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Per the above really. I've just taken delivery of one and it feels nice and positive to use (off the bike). Just wondering if the people who have one on here how they are finding the reliability / longevity of it?
Won't be fitting it to a bike until my new one arrives next week to see how well it works in action.
Been done several times. Do a wee search.
If you can't be arsed though, mine is 6 months on and less side to side play than KS Lev was when new.
Got one on my Aeris too, five rides in and it feels pretty good - can't comment on longer term longevity yet though! The remote it very flimsy though, and the cable is prone to pulling through the end ferrule at the base of the post unless cranked tight - I'm going to convert mine to the Bontrager lever which clamps at the lever end.
Had one for a few months, so far so good, lasted better than my first KS post already 😉
Time will tell on the longevity front but it seems well made.
Mine's still faultless a few months in
Ordered one form ubyk last Wednesday and it's still not shipped yet! I seem to be getting brushed off every-time I ask them as well. If your in a rush maybe order one from CRC, my bike is in bit's so I'm not to bothered.
Mine arrived Monday.
Seems good quality. Got as far as threading cable through frame, and putting seat on post but not on bike yet. Have you owners cut the cable exactly as per their leaflet instructions? All working ok?
Nervous about making the cut as knowing me it'll be too short...
Better than my last 3 reverbs. And 3 times cheaper too
ogden - I ordered mine from ubyk too. Mine arrived within 5 days - Richard was quick to respond with any queries I had. My grub screw was missing so emailed yesterday morning. He spoke to Hotlines and a complete new lever set waiting on doormat when I got home tonight. Overall been very impressed with them given I had barely heard of them this time last week.
Opposite to what I've had to deal with so far tbh. Ordered Wednesday then told on Friday it would ship that day, told yesterday it would ship today but still nothing. Think I'll avoid them in future.
Rascal - I was nervous when making the cut too. Went for 19mm, connected it all up, put everything in place, pulled the lever a few times to check it all worked ok, then removed the post again and remeasured. A bit more of the cable had come through so trimmed it, replaced and everything has been working fine since.
Mine has been great for about 5 months with a mudguard , I agree the ferule is an obvious but hidden point of failure though!
Idiotdogbrain that bontrager lever sounds a good idea I will look into it ta
When does the 150mm drop version come? 170mm would be almost too good.
That post feels super solid for its price, but saddly the 125mm is just a bit too short for my use.
Had >6 months of abuse on mine and it's working flawlessly.
Another brief but satisfied owner here. About 5 rides in, better than the KS etens I had before, would like a slightly longer drop, but I can get a crud rear guard on the bit that sticks out so that's a bonus.
All fairly good news so far then. The only dropper I've owned so far is the mechanical rsp plummet and in all the time I've had it I haven't had to do a single bit of maintenance on it. And I've done some seriously muddy rides too. New bike doesn't have external dropper routing so it's been retired to my play / commute hardtail.
Hoping this ascend post lasts a while with no problems.
120mm travel is 20mm more the plummet and I normally used that at the halfway point in its travel with only occasional use at its lowest setting so figure 120mm travel should be fine for now.
one of my mates has one on his nukeproof...goes up and down smoothly although the amount of drop isnt massive...but the lever is not the best design.
he had a small off and the lever snapped off...the cable tension is holding it together
I've seen that feedback - the suggestion I've seen online is that the Bongrager dropper post lever is cheap to buy and much better quality. Only thing is the cable is retained at the lever rather than the post so not sure how easy it will be to retro fit.
If it's sat under the bars how did he manage to damage it in the crash?
Joe the brand x post uses a teeny weeny grub screw in a separate cable barrel inside the end of the post. It's the same shape and size as a standard cable end so the idea I think is that the bontrager 'hack' simply has you using the proper barrel in the post and the new lever grub screw is holding the cable directly in the lever probably with a decent sized screw.
That sounds like a winning bodge then - saw a Bontrager post / lever in Mud Dock earlier in the week and it felt quite nice quality. For £15 it might be a worthwhile modification anyway if the standard lever is pap.
They're jolly good but the standard lever is a bit flimsy, yes.
Flimsy but feels good in use. I'm waiting in disbelief for the failure of the grub screw before I update it.
If it's sat under the bars how did he manage to damage it in the crash?
when he came off the bars spun around and as the bike landed the lever hit a small rock and came off worse
Ouch. I imagine most levers might have bought it with that sort of accident in fairness....
Had a nose in evans at lunch and it looks like the brand x lever at least is the same as the tranz x one, which is only £95 from ze germans.
Ouch. I imagine most levers might have bought it with that sort of accident in fairness....
levers were perfectly fine...basically his front wheel got jammed between rocks and he came off sideways but as he did her turned the bars left but the bike fell to the right
he's looking at the new rsp plummet instead now
A new lever is only £15 - surely not worth changing posts for? The rsp is a budget post as well....
oureyes - Member
Joe the brand x post uses a teeny weeny grub screw in a separate cable barrel inside the end of the post. It's the same shape and size as a standard cable end so the idea I think is that the bontrager 'hack' simply has you using the proper barrel in the post and the new lever grub screw is holding the cable directly in the lever probably with a decent sized screw
Without removing my post i think they are different in size, but would be interested in this as well.
If anyone does the above please post and let us know.
I haven't fitted my post yet - if I get a chance later I'll pop into the garage and see how big the slot is in comparison to a standard cable end.
Nice one. Much appreciated.
To use the Bontrager remote you need to use the barrel clamp from the post end of the Brand X but counter-drill the cable hole halfway to create a recess for the cable end ferrule to sit in, that's all.
Fair enough. I don't have the tools to do that so will just carry on as is.
I thought you meant using the barrel end of a road gear cable.
I was assuming that you could perhaps use a gear cable with the large round end on (are these road cables?) from the previous comment. Certainly a quick look at the end of the post suggests it might - but I didn't get time to go out and look properly.
Thats what i thought as well.
A new lever is only £15 - surely not worth changing posts for? The rsp is a budget post as well....
has a smoother action and a better designed lever
I've not seen a review head to head that suggests that. Mixed reviews on both posts - what's the lever like on the Rsp post? I've got the previous rsp plummet with the mechanical action and the lever is pretty agricultural so it must be a big improvement on that I assume?
Just tried a big round head gear cable and it's just too big to fit in the round gap at the bottom of the ascend post. Darn it.
Just tried a big round head gear cable and it's just too big to fit in the round gap at the bottom of the ascend post. Darn it.
Dremel/file?
It's more for the future really - mines brand new so I don't have a broken lever at the moment. Was just looking at it before I put the post on the bike (which I don't have yet).
As an aside and back to reliability...
15 stone plus rider here using the Brand X.
All good so far, small amount of moving in shaft but not deteriorating at the moment.
I love the lever action personally. If it breaks I will probably just buy a new one.
Ideally yes, the cable end would be nicer at the deeper end but I can live with this slight inconvenience.
Will be upgrading when a 150mm version appears.
Good value for money dropper in my opinion. 🙂
My current dropper is 100mm so expecting this 120mm one to be enough. But we'll see how we go!
Hmm sorry Joe that sounds more faff than easy swap doesn't it, I did have to file the barrel on my original lever as it was malformed in production and more of a banana than barrel so it is of course possible. It sounded like a drop in (fnar) swap 🙂
Yes I'm getting some play now like poopscoop, which I'm pretty sure wasn't there at new but for this money I'm happy.
Finally got round to fitting mine today - very easy.
Did a ride up and down the street to try and very impressed...actually feels nicer and more instant then my old Reverb did...gets a proper ride in the Peaks next weekend 🙂
I've not seen a review head to head that suggests that. Mixed reviews on both posts - what's the lever like on the Rsp post? I've got the previous rsp plummet with the mechanical action and the lever is pretty agricultural so it must be a big improvement on that I assume?
ive got the old RSP plummet on my old bike and i agree that the action does feel agricultural. the new lever is a lot smoother and looks better too. another one of my friends has just bought one and i was impressed at how smooth it feels.
the design of the lever is very similar to the one i have on my giant contact sl stealth
Following a crash during practice at the Welsh Enduro Series round at Coed y Brenin yesterday, I now too have a broken lever. The loop of material that surrounds the pivot point snapped. Still worked well enough to get me through the race as the cable tension held the lever in position on the pivot, it was just a bit flappy in use! Seems like a fairly weak point and I can imagine quite a few get broken in crashes, but it wouldn't be enough to put me off buying the post. I was almost tempted to buy the Race Face lever, which is apparently a straight swap, but it's twice the price so I'll take my chances with another BrandX one, especially as I like the positioning and action of it.
Fitted my ascend post today - bit of a fiddle but think it's ok. Maybe have a little bit too much cable outer looped round as it goes into the seat tube of the frame but nothing too bad. Bit trial and error I found in terms of shortening the outer / inner.
Seems to work well although haven't ridden the bike with it yet - will try it properly tomorrow. In terms of travel I probably couldn't quite fit a 150mm travel post anyway. Glad I didn't go for a 150mm reverb.
Used the bike last night for the first time with the. Ew dropper. Feels smooth and reactive - not any different from the reverb I tried about a month ago on a demo bike. Except the lever on the ascend is nicer as shifter style not a little button.
Guess the acid test is how long it lasts like this! I'm running a rear enduro guard mudguard thing which should protect the seat post / rear shock / linkages from the worst of the mud splatter which I hope should help.
Mine got very graunchy after 7 months and started to bind in its travel with loads of play. Hotlines asked me to send it back to CRC.
Hermes lost it in the system so CRC sent me a new one. We'll see if this lasts a bit longer. My 2 year old Thomson on another bike is still like new...
Mine is as good as the day in bought it 4 months in! 100x better than the giant one. I'll probably upgrade to a longer one if they release one
Mines been faultless since fitting about 8 months ago now.
Just recently lubed up the cable and it's as smooth as silk.
Shame they don't do an external cable version.
Can't bring myself to drill my carbon frame
Is there any ETA on a longer drop version?
Mine developed loads of play (saddle twisting left / right) after a handful of rides. As this happens the cap at the top of the static section of the post works loose. Saddle only twists when at full extension.
During my last ride it was also not returning properly.
Not sure whether something has worked loose / there is a manufacturing fault with mine / they are all just a bit crap. Whichever, it shouldn't be doing this.
I am currently waiting to hear back from CRC.
In case anyone on this thread is interested, CRC replaced my post quickly without question.
The new post seems way better than the old one straight away. I realise now that with the old one I had to unweight the post and then reapply weight to get it to drop. Not so with the new one, just push the lever whilst seated and it drops. The new one seems to have less unwanted movement too.
Not sure if the design has changed slightly in the meantime. New post has slightly different seals and decals on the top-cap.
Good to know. Mines ok 2 months or so in. Pretty much no play and still smooth. It is the summer though so not been subjected to too much abuse yet.
So I broke my dropper remote in a crash - smashed my knee into it as I went over / through the handlebars. Not sure if the remote or knee won really - the remote still functions but is wobbly as I've snapped a bit hatbholds the cable, but my knee also looks quite mangled!
Did anyone find a replacement dropper lever that's a straight swap without changing the end the cable is clamped that's any better jam the standard one?
If not I'll just buy a straight replacement as I honk the impact would have broken most levers - I hit it hard enough to spin round he bars but it took a lot of effort to spin it back even after undoing the clamp bolt!