You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I am after a dropper for my daughters Whyte 403 (26 inch wheeled kids bike).
Its a 30.9, needs to be 100mm drop... but the big one is it needs to be externally routed.
This limits choices greatly (unless i have missed something).
There are new KS E20 dropper posts on ebay for about £65. Which seems like a good price, unless they are crap?!
Anyone got one? Is it reliable? Or is there a reason they are £65 on ebay?!
Alternative suggestions welcome!!
Brand X do (or did?) an external dropper, had one on my son's bike. Was very reliable and you can get rebuild kits for them too.
Yeah, external routing makes me think of Brand X Ascend, which come in a range of sizes. SportsDirect have a bunch of them cheap.
I didn't know about the rebuild kits - where do you get them? I might pick one up; don't need it just yet, but who knows if they'll still be available when I do!
I've had a KS dropper on my bike for a while now - 8 years and counting, I think. Strava tells me I've done about 5,000km in that time. No problems.
I'm not 100% sure of the model, but the pics of the E20 I find online look like they're the same model as I have.
NB that I do have a mudhugger permanently installed, so the post is well protected from spray.
i did see the Brand X posts, but they dont seem to have the shortest version in stock. I will measure her bike to see if i could squeeze a 125mm on there.
Check out Ascend Components, they have a variety and are based off the Brand-X Ascend.
Meanwhile, I have a 13 year of KS Lev still going (somewhat) strong. It gets an occasional service but it well abused.
I bought a couple of the v.cheap (£35!!!!) 170mm drop KS Lev DX externally routed posts that Stif was chucking out in their closing down sale.
I have fitted one of them thus far...
My thoughts:
They aren't as good or well designed as Brand-X/Ascend posts despite looking externally similar. Or they are just an old design.
They use a tiny barrel clamp rather than preformed cable end to activate the post which is very fiddly and caused sweating and swearing.
The remote is a bit bobbins and designed around a 2x/3x drivetrain, but you can use any remote you like/have kicking about if you're running 1x.
The cartridge isn't the same as Brand-X/Ascend as in the down position it can be pulled up if you lift the bike by the saddle by mistake. Suspect it will get "The Sag" if this is done repeatedly.
But it was 35 quid...
I fitted a 170mm Externally Routed Ascend Post about a month prior and it took all of about 3 mins...
If I was in the market for a normally priced cheap dropper post I'd by the Ascend.
Why not fit an internal dropper? I've drilled 2 frames now, and no-one's died yet.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/bike-forum/so-im-thinking-of-drilling-a-hole-in-my-frame/
Why not fit an internal dropper? I've drilled 2 frames now, and no-one's died yet.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/bike-forum/so-im-thinking-of-drilling-a-hole-in-my-frame/
just read the thread, doesnt look as scary as first thought. I will check her bike out for options, as the gear and brake hose exit at the BB/Downtube junction, so i may be able to internally route it, pop out there, loop under the BB and into the back of the seat tube.
No worries. It was honestly fine. Measure twice, cut once and all that! 8mm in the end, but I drilled a pilot hole first.
I've also done something similar on a Giant Anthem down tube, by drilling about 6" down from the front of the head tube, then internally to the seatpost. That was a tight fit inside the BB and needed some thought.
Oh, and her current Anthem is all externally routed cable, so I've routed the dropper cable along the downtube, then drilled into the seattube on the side roughly where a front mech band would sit. That was because the downtube seems to be sealed from the BB shell.
So that's 3! And no-one's died yet 😁
(I have sold two of them...)
You can still buy the brand X As end Kids dropper on a variety of websites. It’s about £130