ROCKSHOX REVERB STEALTH

£439.99

SPECIFICATION Weight: 674g with remote • Drop: 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200mm • Sizes: 30.9mm, 31.6mm, 34.9mm • Contact: zyrofisher.co.uk

The Rockshox Reverb Stealth is hydraulic, and when you buy one, it’s fully bled with the underbar remote pre-fitted. It’s the second most expensive dropper on test, but there are no extra costs for the remote or clamp or the bleed kit.

The Reverb Stealth is offered in five fixed lengths and the 175mm tested has one of the shortest lengths for its drop. It’s not quite as good as the Oneup V2, but you can easily fit this 175mm in the space reserved for a 150mm.

Although you can get tighter routing with the hydraulic hose, fitting the Reverb is a more involved process, especially if you have an e-bike. It also leaks fluid when you’re doing this, so you’ll need to rebleed the whole system afterwards. A bleed kit is included in the box, but unless you’re really adept this can be a bit fiddly and time consuming. We’d recommend getting a bike shop to do the fitting.

There are a couple of little tweaks that we mentioned last time we tested one, including a new Vent Valve on top of the post under the clamps. This works a bit like the Revive valve on the Bike Yoke dropper and allows you to purge any air that’s worked its way into the oil chamber, not that this happened often with our sample.

Although you can tweak the return speed, the lever action isn’t the crispest. Rockshox has reduced the internal friction and it returns in good order, but there are faster posts here. It also has a little bit more play with a noticeable amount of saddle rotation, even out of the box. To be fair, other recommended posts have a bit of play too.

Once fitted, the Reverb Stealth is virtually maintenance free, but when you add the extra set up and overall cost, it is more of an initial commitment. It’s still an innovative product but there are easier plugand-play posts that cost half the price.