“Its worth noting that most remote cables on seatposts form a U bend. So once the water gets in it can’t get”
“I have a feeling that the remote cable’s, whilst nice, do add to the problems”
You need to a middleburn cable oiler or two into the cable, if it gets sticky you sI have a feeling that the remote cable’s, whilst nice, do add to the problemsimply push the dirt back out with WD40/GT85 etc. Plus if you position them along the cable outer just right, then the rubber O-ring on them acts can help stop cable rub too
I went for a KS i900R as I wanted to be able to set it anywhere along its height (not just set drop points decided by the manufacturer), and as I was after a dropper post to increase the amount of saddle drop on my frame (around 80mm drop) where the shock interupts the seattube I wanted more than 4″ of drop to partially warrant the outlay
There is quite a lot of play in it now, though as above you don’t notice it whilst riding and if anything must help when the bike pings its way through rocks seated climbing or moving weight into corners
The ‘patented no slop’ guides inside are worn
Theres some quite deep scratching in the inner shaft too and probably connected there is some play fore-aft (ie when you sit on it, it must move) though again its not noticable when riding and still works fine
The older lever on i900Rs although a bit easier to use (when positioned below the bar rather than above)I reckon than the new style was a bit flimsy, I broke 2
The new style ODI lock ring compatible one is a bit pointless though as if you were to mount it on the inner edge of your grip replacing a grip lock ring then you have reposition your whole hand to use the lever which is effectively much further back. I’ve got mine inboard of the brake and shifter though because its ODI lock ring compatible you need to have something under the clamp (I’ve got the ‘clip’ ends of an old locking grip middle sawn off) else it will score your bars as its only clamping around half of the way round the bar
Servicing its pretty simple, basically remove the lower nut and threaded cap, degrease/clean out and bung suspension grease back in
Probably the worst thing about i900’s though is the (single bolt) clamp. To get it tight enough so the saddle won’t move I need a ball ended style (6mm) allen key with an extension. More of a problem though are the notches in ‘splines’ of the clamp which means that my saddle has to point slightly too back (freeride) or slightly too forward (uphill). I could get it pretty much flat with my last saddle though I think it had slightly bent rails
i950’s look like they have similar ‘splined’ type notches to grip with too