RockShox Reverb AXS
• Weight: 650 grams (150mm)
• Lengths: 100, 125, 150, 170
• Max Insertion: 225 (150mm)
• Internals: IFP
• MSRP: $800
•
sram.comThe wireless Reverb AXS goes for $800 USD, or exactly twice the price of a standard Reverb Stealth with their 1X remote. It's also a smidge heavier than a standard Reverb, at 650 grams for my 150mm-travel model, but you're paying extra for the missing hose, not missing grams. Paired with the post, is a wireless shifter that is very similar to the AXS gear shifter SRAM uses for their wireless MTB drivetrains.
The head of the post contains a tiny motor, gearbox, and electronics that make the post work. On the bottom is a vent valve to bleed off air. The head is adjustable via a tilt screw in the front which also locks it in place and a clamping bolt on the side. All of that aside, the post offers the easiest installation of any dropper we have, just put it in, pair it, and go.
We've had the Reverb AXS on numerous bikes over the last year with zero issues, and the battery has only needed to be charged every three weeks or so with regular usage.
Pros
+ No hose, easy set up
+ Easy to set post to exact height desired by feathering remote
+ Flawless performance
Cons
- Remembering to charge batteries
- 2x cost of standard reverb, 4x some other posts
In conclusion, all of these posts are solid choices for the right rider and each has its benefits. If money was no option and I wasn't worried about having the lowest possible stack height, I'd choose to have the RockShox Reverb AXS on every bike I had...especially if I was the one building the bikes and routing cables. If I was concerned with the lowest stack height possible, I'd look at the OneUp or Fox Transfer. For the easiest to install a saddle on, the Transfer or Crankbrothers Highline 7 both fit that bill. Longest length? OneUp or Vecnum. Looking for the best overall value? The PNW Rainier IR is really hard to beat.
At the end of the day, all of the posts here are so much advanced over their predecessors that it's hard to go wrong with one over the other. Depending on what you personally need, one may indeed be better for you and your budget than the other, so check out the chart to easily compare the lengths, stack heights, and costs to decide what's right for you.
Lack of consistency for sure.
Similarly, the comments on weight in the pros/cons are so inconsistent that they're completely worthless.
Ok, the lever feels cheap but it works. Every single time!
TLDR: SDG Tellis checks all the boxes for least amount of money and weighs little. Just get one.
Test the pro koryak next time : shimano quality !
did anyone think PB would talk about the 800lb sram in the room?
best overall: bikeyoke
Either buy a cheap cartridge post or a Bike Yoke.
First thing I did when I got my bike was swap out the Reverb for a PNW. Simple, kind of heavy, but exceptionally reliable, the PNW is the AK-47 of dropper posts.
@notphaedrus They wouldn’t dare upset their major buyers of ad space and paid content.
best value: pnw
best overall: bikeyoke
oneup = durability better than ks lev, but still not quite there.
KS for reliability, track record and weight, Brand-X for value that can't be beat...also the remote is really quite good on the Brand-X, not as nice the Wolf Tooth I have with my current KS but very close and included for well under $200.
You coulda made it 14 by trying out the 27.2 Thomsen dropper, but 'for criminy......
I've been having one 27.2x100 for two years or so. It works great and has very little of play in just rotating saddle, no wobbling or anything like that.
And I've got another one less than half a year ago. It already has a sort of noticeable 'lateral' play.
The One Up sticks a lot, even after greasing the collar and bushing once a week. it also makes a squeaking noise when I extend it, and takes more force to begin to push down that the other posts I've owned. The stack height is amazing though and I can get it way lower in my frame that the X-Fusion that came with the bike. The X-Fusion was otherwise a well performing post, but I couldn't get it low enough in my frame. The Reverb worked great, until it didn't like everyone else.
If I were buying a new post tomorrow it would be the Highline, no question.
Once that's done, I think it's one of the simplest / easiest to service posts around. I just bought my 4th (various bikes, GF's bike) and I'm very happy with them. Reverb/9Point8's can rot in hell.
www.pinkbike.com/news/ridden-and-rated-13-of-the-best-dropper-posts.html#Conclusion
The Tellis came stock on my bike and I wasn't expecting much from it tbh but I've been blown away by how smooth and reliable it has been.
www.aliexpress.com/i/32986127932.html
It's so good I even thought about making a european stock.
If I order a Brand X dropper the delivery options I now have are as follows:
- Duty Paid - C$66.93
- Standard Tracked Postal - Free (May *will* incur extra duty charge, which used to be reasonaable, but can now be half the price of your order due to CRC's new shipping service.)
- Priority Tracked Express - Free (May *will* incur extra duty charge, which used to be reasonaable, but can now be half the price of your order due to CRC's new shipping service.)
I used to order from CRC almost exclusively and basically had to stop completely once they f*cked up their shipping process. It's completely uneconomical for Canadians.
And if you don't choose the duty paid option and you get caught paying at the border, the delivery company will charge you way more than what CRC would have charged you. I found out the hard way.
I can buy 4 high end tires on Bike24 for the price of 2 from North America. ~36 euro's($55CAD) gets you a Magic Mary SupreGravity/Ultra Soft. Or you can get any DHR or DHF with any casing and compound you want for ~35 euro's.
JensonUSA has crazy fast shipping, but they rarely have any discounts on parts. They also charge shipping to Canada on anything unless it's more than $150USD, plus you are paying taxes (13% in Ontario). Whereas most of my orders from Europe has gone through the border without being charged taxes. But I gotta wait longer.
EDIT: I went on Jenson and ONE Magic Mary SuperGravity Soft (not even the ultra soft) is $122CAD + taxes.
I've never been charged duty on their standard free shipping, have you? It says "may" incur duty and taxes. As far as I know, most bike parts don't have any tariffs or duties, and tax is 5% in BC, so not that much.
Got charged 13% HST (Ontario), then 6.1% duty (Canada-wide), then a "processing fee" of $11 then a "transaction fee" of $5.
This was with DHL.
The crazy thing is, CRC will still do super cheap shipping to the US, Australia, etc, etc. I'm not sure what happened last summer, but it's non-functional for us in Canada.
Example: If you buy a $2000CAD Vitus bike from CRC, you'll pay $600CAD in taxes and fees.
Meanwhile you can buy the bike in the USA and pay $69.99USD for shipping and this is said below: "All duties and taxes for bikes are included in shipping cost."
So to buy the same bike in Canada, costs us $600, but to have the same bike shipped to the USA is $70. Makes sense.
Of course, YMMV.
I'm finding Jenson is the better bet now.
It was fun while lasted.
And for the not as smooth complaints the post does take a bit of time to break in and gets a lot better with use but is maybe never as smooth as a reverb or fox but honestly don’t miss it since it’s a dropper and I’m more concerned about amount of drop and min insertion rather than its small bump sensitivity. That said they could use a lower friction seal.
But....then it did the same thing and wouldn't hold air and they warrantied it via Kona. Putting the Wolf Tooth lever with it made a huge difference.
Honestly unless you show me a picture and describe the lever actuation, the lever's adjustability and feature set, you're telling me nothing about the post.
enduro-mtb.com/en/the-best-dropper-post
I can imagine people would choose something else but yeah, One Up should be good for most.
So: "Can get sticky after lots of muddy, wet rides (easy to service though)" should read: "Ingests a ridiculous amount of debris and water, requiring constant service", at least in my experience with it.
My X-Fusion has been better in every way.
I own the following:
1] PNW Rainier 200mm: Would buy again and do recommend
2] KS Lev 175mm: Would buy again and would recommend, but not available in 200mm+ length
3] Bike Yoke Revive 185mm: Would buy again, neutral on recommendation
4] One Up 210mm: Neutral recommendation
5] 9Point8 200mm: Would not buy, do not recommend (leaks air)
6] RS Reverb 170mm: Would not buy, do not recommend (problems in the cold, and a pain in the ass)
Somehow the KS Lev on my "big bike" is still going strong after 5 years. When it dies it will be replaced by a Bike Yoke.
@Duderz7 : Yeah good one. In Europe they may not be as cheap (or even available) as Brand X but I can imagine in Canada it may very well be the other way around.
Just so happens to be my favorite post and by far the best head design...travesty I tell ya.
Raceface/Easton did the 9point8 mechanism dirty by not abiding by the tolerances set forth by the Canadian engineers. The Fall Line is a masterpiece of a dropper post.
I'll be replacing mine with either a Bike Yoke or OneUp.
That said, the head design is super nice. The post is garbage though.
I rode/raced 2 full seasons here in the PNW along with the BC Bike Race - 0 issues. Started getting sticky, bought parts to rebuild which were cheap.
I can see it's not an isolated incident with some users, but my 3 have been rock solid.
1 is about 5 years old, the other 2 about 3 years old.
Reliable, zero issues, just inflate time to time.
I have a Revive for 3,5 years (first batch of revives from preorder) w/o any issue. And OneUp V1 170, 2 years no issue.
All these have been great.
My next choice would be a Bikeyoke though.
I would not buy again. Customer service wasn't very good either.
@privateer-wheels tried helping me out by connecting me to 9piont8 rep, and that didn't get anywhere either.
Privateer-wheels was more informative and helpful than 9point8.
@gafoto: you should be using a strap wrench on the collar. Same as any dropper post collar. Not a pipe wrench!
But I think when they work, which seems to be not the case for everyone while I have had great experience, they work really damn well - better than a replaceable cart has been my experience.
I have one of the new R's and it's as "smooth" as anything else out there. Mind you, I don't really place a lot of weight on a dropper being smooth - it's not suspension. Your BikeYokes I'm sure is great and I'm not going to knock it. People seem to love them. They gave you a button to fix that whole air/oil issue and all. I would rather just not have the oil at all. And I would prefer to be able to rebuild my post at home when it comes maintenance time, not toss a cart in the garbage and buy a new one. For me, 9point8 ticks that box. I definitely favor the mechanical brake and oil free assembly. Just my opinion of course.
I found the occasional need to do the full press and hold to reset the brake in my 9point8 to maintain lever feel and stroke action much more of an actual issue than using the BikeYoke Revive feature ever turned out to be, and a definite contrast to the smooth consistency of the BikeYokes.
Two of my friends have OneUp v2 and they're not nearly as smooth and one feels notchy despite been new and freshly lubed.
Revive is sublime.
OneUp remote is average at best and what's funny is that there is GREAT ZTTO remote available at AliExpress for quarter of the price that's far better quality and operation plus you can 3D print matchmaker/ispec adapter for free.
I own a C1 Reverb, OneUp V2, and a couple Revives. The Revives are the best of the bunch, hands down. The Reverb was bought as a new take-off for less than the OneUp V2, and at that point, it was the better buy. Actuation on the OneUp is the least smooth of the bunch, and the post feels cheaper overall IMO. I would buy it again, but only if I already have a lever that I want to use and am looking to save some money. I honestly feel like the Revive is just as good of a value (possibly better), assuming you want to use the included lever. The only thing I don't like about the Reverb is that the parts to service it are super pricey compared to the Revive.
I’ve had the oneup and the revive. The oneup feels about 1/2 as good as the revive.
I, on the other hand, actually can't run a lot of posts that are under 170mm because I don't get enough insertion. I have a 185mm Revive in my Rallon with >100mm of post exposed. Seat tubes are getting too short IMO.
I think the summary table in the end gives a very good comparison. You might even work with green/red color codes for category leaders and laggards.
But the Pro/Con summary per product is .. a bit flawed this time
RaceFace Aeffect and many other posts seem to be the same.
I think even at some point Giant used the Tranz-X with their name on it.
A few weeks ago I was searching for a 27.2 post for my XC bike and found another brand using their posts. Procraft,house brand for Bike24 has their 27,2 x 110mm travel model for 134€. It's great!
(**Apart from that one we haven't actually ridden yet. Or touched.)
"We haven't had our hands on this post yet but, we have one on the way so we will give more impressions once we've had plenty of time on it."
And 9/10 of those times, its written by Daniel Sapp.
Secondly: Don't let the mechanics fool you. There is no oil in the seatpost and you don't have the possibility to adjust the position of the saddle seamlessly, instead, the post is indexed and you only have so much positions you can use for saddle height. And yes, the seatpost is a little bit more noisy when adjusting the position of the saddle, BUT: It works flawlessly, is lightweight and I don't have to worry about bleeding the internals.
I´m using their Moveloc droppers on veveral bikes since they came out a few years ago and had bsolutely zero issues so far.
On my latest build I´m using the Nivo and opted for the indexed version. I got so used to having those pre-set positions that I didn´t want to go for a non indexed version again. No problems with the Nivo so far and great customer service by Vecnum.
I have build 6 bikes with them so far and all have zero issues and require no maintenance except for adding some grease underneath the top dust seal and retightening this seal cap every now and then.
The Nivo I have running is only a few month old but working like a Charme so far.
It’s not like offset seatposts are a new idea...
Bike Yoke 9/10
Race Face 7.5/10
OneUp* 6/10
KS 6/10
Rock Shox 3/10
*Bought it on a used bike with ca. 450 miles.
(I clean and lube my dropper posts usually after each ride and never clamp the upper stanchion into the bike stand)
All that to say, after 2 years, it's now got the sag issue I've been hearing about. Super lame. The 400 hour service should fix it, but that process looks ridiculous (and I love rebuilding suspension).
Not trolling, but every cable actuated post I've tried feels like absolute garbage compared to the hydraulic line. Maybe it's my weak hands, but I would happily deal with the hydraulic bleeds if it means a superior lever feel and ease of actuating the post.
Honest question, do any of the cable actuated posts/levers come close to the performance of a hydraulic line? If there are any out there, I would purchase that new vs the 400 hour rebuild of my reverb.
All the stock ones I have used have been shite, and even though my aftermarket Wolftooth Remote lever is incredible, it is still a considerable extra cost on top of an already expensive piece of kit. Surely this must affect the review of a dropper as a whole product?
A little bit of consistency would be nice when comparing so many different posts. Also I vote anything over $300 better be a whole lot better with so many good options around $200
Personally, I used to buy Fox Transfers, but when I could sell my used Transfer and buy a brand new OneUp in the 210 length compared to 175, for the same price, I'll be buying OneUp from now on.
Current bike has the Reverb. The Reverb seems fine and haven't had any of the issues i've heard a lot about (yet).
But if the Reverb does end up needing replacement, i actually preferred the Brand X.
It is even cheaper so,to me the X-Fusion Manic could be the winner if you don´t need shims or have really tight clearances issues.
/BrandX + ZTTO remote 4 lyfe
Gravity Dropper - 2009 to 2013 - game changing bit of kit that transformed trail riding experience. Heavy, looked horrible but generally reliable and could service / repair with a hammer.
KS Lev - 2013 to 2018 - Quite expensive to buy at the time but has been a great post. Very reliable and smooth. But difficult to service (specialist tools needed). Has only had one shop service in its life, and still going strong.
X Fusion Manic - 2018 to now - as many have commented already, I have had zero issues with this in two years of heavy use. No servicing, just keep it clean after each ride (and use a bit of lube to pull dirt out of seal). Superb value to performance ratio. Supplied lever was OK, but added a PNW loamlever and that has made action even smoother.
Working droppers that have been on working bikes for over 4 years now are one Thomson and a Lev. Both are 125 and solid after all these years. Time for new cables maybe but gone are 3 RockShox that do not Echo and 1 CrankBrothers Kroncrap. I wasted money on 4 droppers that lasted a month each I would never buy a RS dropper ever again and now with a bleed port=whoopty doo.
For the price of one Sram $800 heavy dropper at 650 grams I can buy 5 X-Fusions and be happy as a pig in shit.
How many people change the droppers that come on their bikes?
How do some of the cheaper droppers that come on bikes compare to these 13?
I've got two 2019 bikes, a Kona that came with a Trans-X dropper and a Giant that came with a Switch SL dropper. Neither of those are bad enough to justify spending another $300 dollars changing yet.
Droppers are way down the list of things that get switched out and certainly not day 1 items to change.
yepcomponents.com/?v=bb60bf7683fc
Xfusion on a Fuse: Dependable & simple. Not as smooth as the other two.
Lyne Components on a FatBob: Basically an older version of PNW. Smooth & simple. No issues.
BikeYoke on a Pyga: Smoothest & lightest action of all. Only grip... when the post is down and you lift the bike by the seat the dropper tends to extend... kinda awkward when hoisting the bike...
PNW: PrettymuchNoWorries. Great customer service. Got a new plastic adjust bushing cuz I’m stupid and snapped it. Rainier Gen 3 & Loam Lever nice set-up. Keep the cable actuator at the cartridge pin and alignment pins greased.
Old Spec Command Post IR (leaky air spring esp if left in dropped position)
Old RaceFace (9.8 tech, same leaky air spring issue, wouldn't lock properly in cold despite doing the reset procedure)
Old Reverb (becomes a shitty susp post if you pick up bike by saddle while it is in down position, wouldn't actuate in cold)
Wouldn't touch any of the old CrankBros droppers before the Highline even though they did have a rep for honoring the warranty
Only old dropper I still have is a KS Lev, with its only real fault is that it gets stuck in its position if left unused. Had some issues with some other issues that gone away on their own, like not fully locking and raising/sinking very slowly.
Pretty impressed with budget droppers like the Manic and SDG Tellis. That super light action on the Tellis is dreamy and the Manic convinced me that I had zero need to spend more.
that front seat mount bolt is at hte perfect angle to make sure you scratch the shit out of the stanchion
thank you SDG
Mine is not, and my bike won't route an internal cable. So am I stuck with the one I have until I buy a new bike?
PNW Cascade (30.9 or 31.6) and Pine (27.2)
Brand-X Ascend II
Fox Transfer and Marzocchi Transfer have (or had) external versions
I'm sure there are others I missed
FSA Flowtron - "We haven't had our hands on this post yet but"
The KS Integra is available in 200mm as well.
But price is good!