TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN) — Getting road riders on board with a dropper post is no small challenge — off-road riders accept change much more readily than the pavement crowd, KS Suspension’s Rick Taylor believes.
But Taylor also sees road riding— which has already spawned the endurance, gravel and adventure categories — splintering into even more subcategories. “I think there are a lot of new ideas about what the road category is going to look like,” he said.
Looking to build on the success of its Lev dropper posts for mountain bikes, KS has brought its still-in-development Zeta road post to Taipei Cycle this week. With 25 millimeters of drop, the Zeta has a low-profile mast that sits directly on the top of the seat tube for a more streamlined look compared with KS’s off-road droppers. The top of the post’s stanchion has cut marks so it can be trimmed to the rider’s specific seat height. The seat clamp is then mounted on top.
The post on the show bike is activated by a remote mounted on the bar top next to the stem, but Taylor said KS is looking at integrating the remote into road bikes’ shift/brake levers. Expected delivery of the Zeta is sometime in calendar year 2016.
KS is also showing its prototype electronic dropper mounted to a Felt Lebowsk-e electric fat bike. The bike on display has a bulky battery mounted to the seat tube, but KS envisions integrating the post with an e-bike motor battery or the unit from an electronic drivetrain to power the post. If KS refines its battery and makes it more portable, consumers could have the option of either using that or eliminating redundant power sources by powering the post from an e-bike or electronic drivetrain battery.
Meanwhile, KS’s new carbon dropper, with 65 millimeters of drop and a weight of 452-466 grams (depending on post diameter), should have reached market by now but is held up on the water due to delays from the now-resolved West Coast ports labor dispute. It comes in 30.9- and 31.6-millimeter diameters and will retail for $600.
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The Zeta uses a low-profile mast that rests on the top of the seat tube. -
KS's prototype electric dropper with seat tube-mounted battery. KS may develop a way to power the post from an e-bike's battery or an electronic drivetrain battery.
