[Closed] Cheapo dropper post long-termers

x fusion at wiggle 120£ much much better imo if not quite up there with reverbs and ks posts but half the price to

I would be interested in this, too.

Is 100mm drop generally considered enough?

I have the ICE V8 (FORCA) post. In the 1st month, the post was problematic, with cable stretch, water ingress, and inconsistent lever throw.

After a month, I disassembled it, cleaned and greased it, and put it back together. Since then it has been great.

I think it is very susceptible to water ingress at the top of the rubber shaft boot, especially from hoses/jetwashers. The internals of the shaft come ungreased, and require stripping and greasing prior to use in uk conditions.

My forca is now scrap. Internals fell to bits. Got new ones from Germany (plastic sleeve bits) but not a good fit so post no longer goes up.
Fitted a Hilo last night. Seems best vfm option at the moment at £130 from wiggle

I'd get the HiLo after taking my mates apart & servicing/ reassembling it.

£40 is a fair price for what's inside, no more IMHO

Cool. ordered the HiLo. Thanks for the heads-up.

Forca Vario still going strong after 9 months. Seizes up every now and then. But it's very simple thing to strip down, lube, clean and get working again.
Spares are ridiculously expensive for it, for what they are.

I'd rather have one of these than a Reverb. Other people's Reverbs are the number one thing that packs up and causes trouble in my experience, on group rides.

Hasn't been one holiday or weekend away that hasn't seen a Reverb give up the ghost and require some mammoth bout of fettling.

What about this one.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251247848914?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Get a KS Dropzone from Bike-discount.de for £105.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1170/a50886/dropzone-%F8-309-mm-x-385-mm.html

mikey74 - Member
Is 100mm drop generally considered enough?

I've a Joplin 4 and a Spec Command on two of my bikes. I got a Forca for my old 5 since it's 27.2. You really need the rubber boot since as soon as mine got muddy it has been sticking. Taking it apart and cleaning / greasing has very little effect. It's bascially scrap now.

I got one of those TMARS from eBay (fair do's it arrived in about 5 days from Taiwan and with no further import costs), first thing I did was strip it down, shorten the cable, add better cable end caps and lube/grease it all.

I've stuck it on my Mega and it's great. The trigger is brilliant and the whole set-up works well.

As above, it perhaps needs a little more TLC compared with say a Reverb which is completely sealed, but then the TMARS cost me £78!

I would say the quality of the materials is good too, taking into consideration the price point, I wasn't expecting aerospace grade stainless steel.

I have a Reverb on my hardtail which I also love but I couldn't really justify splashing out on two Reverbs!

Basically dropper posts are the dogs danglies! And the new updated TMARS looks even better

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TMARS-2013-MODEL-419D-PRO-REMOTE-DROPPER-31-6-mm-SEATPOST-3-HEIGHTS-/261187766141?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3cd001077d

TBH I would NOT consider any dropper thats £100 to be cheapo. Its not cheap. Its only a dropper, not forks. Why are some droppers now getting into decent fork territory? It does one thing - up then down. There are no rebound, no compression circuits. Nothing. A ratchet etc for ****s sake.

If you spank £100 thinking 'its a gamble' then you need to stop and think 'why am I risking a good deal of money on low-end tat'?

I'd rather stick with my standard seatpost thanks.

It's pretty easy to spend £100 on a standard seat post.

'Standard' or bottom end/untried/unreliable?

Spend abit more or stick to normal post.

I tried a basic/bargain one years ago- It used to stick up/stick down etc etc. Pissed me royally off.

Buy one with a warranty, 1 fail/fix ok second one refund, quite simple

A used Gravity Dropper is probably a better bet than those Forca/V8 posts.

Thinking out loud..

These droppers are designed to a useable weight v longevity etc. However if a rider is over 14stone - surely the slight 'give' at the top with heavier riders is putting more wear and tear on a dropper? So if a rider is 16stone (I imagine there will be a few round this weight)- then surely the product wears quicker and fails quicker?

TBH I would NOT consider any dropper thats £100 to be cheapo. Its not cheap. Its only a dropper, not forks. Why are some droppers now getting into decent fork territory? It does one thing - up then down. There are no rebound, no compression circuits. Nothing. A ratchet etc for **** sake.

Blimey. Problem solved. If only they knew it was so simple. When can we expect the 100% reliable Horadropper for a reasonable price?

If it were me, I'd take the opportunity to save up a bit more and wait for the next OE Reverb spunkathon.

My Traildrop is around 10 months old now. Has been used through the winter. Bit of wobble as with all droppers but has been absoluterly fine itherwise. Mine was packed with grease then I cable tied the boot on top & bottom. Seems to have helped it survive a few months of wet crud.
For the price, or if you have a 27.2 seattube they are fine. Not as fancy as Reverb etc but they get the saddle out of the way when you press a button which is the point isn't it?

So if a rider is 16stone (I imagine there will be a few round this weight)- then surely the product wears quicker and fails quicker?

I'm after one of these and the only one that seems to be really reliable, strong, lacking wobble and ok pricewise is the gravity dropper. Still the thick end of 200 notes for two tubes a spring and some gubbins. Still buying one though.

Re weight- so in theory a heavier rider will just encounter more problems/wear/servicing need. Meaning a cheaper/poorer-quality dropper will just cause more hassle?

I say this as the saddle/post on ANY bike will suffer more than any other weight-related problem no?

I mean the Forca-type ones.

Edit: I'm 11 ish stone.

Might be a mistake but I have finally spent the cash to join the dropper club.

I'm 27.2 so there aren't many options but £65 inc postage has to be worth a gamble:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130790415484?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Let's see how long it takes to turn up.

There seem to be a few reports of problems on here, but it seems as long as I'm happy to strip and rebuild when required it should be ok. Finding parts might be a challenge but I'm hoping it will be possible.

Is 100mm drop generally considered enough?

I can't comment on 'generally' but for XC and trail riding I rarely use more than 50mm, so I think so. The bike's unpedalable at full 100mm drop. So I wouldn't pay more for more drop.

If I was doing full on DH seat would start lower anyway.

They are a bit temperamental on cable tension and I've found you do have to perfect the bum bounce technique to drop it fully quickly. Not perfect but worth its £65 price tag if it keeps on working.

i'd get a 2nd hand gravity dropper, parts readily available and although need a regular strip/regrease etc to keep sweet they're proven to last

I've got a Tmars sat waiting for my birthday before I can use it (few weeks yet*...), and i'm 16 stone, how long before I die?

* will the winter be over by then??

Oh and it arrived in about a week from superbicycleshop Taiwan.

hora - Member

I'd rather stick with my standard seatpost thanks.

Doesn't this limit choice when you do your weekly bike shop? 😀

My £65 TMARS has been fine since early Jan.

Cleaned/lubed it properly once.

All seem ticked y boo and it's not been exactly dusty so far this year.

Have to say I've been very disappointed with my TrailDropper. I probably need to spend a bit of time checking out what the problem is, but at the moment it doesn't lock in the down position, and needs a tug to get it back to normal position. Very stiff cable too.

The fact that I've got a reverb on my other bike, and had no problems with that, probably doesn't help.