🚵New product: My first Kickstarter launched🎉

Stormy 107

Member
Jun 22, 2019
62
66
Yarm
Good luck but a piece of an old inner tube does the same job 🤔
Thanks for the offer of luck. However, the last person that said that about an innertube ended up buying 6 of them for him and his friends and paying for shipping to Australia.
The average Ebike is setting people back £5k or more and you want to stick a horrible old inner tube of the back 🤷. People like to make the bike look the part and the inner tube just doesn't do it.
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
295
187
Cumbria
I think it's a decent idea, if it works and is durable and it costs £15 its an absolute no brainer when the average e-bike is £5k, and a good dropper is £200 and the main weakness is mud on the shaft.
I think there are plenty of willing customers for this, just recently I saw a 3d printed charger holder being advertised for roughly the same price and people were all over it, I'm sure that a £1 screwfix cup hook could perform the same task at a fraction of the price but never the less people were happy to spend extra on it "just to have the proper item"🤷‍♂️
I do still think you could make the same from an old innertube, but it might not last as long and it might take an hour to make. lets be honest most of the people who own £5k e bike, an hour of their time is probably worth £30-40 so it's probably a more cost effective option to just buy one of these. or use a massive mudguard(but I realise they aren't fashionable;))
 

Stormy 107

Member
Jun 22, 2019
62
66
Yarm
I think it's a decent idea, if it works and is durable and it costs £15 its an absolute no brainer when the average e-bike is £5k, and a good dropper is £200 and the main weakness is mud on the shaft.
I think there are plenty of willing customers for this, just recently I saw a 3d printed charger holder being advertised for roughly the same price and people were all over it, I'm sure that a £1 screwfix cup hook could perform the same task at a fraction of the price but never the less people were happy to spend extra on it "just to have the proper item"🤷‍♂️
I do still think you could make the same from an old innertube, but it might not last as long and it might take an hour to make. lets be honest most of the people who own £5k e bike, an hour of their time is probably worth £30-40 so it's probably a more cost effective option to just buy one of these. or use a massive mudguard(but I realise they aren't fashionable;))
Thanks for the post. I appreciate the feedback.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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Anyone who thinks the main weakness on a dropper post is the wiper seal clearly hasn't serviced many dropper posts.
 

Stormy 107

Member
Jun 22, 2019
62
66
Yarm
Sorry dude. It's a completely pointless product which already exists.

You don't need to be sorry as it's been quite successful, sold about 50 on eBay which is why I'm taking the next step. The product you highlighted has the same function but a totally different design. It moves down with the post, which for longer droppers can foul the rear suspension. On the remark about it being pointless, well that's your opinion but it would be ironic if your next mechanical was your dropper post because of dirt ingress.
 

Stormy 107

Member
Jun 22, 2019
62
66
Yarm
Anyone who thinks the main weakness on a dropper post is the wiper seal clearly hasn't serviced many dropper posts.
I haven't serviced any but my own and it was always dirt ingress. And since I have used a guard I have not needed as much love and attention on the dpost. Also, what do you think is the main weakness of a dropper post?
 
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Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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The main issues with most dropper posts stems from internal wear on bushes, seals, keys and moving parts with seals eventually failing through flex and excessive movement from the huge fore and aft forces they see from the biffers sat on them and the less than perfect tolerances of the internal parts. Most brands seal head wiper seal actually does it's job of keeping shit out just fine. More commonly the wiper seal dries out and requires light internal lubrication. (basic maintenance that should be done fairly regularly on most droppers).
Not looking after the cable or kinking the outer inside the frame from lowering and raising the post is probably the next most common issue most droppers see. or in the case of Reverbs the hose becoming damaged or the remote seals wearing out.

The (KS Lev) on the Commie Ebike in your kickstarter pics just so happens to be one of the poorest examples out there. X-Fusion are pretty bad also.

Good luck. Despite the facts you should still do well. Cyclists do seem to enjoy spending their money on fairly pointless stuff ;)
 

Stormy 107

Member
Jun 22, 2019
62
66
Yarm
The main issues with most dropper posts stems from internal wear on bushes, seals, keys and moving parts with seals eventually failing through flex and excessive movement from the huge fore and aft forces they see from the biffers sat on them and the less than perfect tolerances of the internal parts. Most brands seal head wiper seal actually does it's job of keeping shit out just fine. More commonly the wiper seal dries out and requires light internal lubrication. (basic maintenance that should be done fairly regularly on most droppers).
Not looking after the cable or kinking the outer inside the frame from lowering and raising the post is probably the next most common issue most droppers see. or in the case of Reverbs the hose becoming damaged or the remote seals wearing out.

The (KS Lev) on the Commie Ebike in your kickstarter pics just so happens to be one of the poorest examples out there. X-Fusion are pretty bad also.

Good luck. Despite the facts you should still do well. Cyclists do seem to enjoy spending their money on fairly pointless stuff ;)
Now that is a good reply👍. Let's have a thought experiment though. If you had two identical droppers, no maintenance and no problems with actuators. They were used identically except one was exposed to dirt and grim on the trail and the other was hermatically sealed, ( impossible I know) which would fail first?
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
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Jun 12, 2019
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Brittany, France
You could be really unstylish and cut a length of inner tube to length. Take out your post. Slide it through the tube. Re-install the post and then zip tie the tube at the top of the post under the saddle and under the locking collar so it's completely sealed in it's own little weatherproof bag.

You could even make a tiny drain hole/cut in the tube to let air out, so when you drop your seat, the air compressing in the tube can escape making entertaining fart noises.
 

Hamina

E*POWAH Master
Mar 22, 2020
500
396
FIN
You could also dodge the whole problem and buy static saddle post. Think about that!
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
295
187
Cumbria
You could be really unstylish and cut a length of inner tube to length. Take out your post. Slide it through the tube. Re-install the post and then zip tie the tube at the top of the post under the saddle and under the locking collar so it's completely sealed in it's own little weatherproof bag.

You could even make a tiny drain hole/cut in the tube to let air out, so when you drop your seat, the air compressing in the tube can escape making entertaining fart noises.

didn't all suspension used to have rubber boots on, but we have now moved on to better wiper seals which don't need them?

just googled it. this seems to sum it up pretty well Why don't we see fork boots anymore?

I think If my dropper post was getting as muddy as the picture in the first post, then I'd want one of these products. but as it happens I have a massive "not trendy" mudguard fitted which seems to keep it clean
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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I'm going to ignore your pointless idiotic fictional question.
But will add a genuine non fictitious flaw your product has. When a long travel dropper is fully dropped your design leaves the mudguard material hanging out the back of the post ready to buzz the rear tyre on full compression. Generally only an issue on smaller long travel frames. But an issue none the less. You may want to inform customers of this flaw.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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I think If my dropper post was getting as muddy as the picture in the first post,
If you actually USE your dropper post it'll rarely get anywhere near as muddy as that staged pic. And the wiper seal will remove the mud/debris when it is dropped anyway.
If mud is left to dry on the stanchion then simply wipe it off before riding the bike again.
#hardlyrocketscience
 

Rahr85

E*POWAH Master
Sep 6, 2020
495
1,058
nottingham
You could be really unstylish and cut a length of inner tube to length. Take out your post. Slide it through the tube. Re-install the post and then zip tie the tube at the top of the post under the saddle and under the locking collar so it's completely sealed in it's own little weatherproof bag.

You could even make a tiny drain hole/cut in the tube to let air out, so when you drop your seat, the air compressing in the tube can escape making entertaining fart noises.
5pwzoy.jpg
 

urastus

⚡The Whippet⚡
May 4, 2020
1,548
995
Tasmania
I'm going to ignore your pointless idiotic fictional question.
But will add a genuine non fictitious flaw your product has. When a long travel dropper is fully dropped your design leaves the mudguard material hanging out the back of the post ready to buzz the rear tyre on full compression. Generally only an issue on smaller long travel frames. But an issue none the less. You may want to inform customers of this flaw.
You're right Garry; it does bow out. It still works though. I only have 125mm droppers. The bow doesn't come near the tyre. While the seat is down, the guard isn't needed, although I think the bow would still protect it.

Re zimmer's suggestion; you really need to attach the rubber from the top surface of the seat post (under the seat) and below the collar of the seat post. This is so that the guard does not hinder the dropper function. A full tube does a lot of bunching up more so on a longer dropper. It would work ok if it was open at the bottom and able to slide over the section of the frame holding the seat post? Either way it would need at least some holes so that it doesn't create a vacuum while rising, and go like a baloon while dropping. I think this is why the old school fork boots have disappeared - those little drain holes in the bottom were like little vacuums sucking air (and lots of dust) in when the forks extended.

 

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