dropper post lever

[greeek32]

so i was reading an article on bike radar (i think?) talking about all the newest greatest shit that is coming out or becoming standard-whatever (wider hubs, 27.5+, coil-over shocks) and as i am reading it i thought, "great, all new stuff for them to sell us. which we really don't need" but then i found a little nugget of gold...

i hate my dropper lever. i broke the original, which i didn't really like either, and i am using an old crap-brothers lever i salvaged from an old, broken, dropper post (like from the first gen of crank brothers posts). it's awful. it is basically a toggle attached to the cable. i mash it when i want to actuate the post and it only mildly works. it really does suck. that being said, i love having a dropper post more than most of the parts on my bike (gears, rear suspension) so i'm not getting rid of it due to the lever sucking asshole.

the nugget i found was that apparently some pro racers feel the same way as me about their dropper lever and came up with a solution. they hacked and repurposed their old front derailleur shifter into a dropper lever. now these guys did this with an old XTR shifter, which guys like me don't have "old XTR" anything, but i'm positive i can repurpose my deore shifter the same way by removing its ability to index (basically, removing the hard stops for each gear so it pulls and releases cable freely).

anyway, anyone tried this yet? if not i'll post pictures and a how-to when i do it.

 

[Bike N Gear]

Yup, old shifter works fine for this. Mine is an old XTR, but I own a bike shop.

 

[bucknejo]

any chance you can post instructions for a sram x7 fd?

 

[Bike N Gear]

Google is your friend. http://blog.artscyclery.com/how-to-...ram-front-shifter-into-a-dropper-post-switch/

 

[bucknejo]

oh yeah! almost too good to be true, but this video is awesome-sauce ... thanks!

 

[bucknejo]

Just finished re-purposing my x9 front shifter based on the video posted by bike n gear. haven't attached it to my command post yet as the whole rig is in the shop. there's a ton of play in the lever now so i think it will work out.

i ended up hacking off the release lever per video to make it look more "pro" but it ended up looking more "amateur" so i just put a slice of black tape over the remaining hole where the release lever would have been had i not gone pro.

might be having some second thoughts about actually using it as the shifter appears as if it will weigh at least twice as much as the thing on the bars now. i guess i'll see which one works the best and go with that.

 

[jackx]

it's awful. it is basically a toggle attached to the cable. i mash it when i want to actuate the post and it only mildly works. it really does suck. that being said, i love having a dropper post more than most of the parts on my bike (gears, rear suspension) so i'm not getting rid of it due to the lever sucking asshole.

Hopefully the repurposed shift lever works much better for you and if it does I am sure it will be worth the added weight.

 

[Patrick]

pictures. pictures. pictures.

 

[Mountain Bike Mike]

Now the mark up on front shifters will be through the roof. All us guys who switched to a 1by and want to sell the front chang'n bits will be able to make a little more coin. Hooray for backyard weekend warrior innovation.

 

[bucknejo]

Here's a bad video of the finished product. I'll add another video or pictures when I have it attached to the dropper.

 

[bucknejo]

Bike is back from the shop, modified trigger as the dropper lever and all. Works awesome and is staying on the bike.

 

[Patrick]

picture please - i'm having trouble with the orientation.....
congrats on the project!

 

[bucknejo]

Here are some pictures - basically put the thing back together as it comes apart. The only piece that changes is the sliding metal guide that you need to file down. I probably filed mine down more than was recommended, but it seems to be working fine just as such.

If the shifting lever bottom section falls out of the housing when you are tearing down the device, it can be a real pain to get everything lined up again - trust me. The Art's Cycles video recommends clamping the thing together after the top shield comes off. I recommend that now too.