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So, I'm just about to buy a Liteville 301 frame, which I am beyond excited about, so now I can finally fit a reverb. The question for me is whether the stealth is reliable, given the increased inaccessibility of it. I'd have to follow the Liteville guide to drill out the seat tube for the stealth post. Anyone done this and had the hose rattle around in the tube?
Anyone found one to be more reliable than the other?
Also, the 301 takes a 34.9 seatpost. Some folks have advised me to get a smaller sized dropper and shim it out as it would be easier to sell on. But do you think the larger seatpost would be more reliable, with more space for seals, etc?
I have both, in terms of basic functional reliability, there has been no difference- both have been fine. In terms of vulnerability, the stealth wins hands down, no fragile barb below the seat or flappy hose to get in the way or damage.
As far a using a shim is concerned, how likely are you to sell the new frame in two or three years time without the dropper? Are you likely to swap between your own bikes? If you think either is a possibility, get a narrower post, if not then stick with the larger one.
There are more bikes with 30.9 or 31.6 seat posts so it may be more sellable?
Ditto, Just bought a 301 and bought a shim to use my 31.6 reverb with it. I would defo go this option even if I didn't have the post already. It will definitely be more saleable or more suited to another bike if you change it later on. Which model 301 are you getting? The MK11 I have already has the hole for a stealth post. However, there doesn't appear to be a neat way of bringing 3 cables/hoses up the main tube so I will be fitting a normal dropper and using the clips under the top tube for a tidier installation.
8 months into a reverb stealth and it gets a lot of use on our local trails. Not a single issue with it yet...
not unheard of Reverbs to have to go back to Sram in the first year and obviously the Stealth is more faff to remove. I would still get it though (hose comes out of a hole above the BB and clamps onto the upper side of the downtube (tempting to overtighten these clamps; don't).
Thanks guys. It's a Mk10 I'll be getting. I can't imagine selling the bike for a good long time tbh, and don't/won't have any other bikes to swap the post onto so I suppose I may as well get the right sized one. Good to hear about reliability, that's always a concern with these droppers.
Anyone else here drilled their frame?
a faff to fit and remove but much better in use.
Check with sram, it might just be a sleeve change on the dropper if you did want to change size. I know it works between the two larger sizes on my LEV.
Welshfarmer, does the hose make any noise in the sesttube, that's my main concern with internally routing things, though I love the neatness.
I have an external one so can't really comment. However, the stealth post routing is outside the tubes until the base of the seat post so it is only internal from the hole in the post to the base of the reverb, ie, about 15-20 cms depending on frame size. The tubing here is also very large diametre so I "imagine" that if your cable is not too slack then rattling will not be possible.
It is possible that I'm entirely overthinking this. I ****ing love getting new bikes! Going riding on my current bike right now I'm so excited!
I find the stealth more reliable, the non stealth often kink where the cable enters the fitting by the saddle and bust the hose. Based on personal experience and from guests. I bought one in the smaller size and use the shin to fit so it can fit more bikes if I have to lend it out... no issues.
Well, consensus seems to be stealth posts. I'd love to hear any thoughts on rattling hoses if anyone has them.
Just purchased a stealth, I had no issues whatsoever with the external model.
I don't think it would even be possible for a stealth post cable to rattle. On my nukeproof it's clamped on the downtube right before it enters the seat tube, and the post holds the cable directly in the middle of the tube. It also only has to go a very short distance inside the tube, it's not like loose internal routing for gears or anything.