Gravity Dropper

I have a Gravity Dropper on my Yeti. First Dropper I ever bought in 2014 and it is still working flawlessly!
But because it was my first Dropper, I had it set up to drop only 3 inches because that is what my OEM Seat Post would drop when I would drop it manually. Silly mistake but live and learn.

Cathy wants a dropper on her bike and my GD will fit the need perfectly as I want to get another dropper for my Yeti. (I really still enjoy riding my Yeti on certain trails!)
The dilemma is I am limited on options as I can only install an external cable, and I would not hesitate to buy another GD but they are so dahm ugly with that accordion boot on them. Some have taken them off and they look as normal as any other Dropper, but I worry that, that will shorten the life of the unit. Got a be a reason for the Boot other than it's good looks, right?

I hear about all you guys with your failed Droppers and it also drives me back to GD.
Maybe I buy another GD, remove the hideous boot, and custom fit a neoprene seal at the retraction point.

Are there other Mechanical Droppers that are external cable mount out there other than E13 which I totally wish would work on my bike!

Gravity Dropper Turbo LP... Reliable But Ugly as Sin! Looks like Farm Equipment.





E-13 Dropper... Sexy Mechanical, Trouble Free! But only internal cabling!


What to Do... What to Do...?

 

1. Drill a hole in the bottom of the seat tube and run internal routing.

2. KS makes a couple posts that still have external routing.

 

Fox Transfer has external and is available with 100, 125 or 150mm drop. Not going to advertise price but think Fadi... I have one on the hardtail and one on the hightower and while both are internal they have been trouble free.

Edit oops didn’t read that you wanted mechanical...

 

Drill a hole in the Yeti?

Not mechanical, and I know people have issues, but you could probably pick up a used Reverb external for very cheap. The rebuild seems daunting but actually is not that hard, and once you've done it once you can keep the dropper running no problem. You need some special tools to complete the service, but I'd be happy to assist in that department.

 

I have a KS Lev laying around that may need a home.

 

What size is your seatpost @Mikie? I have a Fox D.O.S.S. that I'm willing to let go for an 805 or 2. Let me know and it's yours.

 

I appreciate that Sir! I got to measure what the Yeti takes...

I will let you know Amigo.

805's? I got plenty!

 

Ass kisser!

 

And you're not?

 

Nope, just generous.

 

Hmmmm....Can I borrow a hundy and your swim trunks??

 

Yup.

 

This guy is generous, he gave me a pump! Have fun with that one.

 

How many pumps and did you end up finishing?

 

A pump, and I like it. Just free .

 

Please tell me this is just a joke, right? There is probably some kid out there at this moment taking your advice and drilling a hole in his Carbon Fiber Yeti to add a internal actuated dropper!

 

My GD uses half of the internal routing on the Chisel. The cable and housing pop out by the BB and instead of running it back into the seattube, I just ran it up the outside...

Don't hate my boot, because it's beautiful

 

I'm serious. Look at the current frames and see where they drill the hole for the dropper post. Those areas generally don't come under a lot of stress.

I'd recommend running external along the downtube, then loop it into the seat tube.

http://forums.mtbr.com/turner/stealth-mod-drilling-holes-your-alloy-frame-917427.html#post13242279

 

Looks to me they are all modifying aluminum frames not composite. For me that’s a no go...

 

http://www.peterverdone.com/drilling-holes-in-perfectly-good-carbon-fiber-frames/

Personally I wouldn't do the downtube like this guy did, but I'd have no qualms about putting one in the seattube.

 

The future is wireless! It kills me to pay so much but I got to have it! The only way I can justify this is it slams from one bike to another, no need for 2 posts.

 

Mikie, I would recommend the KS lev, because it has external cable, is easy to rebuild at home, and all the parts are readily available from universal cycles.

 

Well...
I know a little bit about drilling composite, I probably drilled literally 500,000 holes in aircraft grade composite on the B2 Stealth Bomber as a tech, so I’m going to pick on this guy for entertainment. Anyone who says F@ck y’all has already lost me... beside the misspelled and doubled words in his commentary, and not to mention, buying cheap Chinese carbon fiber for his spouse to ride. Kinda sets the tone for me the guy shoots from the hip.

Rule number one: NEVER drill a hole in composite with a twist drill /jobber/ aka drill from Home Depot. In my opinion the guy was lucky he didn’t delaminate some composite and may have even done so, but not visibly. You use what is called a carbide “Dagger” at very high speed with very little pressure.

Twist Drill on Carbon: Bad


Carbide Dagger Drill on Carbon: Good


Granted his file job made it look really clean, but twist drills just rip fibers to pieces.

Two: Granted my frame warranty is out. The Yeti ASR 5c came with a 5 year warranty. It’s a 2012 so that is gone. But what manufacturer (other than apparently Turner in that MTBR thread) is going to consent to drilling holes in frames? ...or warranty a modified frame?

I could be over reacting but I have already experienced catastrophic failure on this very ASR 5c when Yeti miss spec’ed their tubeless Tire System by using a dumbazz tubeless ready kit with non tubeless ready Schwalbe tires. Off a jump and the tire burped and rolled off the rim and I shattered my right collarbone. That same year, they quickly went back to Maxxis and tubes until further development.

I can live with an external cable set up.

 

I've never paid attention to our machines to notice, except the NPT's (grit blaster). We build 787, A350, etc nacelles.