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The IFP valve/associated on my C1 Reverb failed just before heading off on a mtb trip. Being of limited mechanical know-how and unable to find someone who could service the Reverb in time I purchased a new one.
Subsequently I spoke to a guy, with a good reputation for servicing seatposts, suspension, etc, and asked how much to get it serviced, his response was £110 and as new ones are only a bit more in the sales, scrap it as they've basically become throw away items like brake pads!
I was surprised and, as yet, I haven't managed to bin it.
What do others do?
I know ...apart from avoid Reverbs, but I've always found their operation really good, with no slo etc, until the IFP plays up.
Stick it on ebay, someone who can fix them will buy, fix it and resell it. I've sold a couple that had problems, stuck them on ebay for £50 or so and they sold pretty quicly. That was a while ago though...
We used to joke that Fishers had rented a new warehouse just to store all of the returned Reverbs they'd replaced under warranty. Fair enough, this was a few years ago but the failure rate was incredible and we'd keep a couple extra in stock just so we could improve the warranty turnaround time.
Not just reverbs though. I've got 2 first gen One Up droppers that need a service and you can't get rebuild kits anymore. When I asked One Up they offered a discount and said you'll have to replace them. Doesn't help they've gone up so much now even with a generous discount code it still costs more than I paid originally.
I've two sat on the shelf in the garage. Replaced with cheapo brand-x units that have been faultless. There was a guy on ebay who would fully refurbish them for pretty minimal cost (~£50?) but even then I'm loathed to spend any money on a device that I know will fail again.
I thought the Crank Bros on the Whyte might have succumbed to rain forecast in an adjacent continent, but oddly it's been steadfastly reliable over the last 5 years.
Thomson also, nice things, but pretty much a sealed unit. When one of mine self destructed a few years back, it cost £110 or so to get it sorted.
BikeYoke stuff on the other hand, is fully home serviceable.
I had an early Reverb and it was niggly and unreliable, I have vague memories of rebuilding at least some of it. It always baffled me that companies making forks that survive millions of cycles, seemed to struggle making a simple uppy-downy seatpost that didn't fail repeatedly. Maybe they've got better?
There was a guy on ebay who would fully refurbish them for pretty minimal cost (~£50?)
cheers @hot_fiat , there is guy on eBay doing this with 100% feedback .. .. ‘mountainbikebits’ £50 for a 400hr full service and £73 for a 400hr full service and new hose kit. 3 month warranty.
I wonder how long I can leave it unused in a box before I actually need to swop it with the new one on my Enduro bike which only really used from time to time but is then battered for day after day at Morzine, Finale Ligure, Bike Parks, Inners, .. .. and off-piste steeps?
I've always thought that when droppers first came to market they mishandled it. They tried to sell them like suspension, plush, smooth operation and for no obvious reason hydraulic remotes, when really we just wanted it to go up and down.
Most now follow a really generic, basic design and I'm sure they're all pretty cross-compatible parts-wise and that's how they always should have been. £100-£200, you can buy replacement stanchions, airsprings etc, but they're usually 70%+ of the cost of them, better to buy a £15 service kit every year or just bin them when they die.
Over complicated, over expensive... they didn't stop at seatposts with that plan, did they.
I love Reverbs. I've got six of these on the go, every one of them working perfectly. All have developed the saggy shaft but were easily fixed with new home made bushes & SKF grey IFP seal. If anyone has any unloved Reverbs kicking around I'll give them a new home :o)
I've always thought that when droppers first came to market they mishandled it. They tried to sell them like suspension, plush, smooth operation and for no obvious reason hydraulic remotes, when really we just wanted it to go up and down.
TBF, it’s only SRAM that chose to goose their own product with over complex hydraulic actuation, just about every other manufacturer has recognised the benefits of good old Bowden cables…
Of course the very first gravity dropper was just a spring in a tube with some holes and an index pin. Very ‘agricultural’ by current standards but effective at the time.
I still don’t know why anyone would actively choose a Reverb today. Not when the various rebranded “Trans-X” gas strut in a tube droppers work well and can be scored for £50 - £100…
Hydraulic actuation was pure engineering arrogance and marketing complicity.
I am a big fan of their other products but they MUST have known of the reliability risks for something that added nothing.
I am a big fan of their other products but they MUST have known of the reliability risks for something that added nothing.
I suppose it meant the whole unit could be sealed. And in principle would allow for a better design as you don't need a whole load of actuators and linkages, the hydraulics can act directly on the valve actuator. But they didn't, they routed it to the head of the post 🤷
Which is all pointless considering how poorly fitting the main seal is.
And rendered completely pointless by internal cabling effectively shielding the actuator anyway.
I've two sat on the shelf in the garage. Replaced with cheapo brand-x units that have been faultless.
I also have two sat on the shelf in the garage. Replaced with cheapo brand-x units that have been faultless (if anything, actually better, as my revers are top hose entry, and the brandX job is a seatcoller entry for the cable (which suits my frame perfectly) and the cable actuator is much nicer to use.
annoyingly, the reverbs are not even useful for pub/town bikes, cause they are a saggy mess
I had one of the original external Reverbs. I loved it as it was my first dropper but I had to send it back to BikeDiscount.de back under warranty after a few months for a reason I can't remember. The replacement eventually developed sag and rotational play but was otherwise still working well when I eventually sold the bike it was on last year.
More than happy with the up and down operation of the cheapo TransX I currently have, although I am tempted by a OneUp v3 due to it's short insertion depth meaning I can go up from 150mm to 180mm and have it slammed in the frame.
OneUp aren't the bargain they used to be anymore. I'll be looking at the Ascend Components Flight SL next time.
And I'm saying this as some one who has 3x V2 OneUp
OneUp aren't the bargain they used to be anymore. I'll be looking at the Ascend Components Flight SL next time.
And I'm saying this as some one who has 3x V2 OneUp
Yeah the price is a bit much to stomach, but don't think any others offer the same max travel vs low insertion. It's been a while since I've looked though.
I'll keep buying oneups, they may not be as cheap as they first were. But when I've got two that are over 5000miles old, and still going strong, thats a lot more than the cheaper posts manage.
Just to counter Brand X are ace argument - mine has been the worst post I've owned. Sagged with not much use.
The Reverb AXS sags too, but at least there's a valve to fix it
Just to add to the chorus, One Up V2s last forever if you keep up with the servicing intervals and seal / bushing replacements.
I don't like the way the new ones have a disposable sealed cartridge though. I might look elsewhere when the time comes to replace.
I don't like the way the new ones have a disposable sealed cartridge though. I might look elsewhere when the time comes to replace.
Those carts are replaceable, I've got two different "Trans-X" derived 150mm droppers (one branded 'XLC' another branded 'Lapierre' but basically the same things). During the demise of Chiggle I scored five replacement cartridges for 99p each (the same spare item is ~£40 from Ascend components now, Bet you can get them for less from Ali-express). It's a simpler user replacement task, but it is still annoying to be binning a whole sealed gas strut.
I've still got an old X-Fusion HiLo on one bike that is completely user serviceable, unfortunately it's only 100mm drop and probably on the heavier side compared to modern posts, but that level of simple, fully maintainable construction is why I've had the thing for over 15 years, which makes it very good VFM (IMO).
My vyron v1 did well for years,magura repaired it under warranty.
It failed again,suspected water ingress, magura repaired FoC
It failed a 3rd time after I kicked the battery off in a crash which magura repaired FoC.
It's now trigger's seat post and 10 yearsold
I’ve still got a Gravity Dropper in the barn on an old Kona Howler frame. It still works perfectly m, the only problem is it has 3 inches of travel (I think) compared to my 170mm YT and 200mm Brand X posts and my balls still have PTSD from it’s rather aggressive spring!
I got one done by the cheap ebay guy, but actually did one myself and replaced the IFP seal, easier than I expected. But still, I totally stand by the logic of "don't keep fixing something that's shit, when it can be replaced with something much better for a reasonable amount of money". That's not "throwaway society", that's just "not throwing good money after bad", it's the fundamental crapness of the product that's the issue not the cheapness.
Replaced my last one with a very early gen 1 Bikeyoke Revive which is still going strong, it was expensive of course but it's just enormously better.
The Ascend Flight SL posts are pretty short insertion, not quite as short as OneUp but not far off, next shortest I think.
I had to get a short one for my Cotic RocketMax and didn't want to pay for a OneUp so got the Ascend for £120 I think.
The Ascend does have a nice crow picture on it.
Reverbs - awful. Like folks have said, overly complex and not reliable enough to justify that complexity.
My OneUp V3 just started ‘bouncing’ in use after not quite 3 months’ of weekly riding. I was surprised. Despite its simpler design and installation this makes it less reliable than my Reverb. I’ll see what OneUo suggest to remedy this.
got brand x seatposts on all my bikes and theyve been brilliant. Never touched them. The reverbs needed constant fixing. overly complicated and too unreliable. i.e. bin!
brand x seatposts on all my bikes and theyve been brilliant. Never touched them. The reverbs needed constant fixing. overly complicated and too unreliable
I have a Brand X on my HT. installed it a few years ago and, like you, haven’t touched it since.
Have V2 and V3 OneUp- had no issues over many years of use and being a bit dwarf like from the hips down, shorter insert makes them worth the money. I did have an issue where I'd mistakenly thought a v2 lever would fit on a v1 bar mount. Not only did OneUp politely explain I was an idiot, they also sent me a new mount for free!
My riding bud who services a lot of the locals bikes has a shelf full of working and borked reverbs. Fair to say no one wants to put them back in after trying anything else.
I also have a PNW post on my Giga. That's done 2000+ km is some pretty ropey weather and it's outlasted three sets of main pivot bearings...
The best thing I did with my Reverb(s), (aside buying a 200mm brand X dropper) was fitting the DeHy kit.
Removing the Hydraulic actuator made it easier to rebuild and more reliable. Probably needed a rebuild once per year to sort sag out.
Got a 150mm stealth B1 back on my hardtail after the BX cartridge failed at a time I couldn’t get a cartridge for sensible money.
As I can rebuild it for pennies, I’ll stick with it, although if I need any parts I’ll put a new cartridge in the BX post as it’s 200mm vs 150mm.
I have moved to e-13 Vario post and lever looked back.
The lever in particular is insane and very different from any other cable lever. All metal and the shortest smoothest action by far.