Just giving this thread a quick bump as it's the most expansive on the topic of dropper posts. I'm having issues with my KS Lev 150mm. It's experiencing significant stiction in the early parts of its travel. So far, it's been on about 6-7 rides, and it's been impossible to use properly. The majority of times, it'll just drop ~1cm and then return as expected. Every now and again it actually goes through it's entire travel, but it's definitely a rarity.
I can't actually figure out what could be going wrong - it was bought new (from an Aus retailer). The lever actuation seems to be working perfectly (removing the cap shows that the lever is pulling down fully and smoothly). I had initially thought that the torque of the seat collar might be high (i'd used the 7nm as recommended by KS), so have since dropped it to 5, 4, and 3. I'm using fiber grip on the post and am unwilling to really drop the torque any lower as the post itself starts to slip
So - where to from here? Is it straight back to the retailer? (sigh)
Hiya, best to email
info@pushie.com.au and we can work with you to see if it needs to be sent to Pushie for repair or just requires some basic servicing.
Pushie is happy to deal direct for both service, spares and warranty repairs
Some common things to look out for presuming it wasn't like this out of the box and likely after some wet rides the puppy may have been left unridden, allowing the teflon coated DU to dry up. It was a wet start to summer and then the hot spell over Christmas so could be as simple as needing a relube.
what you have to do is relube the seal collar and DU.
i) The best way to do this is to unwind the seal collar. put a light smear of something like Slickoleum on the stanchion both above and below the seal collar and cycle the seal collar up and down a few times.
ii) the aim here is to get a build up of slicko under the seal collar and above the silver (DU/washer), whilst also coating the stanchion with the lube. Now you need to cycle the post through its travel with the aim of getting the nicely slicko'd stanchion moving increasingly past the DU and relube the teflon coating. The More travel you get moving past the DU the faster this service will be.
Given your description this may take some time as the post will initially resist moving but increasingly start to free up as the slicko / stanchion starts to move further past the Du and therefore lube the puppy.
If you are having difficulty getting the stanchion to move past the DU enough to lube it ... you will need to remove the cartridge and manually cycle the DU/washer up and down the stanchion by hand.
This video show your how to remove the cart. Up to about 3.25mins on the vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOYjhtPFZ4I
If you are not confident with following the video then I recommend sending it into Pushie. If in doubt send it in as the factory trained techs will give it a once over.
All posts need service, particularly after wet rides. This is purely to keep contact points well lubed and remove the build up of grit that could cause premature wear. We recommend applying a light smear of Slickoleum above and below the seal collar once a month or after wet rides. This keeps the DU nice and lubed and is the best thing you can do to keep your post buttery smooth regardless of post brand or model.
Al
p.s Not sure how the saddle clamp bolts or fibre grip would affect any of the above BTW. however note: use the recommended torque setting for the saddle bolts ... don't over torque as this can cause warping of the top clamp plate and lead to creaking and move over torquing of the bolts trying to stop the creak. More often creaks are related to the mast moving in the seat tube ... fibre grip if great for this and we have had success with slicko here as well. If you are experiencing the unknown creak ... check your seat tube first ... give your frame seat tube stay a clean, use fibre grip / carbon paste or a light smear of lube like slicko and viola.
