crank Brothers Kronolog if only because the cable stays put when it is going up and down. My Canyon does not have routing for a dropper post so this seems to make sense.

I am interested in peoples experiences in general but in particular the operation of the remote and interface on the bars.

Cheers as always for any help

Dogsby

From just last week.

Kronolog is best avoided. Looks like the KS Lev or the original Gravity Dropper then.

Kronolog – search on here – quick. Then delete your question.

Honestly.

I’m thinking the same way, but my sights are set on the KS LEV. Cable stays put – seat goes up and down.

What’s the difference between this thread and the 500 other dropper post threads this year.

Reverb, relative to everything else there are very few failures and fishers are good at sorting them when they do go.

Kronologs have mixed reviews, some absolutely pan them, other think they are shit.

Reverb. The cable moves but it actually works more than 70% of the time. Which, for dropper post standards, is good.

Not compared to a Gravity Dropper.

Have a quick read of these before going near the Crank Bros. Bike Radar had a similar review as well

Review: Crank Brothers Kronolog Dropper Post – Weighed, Dismantled & Ridden

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Crankbrother-Kronolog-Telescoping-Seat-Post-Tested-2012.html

munrobiker – Member

Reverb. The cable moves but it actually works more than 70% of the time. Which, for dropper post standards, is good.

Not if you buy one of the half-decent ones. People have let the bad ones give a false impression but the reality is Gravity Droppers were always reliable from day one, and KS got reliable quite a while back and are now pretty damn dependable too.

But then, people kept buying Joplins because they were purty.

My experience of Gravity Droppers (even recent ones) is that they need a lot of servicing. I think you will never find one that no one has issues with, but my experience in the shop was that Reverbs held up best.

My experience of Gravity Droppers (even recent ones) is that they need a lot of servicing. I think you will never find one that no one has issues with, but my experience in the shop was that Reverbs held up best.

Well I bought my Gravity dropper in 2005 and I’ve only touched it once and that was just because I was curious to see how it went together!

I have since bought two others for my other bikes and these are all now between 2 and 4 years old. Never had a problem with any of them. There is really nothing to go wrong. It’s a gear cable that pulls a magnetic pin out of a hole when you press a lever and the pin goes back in a hole when you release it. One of the 2 that I bought second hand was a bit sticky, but literally 2 minutes with some grease and it’s been fine ever since.

Compare that to the number of people who have to bleed and re-bleed their reverbs and I know what I’d choose…

I have a newish Reverb that has been back for lots of bits replacing & a cheap, 2nd hand GD which just needs a little grease (5mins) if it gets sticky.

Guess which one I’ll be using this winter…

Although its not quite as simple as that. On my Mega I think the ability to have the seatpost at any height is essential due to the bikes extra weight.
On my c456 I am happy to have just the two choices of the GD as I don’t mind standing up and peddaling 🙂

Hope that helps.

Gravity Dropper here, four years old, 10 mins once a year to fully dismantle, wipe clean, regrease and reassemble, no need to keep spotlessly clean and no issues giving it a good hose down when bike cleaning. Oooh, did I mention that the cable stays in the same place as you would expect a cable operated system to do.

When you say your canyon doesn’t have routing for cables, what frame is it? The Nerve frame has two rubber/plastic lugs under the top tube which you can screw out. They are blanking plugs for cable guide bosses. You can then screw in a couple of cable guides like these and route your hose.

Now go and buy a Reverb.

Reverb or Lev

GD’s work is a load of bull, seen plenty that have broken or are not working right, yes they can then be fixed at home but they still go wrong.

My GD stopped working once.

The collar at the top of the post needed unscrewing about a quarter turn and that was it fixed again.

I think it’s possibly user error with GD’s.

Mugboo – Member
I think it’s possibly user error with GD’s.

From what I’ve seen/heard 1st hand
Cable mount snapped off – Obvious User Error
Cable Streatched Beyone limit of adjustment – not a trail fix
Seized in first few weeks

It’s a very simple design but it relies on the pin fitting into the hold correctly and seems to be sensitive to this.

Others have had their teething troubles but are coming good.
At RRP of 250 it’s a tad pricey.

My KS went wrong once had the internal upgrade and has been untouched for 2 years and cost less.

Got the TraiDrop one,it’s a bit mechanical but a very simple design & even comes with a rubber boot to keep the crap off it.All the spares are cheap & it takes less time to dismantle than it will take you to read this post.In use it goes up & down like a dropper seatpost & has worked perfect through many a mucky ride.Only problem I had with it was only having an all the way up or all the way down option, so drilled a hole in the middle of the travel & it’s even better now….. 8)

EDIT less than £90 too

i got 2 reverbs and only had a issue with one and they warrantied that 🙂

Cable Streatched Beyond limit of adjustment – not a trail fix

??? there are no barrel adjusters, but you just take the cover off the lever (one small screw) then loosen the 2 grubs screws which hold the cable. Pull the cable through tighten up the grubs screws and you are done.

But this is the beauty of the GD. A mate snapped his cable when he crashed on a ride, and as I was carrying a spare gear cable we just replaced it. It took about 5 minutes and it’s a proper repair, not just a trailside bodge. Again, though, my GD’s are all on the original cables and have never been adjusted.

You can also get them in a range of drops and lengths so you can have fully up, down an inch and fully down. Or up, down 2 inches and down, and if you don’t like what you have you can get a replacement shaft from GD for about £20 with whatever drop you want.

I did have a guy bring one to my workshop who decided to to make his a multidrop by drilling loads more holes in the shaft which inevitably snapped. So I ordered a replacement shaft from GD and rebuilt it when the parts arrived. It took about 5 minutes and the total bill was about £25 including the parts.

Plus they come in 27.2 and the cables stay put when they go up and down.

Really, what’s not to like.

Mikewsmith, – you have a point about the cable entry point, it could shear off in a crash but surely that applies to any cable or hose?

Also the GD price is stoopid for a design that’s been out so long. I paid £80 2nd hand inc 3 shims. It was somebody upgrading to a Reverb.

Like I say I have one of each. The Reverb is absolute class (now its been fixed). The GD is ugly and clunky but I can service in 5 mins and I bet it outlasts the Reverb

That’s when you need the quarter turn of the collar.

Had a Joplin. Was good when it worked but need a lot of work to keep it working and the side to side waggle just became bonkers, even after a new guide block was fitted.

Got a Reverb now and its superb. Sure that in real life terms theres not a lot of difference between the smooth multi level functionality of a Reverb and a Lev and the simplicity of a GD. Either way, just avoid the Kronolog. Sounds like its a right bag…

Cheers for all the advice; a true STW mixture of ‘my god your a muppet’ and some really helpful stuff. Clearly I have more research to do. If anyone has a Kronolog and is pleased with it I would be keen to hear from you.

Scapegoat; I have checked my toptube and I have no cable guide points. Its a Nerve XC (2012).

Thanks again

Dogsby

mikewsmith – Member

Seized in first few weeks

I’ve seen what it takes to seize a gravity dropper, and even for that serial bike abuser, it took 2 years.

Sorry guys just what I had seen & heard from owners – leave me not that impressed. The new generation seems to work well in my experience and has infinite adjustment.

With a 2 year Warranty they get my cash

I have a GD (3 years use usually on wet gritty South Wales trails), and a Reverb (5 months use, mainly in the dry). So not a fair comparison on conditions or time but I much prefer the Reverb.
I’ve had to sent to GD back twice – once because the shaft snapped and once because it wouldn’t get all 3 positions (spent hours trying to get it right but it would a mystery for something so simple and I could only get top and middle or middle and bottom positions not both.)
I have a classic and having to tap it with your bum before it rises is annoying too, shouldn’t be a problem with a turbo. The worse thing is that it just takes more force to push it down which can upset your balence when already in a technical section.
The Reverb is just slicker, only time will tell it if will last a winter…