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This is a bit of a longshot, given the apparent technical difficulties in making a decent 27.2 dropper. I have a vague plan of getting a GD-type rip off, and either machining down the outside tube, or possibly making a replacement outer part using a stronger material to account for reduced wall thickness. I've not actually seen one of these things in the flesh yet to see how much thickness there is to start with, so not sure how feasible either option would be. I'd err towards making a new outer part from decent steel, so long as it can be done with rudimentary lathe and milling machine skills. Any thoughts, other than how it has potential to injure me horribly? If anyone happens to have a picture of a dismantled cheapo mechanical post I'd be grateful.
Cheers,
Edit: This picture of a t-mars post looks like the outer tube ought to be fairly easy to reproduce in 26.8mm
[img] 
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From memory of my t-mars, it was a fairly substantial outer tube.
Machining down the outer would be the easy option, and .2mm off the thickness might not be that significant if it's a cheap alloy at say 4mm already.
Might wear some reinforced shorts for the first few rides...
Op just out for a ride along the coast with his homemade dropper post, when all of a sudden...
[img] http://www.imgbase.info/images/safe-wallpapers/space/rocket_launch/35529_rocket_launch.jp g" target="_blank">http://www.imgbase.info/images/safe-wallpapers/space/rocket_launch/35529_rocket_launch.jp g"/> [/img]
Quick edit: I suck. Posting from IPad so couldn't get IMG insert to work.
<<< is what I was going for.
What about buying a gravity dropper? I bought mine from the states as I needed a 26.8mm.
Arrived quick ish, works well. Less chance of failure?
[url= http://gravitydropper.com/gravity-dropper-turbo/ ]link[/url]
What about buying a gravity dropper?
The $325 price tag, plus shipping and import duty is the main reason! Also I quite like the challenge of fiddling about with stuff to make it work. For the price of a new GD I could probably get a second hand frame and sensible sized reverb.
I fitted a tmars to the wife's bike as she needed a 27.2 and it needed to be short. I had to machine a bit off to get it low enough but it was easy enough to strip down and put in the lathe. Need to strip and grease it anyway. I'm sure you could skim a bit off. It works fine. Lever is a bit rubbish but easily replaced if you don't get on with it.
I did the deed on a 125mm Recneck, and so far so good! The post itself seems quite well made so I'm hopeful I've not just wasted £80.
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http://i.imgur.com/NuIaxhB.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Good effort! Fingers crossed for you
Nice.
I have that dropper on my singlespeed, a couple of things to watch-
1. The remote isn't nice to catch your knee on.
2. I've had mine spring up at awkward moments. Turns out if you pull/catch the cable outer it operates the mechanism, easy to fix by securing the outer and don't run with a large loop that the instructions suggest.