BikeYoke made a refreshing debut into the dropper market with their Revive design to let you bleed air from the piston to return a spongy post to new. Well, they have a new lightweight XC, short travel Divine SL post in the works that doesn’t need the revive. And it can also be cut down to save even more weight. Plus a new lighter, better seatpost clamp with some updates…
2019 BikeYoke Divine SL 80mm XC dropper seatpost
The new BikeYoke dropper seatpost is called the Divine SL and was designed for more weight conscious XC & trail riders who don’t feel like they need a full 125mm or more of drop.
To get the post lighter, BikeYoke completely re-engineered the internals. Remember their original Revive was a new take on the IFP (internal floating piston) that makes up the vast majority of dropper posts on the market to easily recharge the post by manually removing air from the lockout chamber that inevitably ends up there due to seatposts flexing under load against their seals.
Well, Stefan Sack of BikeYoke wouldn’t go into how the new internals of the Divine SL worked, only saying that it is not an IFP and there is “no chance of air ingestion into the lockout chamber”.
We do see that it appeared to share the same forged head shaping as the Revive, minus the reset valve that is replaces by the white D. Charging the post also seems to happen from a valve at the top of the post, under the rail clamp, suggesting that isn’t something that will need to be done regularly.
Tech Details
The Divine SL dropper seatpost will offer 80mm of travel, sliding on six internal keyways. It uses a simple remote activation system that does away with flimsy linkages. A simple cable pulls against a sliding internal mechanism inside that black hex nut. It will require its own slotted socket to thread/tighten the control cable into the inside of the dropper, but BikeYoke will provide the tool to each buyer. (And they showed us how it worked with a pre-production tool, and it was simple & maybe easier than fiddling with some linkage arm designs.)
The post will be 400mm long overall, but thanks to the revised design that keeps its piston high in the slider and the remote actuator compact, it will be possible to cut the post to length down to a minimum of 280mm. The post will be available in both 30.9/31.6mm diameters. Claimed weight for the post only is 385g. An uncut 30.9 post weighed just one gram more than that on out scale. Expect to save up to 45g if cut to the minimum length.
Pricing hasn’t been finalized, but we’re told to expect it to be inline with the 360€ Revive 125. The BikeYoke Divine SL short travel dropper is expected to be available in late November/early December 2018.
Lightweight alloy seatpost clamp
BikeYoke also teased this lightweight, simple alloy seatpost clamp that they are working on. Designed to be used especially on carbon fiber frames which are susceptible to damage when over torqued, or for bike with droppers that may bind, not sliding properly if overclamped, the simple precision clamp uses a wide band and no lip. OK, some tiny lips.
Without a lip With an updated design including a few tiny tabs, the clamp delivers pressure more evenly (no internal stresses with one section of the clamp stronger than others). It can hold a post in place with as little as 40% less torque at the bolt than a standard clamp. It will likely require a bit more care in aligning the clamp on the frame, but will likely be both more secure and safer for your bike. BikeYoke just updated us with the rendering above meant to ease installation, while not influencing clamp stiffness.
Final weights, pricing & availability TBD. The new clamp will be available this fall 2018 for around $30, with a weight of just 8-9g! It will even include a rubber sleeve to protect the seattube from penetrating water.
