To my mind it seems totally unnecessary to be hydraulic and so I think I should avoid.
Any opinions based on ownership?
If the non AXS one there’s no reason to buy one in my opinion. Brand x and Oneup are cheaper and more reliable. Both easier to service too.
If you must have an electric dropper post then less choice - but unless you’re regularly swapping the post between bikes I can’t see the point. Just means you have something to charge periodically. And servicing the actual post is still tricky I believe.
I've never owned one but a couple of mates have. They go soft every couple of rides and need faffing with. Sram have stopped selling them as they don't work. Even Guy Kesteven doesn't rate them.
A BikeYoke costs no more (maybe less?) and is far more reliable, easier to self-bleed, and cheaper/easier to service.
Love mine, it's been on my bike for 6 years now and I've not serviced it or bled it once in that time. It's internally routed but has a clever connector that lets you disconnect the hose without needing to bleed it.
Ive ridden it in all conditions, never given it any maintenance other than washing it on the outside along with the rest of the bike.
The remote still feels great and it raises and lowers smoothly.
Total contrast to the one cable operated one I had before it which needed regular faffy cable changes due to water and dirt ingress.
Cue all those who've had issues with Reverbs due to leaving them in the down position for weeks at a time and blown the air seals.
I wouldn't buy one unless splashing out on AXS as OneUp give more drop in a given space. However, I've had pretty much every version of stealth Reverb going and for me they have been reliable. Service is a little involved but perfectly possible at home if you have the enthusiasm and a few specific tools. The more recent versions have a valve system that allows you to remove squish in a similar manner to the Bike Yoke posts. Hydraulic remote doesn't freeze in winter but here on the sunny south coast that isn't much of a problem these days anyway. But I'd go OneUp
If (as Guy suggests) the spongy issue still hasn't been eradicated, a Reverb is best avoided. When was the original Reverb released? 2010 ish? Quite astounding that the same issue remains 14 years later. Employing a little gizmo to temporarily solve a design issue that most other droppers just don't have seems even more peculiar.
We used to run them on all the bikes and I was prepared to service them as required. Eventually I got fed up with the servicing and with the improvement in cheaper posts like brand x, I wouldn’t bother spending the money unless you want a cable free axs.
The fact that SRAM no longer list it speaks volumes
I have one and it has been great. Reliable and effective.
Just saying……
I wouldn't. Fancier? Bikeyoke. Cheaper? Brand X. More drop? One Up.
There isn't anything you could want from a Dropper that isn't done better than someone else.
Bikeyoke overhaul kit? About €20. Just the top bushing and seal for a Reverb, over €40. Plus, Soares might become thin on the ground for the discontinued standard version.
Had 2 reverbs. 1 was 7 years old, and the other was 6 years old. Both were faultless and never serviced. I was careful though and never clamped them in a bike stand or pulled them up when they were down.
Contemplating a Reverb AXS now.
If AXS Reverb and you can afford it then absolutely yes...I'm 3 years with mine and it has been faultless throughout that time.
If non-axs then I'd be a bit hesitant as I had 7 and only bought the first 1...each one was warranty and replaced - over a period of about 5 years.
Brand-x (or anyone else who uses the Tranz-X dropper with their badge on it) is very reliable and much more affordable.
If large drop is what you are after then OneUp seems to be the option and also seems reliable.
Good experiences with both Bikeyoke and One Up droppers. Also had a couple of Thomson Elite ones, which were lovely and smooth, but need to go back to the importer for a rebuild at 100 quid plus if they do stop working. Not used the latest Reverb, my early one wore out its top bushing / dust-cap assembly twice after a fair bit of hammer. At the time they seemed to be pretty much consumables with people getting them replaced under warranty, sometimes multiple times, which was a little off-putting.
Bikeyoke would be my first choice unless your priority is the most drop you can get relative to insertion depth, in which case One Up. Love the reset function on the Bikeyoke, lovely, smooth action and completely home serviceable and rebuildable with parts from TFT.
Reverb was the worst and most unreliable component I’ve had on any bike in 20 years.
A hateful thing. Replaced with a Fox / Brandx and completely forgotten about since.
Reverbs belong in the sea.
+1
Bloody terrible, even the latest versions.
if spending that much, just get a BikeYoke Revive.
if wanting to spend less then OneUp. V2.1 are on offer as there is the new v3.
having both the BY needs less looking after and has a better trigger.
I wouldn’t. Fancier? Bikeyoke. Cheaper? Brand X. More drop? One Up.
There isn’t anything you could want from a Dropper that isn’t done better than someone else.
Don't forget wireless; Vyron.
But yeah, lots of other options why buy a known flawed product?
Don’t forget wireless; Vyron.
Magura Vyron
Tranz-X EDP01
KS Lev Circuit
BikeYoke is working on one https://nsmb.com/articles/bikeyoke-teases-wireless-dropper/
and I bet OneUp is too.
For the sake of balance, I must’ve had a dozen reverbs over the years, not one had to be warrantied/died.
Reverb on wife's bike, hardly abused though - was given it by a mate when I bought a bike of him (it was new, unused). My X-fusion Hi-Lo SL is 8 years old - ex-display or some such from Wiggle at the time. Serviced it in the first 6 months as it was leaky, so changed the seals. Haven't done anything with it since, other than keep the cable clear near the actuator on the post (externally routed)
Wouldn't touch one myself. Had 3, all went wrong, each one was supposed to be a revised version that fixed the problems (or one I think I had to pay for the upgrade parts) but none of them ever did. And the original lever was hilariously bad- fit it upside down and on the wrong side and it was almost OK. Basically there was a reason Rockshox went so hard for the OEM market with these... KS was better in the first place then along came more competitors and pretty much every one of them did something better. AXS is quite nice I'll admit but even now they finally have a decent product I'm not motivated to give them money after all those pisstakes.
Got 2 Oneups and a Bikeyoke now
Not when you can get cable operated decent droppers for < £40
