Dropper post install

[Dazzling1984]

Hey folks,

I need to swap over droppers and levers, I am not the best at this kinda stuff, I have a PNW Loam on an old Stumpjumper and a Manic Fusion on my Kenevo, I just need to swap em, if its possible can anyone talk me thru this, please?

Is it possible to just swap em round and use existing cables or is it a proper job needing new stuff? surely the existing inners is right?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance =)

 

[Weeksy]

Depends if they both have the same cabling setup, e.g the little doo-dah at the same end. Most these days have the doo-dah on the post end, with the blank end you then cut on the lever, if so then it's a simple swap. But i would still install a new inner anyway.

 

[Dazzling1984]

Depends if they both have the same cabling setup, e.g the little doo-dah at the same end. Most these days have the doo-dah on the post end, with the blank end you then cut on the lever, if so then it's a simple swap. But i would still install a new inner anyway.

Thanks for your reply, the inners are pnw is post end and the fusion is lever end, so does this mean i just need new inners? due to the lengths?

 

[Weeksy]

It makes it a bit more fiddly on the install, you really need a spare set of hands or a clamp/vice/something to hold it.

You need a new inner as you'll cut off the old one. Even if you try and cut the ferrule off it'll still fray and need replacing. The rest should be fine though.

 

[Dazzling1984]

Ahh damn, so I need two new inners, no? And two pairs of hands =/ =(

But i can use the old outer cable housing!

Whats the clamp/vice for?

 

[Weeksy]

No, you need 1 inner, but it'll come with the post.

The vice/clamp/workstand is to hold the seatpost while you fiddle with grub screws and barrel spacers.

 

[Dazzling1984]

No, you need 1 inner, but it'll come with the post.

The vice/clamp/workstand is to hold the seatpost while you fiddle with grub screws and barrel spacers.

Yo Weeksy, I dont think i explained properly, i already have both seat posts and levers fitted and working in the bikes, they are on my two different bikes (a stumpjumper and a kenevo) i want to swap the seat posts and levers over, so i have everything except maybe if i have to destroy inner cables to get them out for the swap, i recon i can save the pnw as its a cable with a ferrel at the handlebar end and the nipple things is post end...the manic is opposite and the nipple doo dah is on the lever end so as we said thats needs to be cut and a new cable needed as i have to cut that one off, its gonna be a mission i recon and probably above my skill level (i know its easy for some but im a bmxer and its all fiddly shit) not worth my time and effort, i was just trying to get that pnw loam out for my kenevo as i need a new post and im selling the stumpy so coulda swapped n saved a few quid but im fucking useless and dont have the necessary tools to do this by the sounds of it so at mercy of lbs who will charge me all sorts of money (£50/75) and the bollocks of getting both bikes down there, its not gonna be worth it...which is a major shame as that pnw post is well nice n too good for the money im gonna get for my old stumpy =(

 

[Dazzling1984]

I suppose i could rip it all out, have the lbs fit the old manic post n lever to the stumpjumper n worry about my kenevo n the pnw once i have the stumpy sold n cash to play with

 

[Weeksy]

Ah right, yes you need 2 then

Where you based mate ? Maybe one of us can help ?

 

[Dazzling1984]

Ah right, yes you need 2 then

Where you based mate ? Maybe one of us can help ?

Im up the top of Cumbria, just outside Carlisle geez, Id gladly pay for some help, the LBS can be a bit slow here and ive had a few not great experiences with them, thou i do still use them and we havent fallen out or anything just not supa confident in them for the money they charge and the service ive been getting etc...

i know its not a supa difficult task to do this, but i would need a few tools i dont have n thats more money, then ive never done this before and to do it twice is a bit daunting =/=/=/

 

[Weeksy]

I'm down in Berkshire sorry matey otherwise i'd have been happy to help. Well i'm still happy to help... but i'm miles away.
There's a Rocky Mountain dealer in Carlisle who i've used for buying a bike before, he seemed pretty clued up, just over the bridge by the swimming pool.
felltrax i think.

 

[Dazzling1984]

I'm down in Berkshire sorry matey otherwise i'd have been happy to help. Well i'm still happy to help... but i'm miles away.
There's a Rocky Mountain dealer in Carlisle who i've used for buying a bike before, he seemed pretty clued up, just over the bridge by the swimming pool.
felltrax i think.

Many thanks for the offer Weeksy, thats supa kind of you mate! =) and yea i do know the guy you mean at felltrax, hes good stuff and a nice bloke but probably way too busy to help with such a menial task, i do know a young chap who lives kinda local 2 me who might be able to do it, i was just hoping it was gonna be a nice quick switcharoo that i could diy n go but as with everything mtb its faffy as fuck and ball ache central...

 

[Weeksy]

Honestly fella, it's really not. Set up a webcam and we'll all talk you through it using Youtube Live

 

[Dazzling1984]

Honestly fella, it's really not. Set up a webcam and we'll all talk you through it using Youtube Live

great idea, wrong human...

 

[RustyIron]

above my skill level (i know its easy for some but im a bmxer and its all fiddly shit) not worth my time and effort,

If you consider it "fiddly shit" that isn't "worth your time and effort," you'll never learn. People are funny that way: There are those who are willing to work hard to better themselves, hone their skills, and improve their positions in life; and there are those who won't put in the effort, so they live a life dependent upon others.

 

[Tyjay]

I did the same on my levo changed dropper and lever. You will need a new cable not worth the hassle using original
Its pretty straight forward tbh
im over newcastle way would of done it no probs for you mate

 

[Dazzling1984]

I did the same on my levo changed dropper and lever. You will need a new cable not worth the hassle using original
Its pretty straight forward tbh
im over newcastle way would of done it no probs for you mate

Mate that would be supa helpful, i am willing to learn but its never as easy as they make put on utube and there is always something different that gets overlooked so id like to get it right and just need to know exactly what stuff i need... sometimes there is something that is needed that wasnt thought about and i recon i will need more than just cables to get these both working ...so, you think i just need new derailleur cables? are you sure its that easy?

the stumpjumper has shimano xt brakes and levers and the "one up" dropper lever is obvs fitted to a xt lever and i want to put that "one up" dropper lever onto the Kenevo's SRAM Code R brake lever! Dont i need a different fitting to make that lever fit the the Sram brake lever? I not sure but think it might be called a match maker fitting? then yea do i just need two new cables? but what cables? they just derailleur cables, right???? Im not quite sure??? im sure they are both different, as ive said already here...the pnw cable has the nipple at the seatpost end and the manic has the nipple at the lever end and the manic cable seems to be a small nipple...thats all i know atm unless i strip em both to check all this further but then both bikes are not gonna be useable until i fix em up again, which i dont wanna do until im sure i got all the stuff as im using the bikes all the time...

 

[Dazzling1984]

If you consider it "fiddly shit" that isn't "worth your time and effort," you'll never learn. People are funny that way: There are those who are willing to work hard to better themselves, hone their skills, and improve their positions in life; and there are those who won't put in the effort, so they live a life dependent upon others.

if it takes me me two days to do this that would be okay, but it could also take much longer if i dont get everything right, so im just trying to gauge whats needed first, mate...it is mosdef fiddly shit, and if you READ the thread you will see Weeksy said it was fiddly first, and if he thinks that its fiddly and hes a competent mechanic then i think it might be fiddly for me too...and if that fiddly shit is gonna also not be finished for a week or two as i didnt find out exactly what i need first and render my bikes pretty useless as far as droppers go until i do find out exactly whats needed and order all the stuff then surely its better to ask the right questions and get all the info and then get all the right parts and know exactly what im doing first? or like i said dont waste my time and get someone who knows how to do it and either watch them so the next time i can do it or failing that get the lbs to do it so at least they are not damaged or unusable until such time as i find out how to get it dun...

 

[Weeksy]

Honeslty mate, you can swap a cable/post in 10-15 mins if competent, this is not a week job, it's a couple of hours tops for someone fairly inexperienced.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mtb+dropper+post+installation

Will videos help ?

 

[Dazzling1984]

Honeslty mate, you can swap a cable/post in 10-15 mins if competent, this is not a week job, it's a couple of hours tops for someone fairly inexperienced.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mtb+dropper+post+installation

Will videos help ?

Yes okay, but what cables do i need???? and do i need a matchmaker to get the "one up" dropper lever onto the sram lever and another to get the old kenevo seatpost lever onto the xt lever?

 

[Dazzling1984]

if it was just a new seatpost etc i could do it but i need to SWAP stuff over and am not sure of the compatibility, also so i dont fuck the inner cables up do i measure the old ones and add a bit until i get the right length? or some other way?

 

[Weeksy]

The inners come in a set length which is about 50cm longer than you need, you then trim the end once finished and you crimp a little thing on the end to make sure it doesn't fray. The current inners are fucked as soon as you start this, but they're £2 a pop

Have you checked if both are the same in terms of cabling ? e.g the nobble bit on the end of the inner, is it at the same end on both ? Otherwise you'll need to swap the levers over too.

 

[Dazzling1984]

The inners come in a set length which is about 50cm longer than you need, you then trim the end once finished and you crimp a little thing on the end to make sure it doesn't fray. The current inners are fucked as soon as you start this, but they're £2 a pop

Have you checked if both are the same in terms of cabling ? e.g the nobble bit on the end of the inner, is it at the same end on both ? Otherwise you'll need to swap the levers over too.

No, the inners are not the same...pnw dropper system cable has nipple at dropper post seat tube end and has a "one up" dropper lever and the kenevo's dropper has the nipple at the dropper lever end and has some janky no name crap dropper lever...

this doesnt mean i need to change brake levers too does it? i want to swap dropper levers, you see, i want to take the whoe system from one bike and put it on the other and vice versa...straight swap over, ya get me bludd???

 

[Weeksy]

Well that depends on the clamps/setup on the lever end. You can get multiple types depending on the brakes on both bikes, I-spec, SRAM, band-on etc etc... So it's possible that they may swap easily, but it's also possible they won't

What brakes are on both bikes and can you do pics of the levers where they mount to the bars ?

 

[Dazzling1984]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mtb+dropper+post+installation

Will videos help ?

the videos do kind of help me obvs im new to all this so they are great at explaining some of the things, but they are not helping with my actual dilemma, if i had a non dropper and wanted to swap it out for a dropper then those vids would be excellent but they dont explain swapping one dropper system for another and putting them onto opposite bikes with different brake lever set ups wher i might need a matchmaker to fit the dropper lever to the brake lever, which is where i need to fit them (or id be having to buy dropper lever clamps which i dont wanna do, i wanna clamp the dropper levers onto the brake levers and save money and the bollox of waiting for these things to come, aesthetics etc etc etc)

 

[Dazzling1984]

Well that depends on the clamps/setup on the lever end. You can get multiple types depending on the brakes on both bikes, I-spec, SRAM, band-on etc etc... So it's possible that they may swap easily, but it's also possible they won't

What brakes are on both bikes and can you do pics of the levers where they mount to the bars ?

so, it may well not be that easy then...sorry if i sound a little frustrated but you said all i'd need was cables, i know enuff to know that isnt going to be the case, or it might not be as all this stuff is hardly ever (sods law) compatible...and i dont wanna strip everything down and find i need all sorts of things and make the droppers ususable until the stuff truns up and i get round to doing it...

i have been trying to expalin all this but everyone just says NOOOOOO its easy just chop the cables off swap everything over and its dun, which i have a sneaking suspicion its not going to be, even if it is then there is the setting it up properly so the droppers actaully work which im sure can be a faff if someone has never done it before and has limited tools

 

[Weeksy]

Well i'm not sure we had all the information (or never read it correctly) i thought you were just swapping the post... but if you're swapping the levers then yes the brake/mounts can be slightly complicated.

I don't mind you being frustrated, it's all a learning curve, but honestly, there's very little that isn't 'easy' on MTBs, but it does sometimes test the patience a little

 

[Dazzling1984]

here is the Kenevo set up, a manic fusion dropper with that janky dropper lever fitted to a Sram code r brake lever

 

[Dazzling1984]

and thats the set up on the stumpjumper, a pnw dropper with a one up dropper lever attached to a shimano xt brake lever

i wanna swap this whole system (pnw loam dropper with the one up dropper lever) and put it on the Kenevo's Sram code R brake lever and vice versa i wanna put the crap manic dropper lever on this xt brake lever, but will the crap manic dropper lever fit this xt brake lever? do i need matchmaker fittings to make the levers fit together? They do already have some sort of fittings on them but im not sure if they are going to be correct???

 

[Dazzling1984]

i dont think its gonna be a straight swap, but id be happy if i knew what parts would make it possible, maybe im wrong and its just a straight swap over, this is my question!