Dropper seat post... Sag?

[the schwartz]

My seat has a bit of squish to it. I'd say it
Didn't used to. I'd say it compresses at least an inch with even minimal weight on it (I can push it down with my hand, don't need to sit on it)



I checked the pressure (190) put it up to 215, still doing it.

KS Lev Integra

Any ideas?

 

[UtahJoe]

nothing to do with the air pressure....

KS has a warranty form on their website, fill it out, they will send you an RMA and send it out to them. They have been very good about repairing mine (always for free so far), however, I have had 3 KS levs and it has happened to all of them over and over again, so they will fix it, but it will happen again.

 

[Karate Monkey]

Air got sucked past the IFP. It's not a totally awful thing to fix if you've worked on suspension, but it is miserable to get 0% air mixed in the oil. 1% is easily attainable.

Remove the actuator, and unscrew it from the base of the post. Internal/external design is slightly different, but the cartridges are the same once removed. Get the cartridge out of the post, and hold it in an appropriate shaft clamp. Remove the bottom of the assembly with a pin spanner. Dump the oil out into a container. Remove the sliding shaft with the damping head on it. Push the air piston out of the seat stanchion, if everything didn't come out when you removed the cartridge, then remove the IFP. Clean parts, then prep for reassembly: Slide the air seal head (the part with the air valve) into the air/oil chamber; push the IFP onto a 10mm socket/some other chamfered thing with a 10mm outside diameter; place this up against the air/oil chamber that you prepared, then slide it on (goal: the quad seal on the inside is too tight to push straight onto the unchamfered chamber, so you must put it on with an assembly guide, or you WILL damage it). Install this prepped part into the seatpost stanchion, and leave the IFP just at the top of the air/oil chamber. Fill the tube to the top with the oil you removed--up to the top of the threaded portion of the stanchion with 5wt reverb oil (shops have tons of this stuff...). Miserable part coming up: place the threaded bottom of the cartridge on the damper rod, holding it out of the way. SLOWLY insert the damper head, noting the purging of air/oil. This will be messy, and probably shoot oil all over you/your workspace. Once the seal head is in the air/oil chamber, thread the bottom of the cartridge on, then tighten.

Pump the cartridge up to whatever it's supposed to be at (200ish PSI), then check for squish. If it is gone, you are finished, and can reassemble the rest of the post.

Work in a tub/bucket that can hold the whole cartridge assembly. Anyone who works on suspension can fix it, but it's a sucky job. If you can wait, send it back to KS.

 

[stb222]

nothing to do with the air pressure....

KS has a warranty form on their website, fill it out, they will send you an RMA and send it out to them. They have been very good about repairing mine (always for free so far), however, I have had 3 KS levs and it has happened to all of them over and over again, so they will fix it, but it will happen again.

Man, no wonder you aren’t sold in droppers

 

[UtahJoe]

Man, no wonder you aren’t sold in droppers

Lol? What.... I mean I wouldn't even consider a gravel ride on my xc bike without my dropper

 

[stb222]

Lol? What.... I mean I wouldn't even consider a gravel ride on my xc bike without my dropper

My bad, I thought you were on of the XC guys that dont fully get droppers. Either way, that failure rate is high.

 

[shrpshtr325]

My bad, I thought you were on of the XC guys that dont fully get droppers. Either way, that failure rate is high.

have you met @UtahJoe ? or seen what he does to bikes? 🤣 🤣

 

[UtahJoe]

My bad, I thought you were on of the XC guys that dont fully get droppers. Either way, that failure rate is high.

Are you kidding? I have had a dropper on my XC bike for 4 years now I think...at least 3 anyway. I would 100% put one on my road bike just for traffic lights
i have owned 5 ks levs, all of them have done this at some point.....I have one-ups and fox transfers on my bikes now, but my scalpel can only use an external which ks is one of the few left.

 

[stb222]

have you met @UtahJoe ? or seen what he does to bikes? 🤣 🤣

Well obviously he destroys stuff, but unless he ramming his ass down, not sure how that applies to droppers.

Wow, 5 of the same dropper is impressive and confusing at the same time @UtahJoe

curious how the transfer lives up to your ass ramming

 

[UtahJoe]

Well obviously he destroys stuff, but unless he ramming his ass down, not sure how that applies to droppers.

Wow, 5 of the same dropper is impressive and confusing at the same time @UtahJoe

curious how the transfer lives up to your ass ramming

This is what I told the guy at KS when my original integra went back for its 3rd time in about 18months....what am I doing to this thing? There a procedure to clean the seal, etc...other than that...im not using it to stir my adult beverages..

The transfer works fine, imo, it gets sticky and needs to be cleaned and greased somewhat often....as opposed to the oneup which has been perfect and I have yet to touch it.

 

[JDurk]

but my scalpel can only use an external which ks is one of the few left.

Why is the Scalpel external only?

 

[johnbryanpeters]

My KS LEV Integra has been happily working since October 20th 2016...

 

[UtahJoe]

Why is the Scalpel external only?

its not, its just a major ass pain to route a cable thru my 2017 frame since it doesnt have any internal routing for a seat post...like my bronson for example, but its probably doable....that turn from the downtube to the seat tube will be tricky

 

[JDurk]

its not, its just a major ass pain to route a cable thru my 2017 frame since it doesnt have any internal routing for a seat post...like my bronson for example, but its probably doable....that turn from the downtube to the seat tube will be tricky

Ah, got it. My '16 Scalpel is external then goes into the seattube above the BB.

 

[UtahJoe]

Ah, got it. My '16 Scalpel is external then goes into the seattube above the BB.

mine doesnt have that hole like my old 2012-16 frames did, not sure why...i assume they just expect you to remove the crank...or perhaps there is a hole underneath that im not seeing....I originally left the external on there in case I ever wanted to quickly switch it back to a standard post...like for a cx race or something...in the end i realized that the dropper is about the most important part of the bike outside of the carbon wheels and I wont even ride it now without the dropper working.