Rock Shox Reverb

I got ahold of a new Reverb this week. Here's my thoughts thus far:

My first thought as I took it out of it's cool packaging was, this thing is pretty heavy. I'm so used to my I-beam setups, that this is quite a weight penalty for the convenience factor. The next thing you'll see is a bleed kit. That right, DIY. Not sure why they don't send it pre-bled. They could argue that they think people might shorten the cable. But that is true of brakes as well, yet they come bled. The bleed was simple. Typical 2 syringe method. Everything needed for the bleed was included.

Next was the real headache....cable routing. Usually I kinda like this step. It's fun, like a puzzle. But you have to remember that the cable starts up at the seat. So when the seat goes up and down, what happens to the cable? It bows out from wherever you first attached it. I went through lots of zip ties and such before ending up with the routing you see in the picture. I plan to put this on the Jedi...so I didn't do anything permanent. This also pointed out the fact that I have WAY too much crap on my bars. 2 brakes, 1 shifter, 1 remote fork lockout, and now 1 remote seat dropper. Ugh.

The operation of the Reverb is flawless. It has 125mm of movement. Remote seat drop solves a pain in the ass problem that most of us ignore....or like to pretend we don't have. Riding along trails we constantly find ourselves in positions where we sit and pedal for a few seconds. We don't want to stop and change the seat, but it would be nice if it magically went up. In steps these posts. Nobody can argue against their benefit and convenience. At least not successfully argue it. But the negatives including weight, cost, and cable routing, are a real detriment.

If you look into the competition, you'll see that KS has a post that is lever operated under the seat. This solves one of the 3 problems. But it also hurts the convenience. The Joplin has had some bad reviews. And you'll hear that some posts have "play" in them. It's true. But this Reverb is solid. No noticeable wiggle. That would have been a deal breaker for me.

That cable issue could be an issue depending on the suspension design. The rear tire might buzz on the cable, but I doubt it would wear through.

I want one of these for my AM rig, how much through KHS? I think the retail is kinda pricey.

You're on the team...so you know the KHS deal. Hit me up if you need one. But waiting on the 150mm KS might be the way to go. Should be out in a couple months.

Ah, OK. That extra inch is always nice

Cap'n, looks like you need a bit more line length.

Adjustable seatpost is the best upgrade you can add to any bike!

The cable routing worked out great on my Crank Bros Joplin equipped 951 here:

Went to Home Depot electrical section and bought some of these nylon clamps to contain the cable loosely in the seatpost clamp so it doesn't flop all over the place...
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I got a reverb a few weeks ago as well.

my thoughts:
heavy: yes, but not any moreso than any of the other dropper posts on the market.

bleed: mine did not require one at all. not even with a shortening of the cable (which is required IMO. I ride a long frame and I still took off ~12"). nice to know they included the kit though, instead of charging $20 for it later on.

cable routing: yea, it's a little tricky getting it to sit right when it's both up and down. the post does come with a lot of zip ties, and a nifty little loop thing to help keep things tidy though. I was able to get it so that the tire/suspension dont interfere, and it doesnt stick out weirdly or anything. I contemplated getting the gravity dropper, since it has a fixed cable, but decided to try something new.

remote: this has always been a problem for me: I have a lot of stuff on my bars, and I set up my controls really weird compared to others, so it's hard to get stuff to fit right. the post comes with lots of options (matchmaker for sram shifters, standard clamp, etc). I ended up using the standard clamp and it worked okay. the remote DOES NOT fit will with my shimano brakes (XT 775). I would imagine that it would work better with the new 2012 style though. it is perfectly usable though, since it's not something I'm toggling constantly like my shifters.

operation: smooth, great feel at the remote (especially compared to other posts like the command post and the gravity dropper). the seat stays the eff down (unlike the joplins, which you can't pick up by the seat when theyre dropped). it just works, at least so far, so I really cant complain. the speed adjuster works as well as you could expect, but I leave it at wide open anyway. you can kinda control the speed of the post by only soft-pressing the remote button, so I just do that.

miscellaneous things I like:
fully sealed system = no cables. its nice to not have another thing to replace periodically.

good post seal: it's got a legit spring tensioned dual lip seal like on forks. that'll keep out dirt and gunk WAY better than non-sprung seals (likely last longer too).

the seat clamp area is very long. gives the rails a lot of support (but
can make getting the saddle in the correct place tricky).


overall, I'm happy with it. it has it's flaws, but relative to other posts on the market, it's quite good. remote is outstanding, action of the post is as good as any I've felt, looks are good, price isn't prohibitively higher than other posts (like the GD and Sloplin). plus, I'm well familiar with rock shox's warranty system. if something goes wrong, it will be taken care of.

The KS has a remote option as well, btw. That's what I have on my Endo. But I was curious about the Reverb for my Jedi 'cause I hate my Joplin.

The only reason I went with the Joplin was that it was dirt cheap at Chainlove. Probably go with the Reverb later.

I really like the KS handlebar lever setup.

Nice writeup Bry. I want a Reverb so bad. Did an AM ride yesterday & just about wore out my seat collar!