Rockshox Reverb, the dropper post that somewhat normalized the notion of an adjustable height seatpost on mountain bikes, has finally gotten an update. The new post looks same on the outside, down to the same shaft, shell and seat clamp, but the inner workings have been substantially improved.
There’ve been random, unannounced running changes over the five years since Reverb launched. SRAM took feedback from dealer and race service departments to make incremental improvements, like adding 100 and then 150 millimeter travel options on top of the original 125mm. Dropper post standards and tests have also been formalized since its launch, which meant improvements in tolerances to help it meet structural integrity standards. That’s been done with things like bushing overlap and seal quality improvements. Lastly, stealth routing became the predominant design for frames, and riders now want to build a bike around the right travel on everything – fork, shock and seatpost. And now the Reverb is up to the challenge…
Basically, think of a dropper post as a suspension component that must lock out at zero tolerance for movement yet also move instantly and quickly.
Improvements focused on reliability, durability and performance, with the latter mainly referring to return speed. Now, it returns faster, and you can still tune its movement with the return speed adjuster. The old fastest return speed is now the slowest, and the fastest setting is, according to Rockshox’s reps, “much faster.”
The Reverb uses a free key system with a brass key, which stays the same. But bushing overlap has increased almost 50% for every travel size. That improves durability by giving the insides more leverage against your body weight. Note the beige and sliver rings on the original (bottom) and how much further apart they’re spaced on the new one (top).
To improve lockout durability and strength, there’s a whole new internal floating piston (IFP) with new SKF seals (blue, at right). SRAM has been working closely with SKF to develop seals specifically for this product. The IFP is what holds pressure while you’re sitting on it, and allows the post to drop when you press the button. The air spring is what then pushes it back up.
Before, the IFP was an alloy piston (bottom) using an o-ring with Delrin backup rings to separate the oil from the air. The new one (top, blue piece) is a dual acting, double U-cup rubber seal that replaces all of that and is specifically designed to take the pressure from both sides by further separating the two different mediums. From a riding standpoint, it means air is less likely to sneak into the space where the oil should be, so your post is going to more reliably stay firm. They’ve tested it through a 15,000 cycle click pattern, which equates to about 2.1 years of use for an average rider… and the new version glides past this number. So, it’s still recommended that you wipe down the insides every 50 hours of riding, but nothing internal needs to be rebuilt or serviced for about two years. The original Reverb’s service life was only about 5,000 cycles, so the new one is technically three times more durable. But, they say most units go to 40,000 or more cycles, so in the real world it’s something like 6x better.
User friendly options now add 150mm travel lengths in all diameters (to the standard 125mm and short 100mm), plus a new 170mm length. Shown here is the 170mm compared to the original 125mm. Weights for all posts stay about the same, with a claimed 520g for the shortest 100mm travel, 30.9 post, including its Match Maker X remote and all hardware.
The new Reverb Stealth will be the primary seller and will retail for $471/514€/£395, with adjustable return speed at the bar. It will now be available in 30.9, 31.6 & 34.9mm diameters in each travel length – 100, 125, 150 & 170mm. The post also get dedicated overall lengths based on their travel, ie. 340, 390, 300 & 480mm total. The externally routed Reverb version will come in 30.9, 31.6 & 34.9mm diameters as well, but just in 100 & 125mm travel versions. It will be a bit cheaper at $400/436€/£335.
The new Reverb and Reverb Stealth dropper seatposts should already be at distributors, and are available now.
