Ks Lev Integra fail

[stewyh]

About a year ago I got a Ks Lev Integra fitted to a new bike. Its awesome when its working... which unfortunately is rarely. Sags when sat on, slow to lift, extends when picked up by seat and dumps its oil into my seat tube

Its been "fixed" under warranty twice already, today it shat itself again so this is the third time. Id be lucky to have done 400ks on the bike, an average of 130ks between rebuilds is hardly what I'd expect from a 500 dollar part.

So... at what point do i get "insistent" with the bike shop? (It's Not my lbs. In fact not local at all: an hour away which makes it all the more inconvenient ). Last time it failed I asked them what happens if it fails again. The reply was a vague "Oh... we'll talk to the distributor and... yeah". Meaning send it away for 2 weeks for "repair", get it back ride it twice, craps out, send it back.... repeat ad nauseum until out of warranty.

What's the protocol for this kind of thing? Do I go in there all shirty and noisily demand a brand new one? Or just suck it up and buy a reverb? I've not had this kind of repeated failure on any new bike part ever, so this is kinda uncharted territory for me.

I can't go back to a rigid post. I can't, I WON'T! :Cry:

 

[JTmofo]

Contact nerfherder (Al) on here. He's the distro for KS and may be able to point you in the right direction.
Reverbs are worse.... been there. ..done that.

 

[rone]

About a year ago I got a Ks Lev Integra fitted to a new bike. Its awesome when its working... which unfortunately is rarely. Sags when sat on, slow to lift, extends when picked up by seat and dumps its oil into my seat tube

Its been "fixed" under warranty twice already, today it shat itself again so this is the third time. Id be lucky to have done 400ks on the bike, an average of 130ks between rebuilds is hardly what I'd expect from a 500 dollar part.

So... at what point do i get "insistent" with the bike shop? (It's Not my lbs. In fact not local at all: an hour away which makes it all the more inconvenient ). Last time it failed I asked them what happens if it fails again. The reply was a vague "Oh... we'll talk to the distributor and... yeah". Meaning send it away for 2 weeks for "repair", get it back ride it twice, craps out, send it back.... repeat ad nauseum until out of warranty.

What's the protocol for this kind of thing? Do I go in there all shirty and noisily demand a brand new one? Or just suck it up and buy a reverb? I've not had this kind of repeated failure on any new bike part ever, so this is kinda uncharted territory for me.

I can't go back to a rigid post. I can't, I WON'T! :Cry:

If you don't like failure, I'd avoid a reverb. Pm Nerf Herder in here. He's the distro.

 

[stewyh]

Reverbs are worse.... been there. ..done that.

They're all shite haha. Google "dropper post" and there's more whining about them fcking up than there are ads!

 

[stewyh]

. Pm Nerf Herder in here. He's the distro.

Will do, thanks

 

[stoo]

Warranty is two years, Nerf is good to deal with direct, great service and fast turnaround on repairs / warranty.

 

[Knuckles]

Warranty is two years, Nerf is good to deal with direct, great service and fast turnaround on repairs / warranty.

Also great with free self servicing advice.......in between trying to flog you a vat of slickolium :behindsofa:

 

[richie_gt]

To the OP seems like you have been very unlucky, I bought an Integra 2nd hand off here and I've had no troubles whatsoever after almost 2 years of riding!

Def drop Al (Nerf) a line and he'll get you sorted, the service from him and his team is ace!

 

[stewyh]

Also great with free self servicing advice.......in between trying to flog you a vat of slickolium :behindsofa:

Haha yeah I got the vat of slickoleum with the post, it's had no shortage of slickoleum-ing, pretty useful stuff, good for fork stanchions and all manner of other squeaky bits. Should put some on my brake rotors, would double my speed through the turns haha :flame:

To the OP seems like you have been very unlucky, I bought an Integra 2nd hand off here and I've had no troubles whatsoever after almost 2 years of riding!

Certainly seems that way, apparently they're one of the more reliable ones. Just got a dud I guess.

 

[Nerf Herder]

... in between trying to flog you a vat of slickoleum :behindsofa:

Slicko is the bestest ... I can't spout the virtues of the stuff enough ... every dropper needs slicko. :nerd: take it from someone that wears the stuff pretty much 3 times a week

To the OP, whats your service routine ? Do you wash your bike after every ride or semi frequent ? The more water running past the seal/wiper the more frequently you need to slicko and the more often you need to do a full service. Best to not wash the post, remove it from the bike and do your preventative maintenance then (wipe down and lube) or cover the seal collar with plastic before the wash. All of this is to ensure the teflon coat on the DH bushing doesn't swell up, cause the cart to over work and drop its load.

How often are you checking the air pressure ?? do you ever fully deflate the puppy. NEVER deflate the air completely or even go below 100psi. Deflate no more then 10psi at a time, even if you are flying on commercial airlines never deflate the air and check air pressure after your flights. This is for all posts with air springs not just KS.

Did YVC give you the service notes we provide with every service and warranty claim ?? We go through quite a bit of detail on what we did to the post and how to avoid the problems with maintenance and Slicko! That said, YVC are pretty experienced with KS both after market and OEM. suggest grab the report and read through the suggestions.

Notwithstanding ... Pushie is happy to deal direct with all warranty issues ... saves everybody time, effort and dollars, so feel free to get in touch with us before deciding what to do. All depends on your relationship with your LBS. Often we try our best to workshop a fix over the phone before deciding to send it in to us. We want to avoid you losing trail time as much as you do. But sometimes we just need to see the issue occurring or more likely the state of the post to work out what the problem is.

Anyway ... my PM has my details so hopefully we can solve the problem.

 

[Boom King]

Buy a Reverb?



Bahahahahah... Everyone's a comedian.

 

[teK--]

It would seem every brand of dropper has its issues :twitch:

 

[gregp]

Its been "fixed" under warranty twice already, today it shat itself again so this is the third time. Id be lucky to have done 400ks on the bike, an average of 130ks between rebuilds is hardly what I'd expect from a 500 dollar part.

Are you saying they rebuilt the cartridge? My understanding from reading various reports of ppl dealing with KS in the US was that KS do not support cartridge rebuilds by dealers. They just swap the whole cartridge under warranty.

 

[stewyh]

Are you saying they rebuilt the cartridge? My understanding from reading various reports of ppl dealing with KS in the US was that KS do not support cartridge rebuilds by dealers. They just swap the whole cartridge under warranty.

I'm not sure what work was carried out, bike shop never gave me any documentation after repairs. I've been speaking to Al the distributor and he said the same thing. No cartridge rebuilds only replacements. Anyway I'm sending it straight to him so we'll see what happens.

 

[Ezkaton]

I'm not sure what work was carried out, bike shop never gave me any documentation after repairs. I've been speaking to Al the distributor and he said the same thing. No cartridge rebuilds only replacements. Anyway I'm sending it straight to him so we'll see what happens.

My LEV had a borked cart (after a year and a half of almost daily use), and Al replaced it under warranty last year.
Post has worked flawlessly since. Though apparently it had avocado inside the post somehow? LOL. I don't even eat avocado.

Hopefully you have a good LEV experience soon!

 

[D01]

It would seem every brand of dropper has its issues :twitch:

I was worried about this when I was looking for a dropper.

I ended up buying a 9point8, as any reported problems were related to the seat/'bar interface.

I've had it for a few months now, and it's been awesome.