Specialized Command post

I’ve finally got a dropper post and the Command Post seems pretty good so far.

I’ve got a couple of questions.

How do I know what model I’ve got? Its got something like SDO1477 on the bottom of the post.

Anything I should be doing to keep it working properly? I’ve already replaced the cable and outer for the remote.

The remote seems too big to clamp on the bars. Is it designed to be used with a shim of some sort? I’ve got it mounted inwards on the bars towards the centre bulge (31.8mm clamp bars) at the moment.

I’ve got the pressure set at about 25 PSI and it seems to stick a little coming back up, it hasn’t been used for a bit and I haven’t ridden it yet, will it loosen up a bit, so would a strip and grease be in order. Looks simple enough to do.

I had a couple of the XCP command posts with the SRL lever, seems to work pretty well for me and the SRL lever is very nice.

They are good posts. The unsung hero of the dropper post world IMO.

You don’t need to do much to them. Just the occasional strip and re-grease. Unscrew the collar (mine was crazy tight the first time) pull out the middle being careful. Clean and grease. It is a bit sensitive to pressure. I run my at the upper end of the recommendation, maybe slightly higher. It can shoot up pretty quick but I prefer that to it being too slow.

Don’t know if all the levers are the same but mine has a removable inset in the middle so you can fit it to a clamp on grip, or directly on the bars with the insert. I think I run mine upside down to how it is supposed to be but that works for me. I’ve also removed the noodle and put the cable straight into the lever as that gives better routing and slicker operation for me.

Just be a wee bit careful of pressure, 15-20psi is max recommended, 25psi might bust a seal somewhere.

Strip and re-grease, with occasional use of fork lube to keep things clean and sweet, will do the trick. They seem pretty bomb-proof, mine now 3 years old and doing fine.

The remote seems too big to clamp on the bars. Is it designed to be used with a shim of some sort? I’ve got it mounted inwards on the bars towards the centre bulge (31.8mm clamp bars) at the moment.

Its not one that forms a lockon collar for a grip is it? One of mine has that

love mine, so much more reliable than the reverb. Pretty sure mine has a 40 psi limit, it’s one of the older 3 position ones though. I pretty much always have it either all the way up or all the way down (same with the reverb too).

Plus the ultra rapid up stroke is excellent IMO, but after all that I can’t really help you with which model you have though. Agree that it’s the unsung hero of the dropper world – maybe something to do with it being a “Specialized” branded item? just a thought.

A sound choice. easy to maintain too.

Thanks all.

I’ve just been reading the servicing instructions, nice and simple by the looks of it. Might give it a bash this evening.

I think tomhoward might be right, it could well be part of a lock grip collar. Looks like I need to make up a shim for it from some random crap in the spares box.

Good to hear theres not much bad to say about them. Im at the heavier end of the rider spectrum (17st kitted out) so hopefully it’ll remain durable for me!

The one I had did clamp over the end of the specialized lock on grips. When I swapped grips, I chopped this bit off, to use a shim. I’m sure there’s a better way though.

Still a great dropper.

I might pop into my local Spesh dealer and see if they have any old lock ons I might butcher.

We are running them on all our bikes for years. Had one that broke which Specialized sorted and the rest have been fine. Mixture of external and internal routing. Just give a spray of silicon every now and then.

When we were running the over the bar lever we never had a problem just seating it with any type of clamp on grip. It didnt need to be a Specialized specific grip.

Had two brand new ones and had to return both due to the amount of saddle wiggle

I know all droppers have this a little bit but Specialized say on their website and on the side of the box that they have eliminated saddle wiggle with their dual key way design

Yet both mine had wiggle straight out of the box that got worse with use, it really is false advertising and i was told they would remove this wording from the website, which they never did

Went Brand X in the end for £90, minimal saddle wiggle and its not got worse in over 300 miles of use

Also have a Reverb that’s done 1000 miles with one service so far, next time it needs a service it will be replaced with a Brand X!

Well that was easy. I guess it took 15 – 20 mins to strip, clean (not that it needed it really) and put back together. Nice and simple mechanism.

The LBS came up trumps. They had a nicely chopped bit of lockon core which has done the trick for the bar clamp nicely.

Long term user of dropper posts here, ranging from an old 3 position Spesh post, an X-Fusion post, two Reverbs and a new(er) 10 position Command Post.

The original Spesh post leaks air, but the post head is tightened to the point where it won’t budge, I’ve broken both my strap wrench tools trying to shift it. Otherwise, it’s okay but in need of a strip down and rebuild. The X-Fusion post is awful in every way, hence my Reverbs, which have been reliable once you get the hang of bleeding them.

Im very happy my my new Command Post and it’s natty SRAM shifter type lever. Three months in and it is working just fine, aside from a little cable stretch. The only issue that I had was feeding the cables through my frame (S-Works Enduro), but the old vacuum cleaner trick sorted that.

I bought a second-hand Command Post IR (3-position) off eBay a few months ago. It was slow to extend and would stop at the ‘cruise’ position rather than the ‘power’ position and I had to manually pull it up to full extension. I suspect that is why it was so cheap (£60). I put up with it for a while until it stopped returning at all during a trip to BPW.

I stripped it down, cleaned and re-greased it using some SRAM Butter. This improved things but it still wouldn’t return to the fully extended position without manual help. A second strip down, thorough clean and re-grease, including inside the inner tube, with Slick Honey and it is now operating like a brand new post.

I have set the pressure to 20psi. Spesh say it can go up to 25psi in cold climates but anything in excess of this could damage the seals.

The collar was extremely tight but I managed to get it undone by leaving the post in the seat tube and using a strap wrench.

I tried the included remote lever initially but couldn’t get it in a comfortable position where it didn’t foul on the brake lever bracket so replaced it with a Giant lever. This was much better but has now been replaced with a Wolf Tooth ReMote which is really good and in a great position.

I think my post is a blacklite, but its got a seal head with flats on it, so it can actually be undone.

How about filing some flats on the round head to get it off to start with and then obtain a new seal head which has flats on it?

Blacklite is externally cabled.

The IR and IRcc are internally routed.

As far as I know only the Mk1 posts came with a collar with flats.

I run about 30psi in mine and enjoy firing rocks into orbit using it when resting mid-ride 😀

Had mine about 3 years, strip it once a year and replace seals, it’s bitchin’.

25 psi in ours.

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Sorts out the remote lever for £17.50

My command post started to not return…typically on a trip to Wales where I needed it most. But a couple of days with Spesh and it has been brilliant ever since. (warranty job)

I used to be very nervous of the plum destroying rise rate, but have grown to like it. Especially when racing and you want a very quick transition from dropped to seated mode.

Quick question though. Quite fancy one for my HT. But only see them in 30.9. Do they work ok with a shim to bring them up to 31.6?

Yes they work with a shim, the new carbon frames came with a shim to allow this.

Just a word of caution. I bought a second hand command post off ebay and had to rebuild it. Stripping it down revealed lots of brass slivers inside. I can only assume it had been run with high pressure, though I can’t say how high. The brass guides had been hitting the top out washer with such force the washer had been shaving fine slivers off the guides as they went past the washer over extending the post by about 5mm. After rebuild it kept the pressure as to the minimum required for a decent return and most of the time (in the calmer situations) controlled the return with my ass rather than letting it top out with force. I do like the home serviceability of these posts, though running a reverb at the moment for a number of reasons, being inline is one of them.

<div class=”bbp-reply-author”>dove1
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Blacklite is externally cabled.

The IR and IRcc are internally routed.

As far as I know only the Mk1 posts came with a collar with flats.

Talking to the mech in my LBS he had a blacklite and swapped the round collar for one with flats, so it would appear that they are interchangeable. Whether you can still get the flatted collar I don’t know. Im just glad mine has!

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Ive resorted to useing the rubber from my broken boa wrench combined with mole grips to undo some of the posts for there first clean n grease.

But mostly a nice reliable post ,

air leaks on external cable posts are often the seal round the alloy bit the air valve is set into right at the bottom of the post