Last year, right around Sea Otter, Tyler got a chance to stop by and see the boys at X-Fusion and got to catch a glimpse of the all new Hilo SL dropper post. It was slated to be 2013 product, and true to their word X-Fusion is now weeks away from having product in hands. The weight of the new post drops about 100g from the standard Hilo, and comes in at 450g without a remote or cable.
More after the break. Updated
As mentioned in the earlier post, not only is the new post lighter, but it gets a new more adjustable, and more durable clamp head. Seatpost travel will be set to 125mm with a total length of 422mm and insertion depth of 217mm. Because of the new clamp head, a lever to operate the post at the head is no longer available so dropper actuation is only via their BAT remote.
The Hilo SL will be offered in the two most popular MTB sizes, 30.9 and 31.6 with a retail of $319.99 available in March 2013. We should have a post in for review shortly, so stay tuned for first impressions.
Update: We reached out to X-Fusion to find out a little more about the SL and what has changed since we saw it last, and this is what we’ve learned:
- March 2013 was not the original delivery date. X-Fusion had hoped it would be available by the end of 2012 (Nov/Dec)
- The slight setback was caused from Issues getting parts from their Vendors, primarily the Gold Slick Ano vendor. They were not able to provide the consistency of finishes they had originally agreed to. This means X-Fusion will be producing the posts with standard hard ano finishes – no Gold Slick Ano. To accomplish what they had originally solved with GSA they added custom seals and a higher quality oil with better lubricating properties. In the end, this resulted in less friction than the GSA did in the first place.
