BikeYoke, Components, Dropper Post, Revive - March 13, 2018

BikeYoke Revive Dropper Post Review

The price tag is a tad steep, but the value of not having to send your post off for servicing is borderline priceless.

What is it

German’s are often a literal bunch, and BikeYoke is no exception. The company sprung to life after a couple of engineers with mountain biking habits decided to create aftermarket frame yokes that would allow Specialized owners to run alternative shocks on their bikes. Next the pair took aim at the often dubious dropper post market, which as of a few years ago became both the most coveted and often unreliable component on any bike that wasn’t earmarked for World Cup cross-country duty.

The result is the (again) aptly named Revive, an infinite travel mechanically actuated dropper post that directly addresses the issue of air leakage (and the ensuing mushy performance) by equipping the post with a valve that when activated resets the hydraulic circuit, meaning no more mush. More importantly, this revival is achieved via a quick turn of 4mm Allen key inserted into an externally located reset valve, thus you don’t have to remove your post (or send it back to the manufacturer) to get it working properly again.

Available travel lengths are 125mm, 160mm (tested), and 185mm for 30.9 and 31.6 seatposts. And there are two remote trigger options, paddle or radial style lever. It also plays nice on your handle bars with the likes of Formula, Hope, Magura, Shimano, and SRAM. Mtbr tested an 160mm travel 30.9 post which weighed 527g, plus another 113g for hardware and lever.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ThdgyVPjA

Pros

Can be bled without removing post from bike
Infinite travel
Ergonomic paddle style lever
Great lever feel
Low stack height means more travel
Discernable clunk upon return
Twin chamber design instead of IFP
Not affected by cold temperature
Experienced no side-to-side play
Angled saddle retention bolts easy to reach and adjust
Three travel lengths available
Better fit on smaller frames
Less prone high seat-clamp force issues

Cons

Expensive
No external option
Turning bike upside down can require post bleed

The post’s lower stack height means more dropper travel in some frames.

Mtbr’s Take

Unless you’re a product engineer there’s no need to take too deep a dive down the tech rabbit hole. But when it comes to the BikeYoke Revive dropper post it helps to have at least a basic understanding of how it works. In this case the key is its twin-chamber rather than internal floating piston design, which is employed but many of the popular droppers currently on the market.

Those other IFP-using posts rely on a perfect seal to keep oil and air separate, lest you end up with that mushy post feel. But as most of us know from experience, maintaining that perfect seal is not easy, and air often leaks in, resulting in sub-par performance or worse (think bleeding and sending your post out for servicing). Conversely, BikeYoke’s twin-chamber design instead uses just two seals (versus the more common four), which lessens the chance for oil-air mixing.

Lever action is buttery smooth.

However, it’s not a perfect system either, which is why BikeYoke added in the revive function. With the quick twist of a 4mm Allen key in an easily accessible nut and a push down of the post, the Revive is revived, its hydraulic circuits cleared and mush eliminated. And it works. I had to reset this post a couple times during testing, and it typically took longer to fish out the requisite tool than to do the actual repair. (And since sending out this test post, BikeYoke has started offering the Revive with an integrated mini-reset lever, so you don’t even need a tool anymore. The mini lever is retrofittable and owners of the original Revive can purchase it on-line.) Here’s the revive process on the original post:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGHbunAKrm4

And while we never had to do this, BikeYoke claims that if you do have to perform a full service, there is no complicated bleeding procedure because all wearing parts can be swapped out without opening up the hydraulic circuits.

The Revive also features a one-piece lower tube, which provides better load displacement and yields extra wall thickness at the collar area, so it’s less prone to problems if you accidently ham-fist tighten the seat clamp. It also has been impervious to cold, as witnessed by a winter’s worth of testing on a Canyon Dude fat bike.

The Revive had no issue with cold weather testing on this Canyon Dude fat bike.

Other notable features of the Revive include a low 41mm stack height, which means you can typically get a longer travel post into even frame’s with shorter seat tubes. In essence if you’re running a 150mm post now, you should have no problem jumping to a Revive 160mm. BikeYoke also nailed small details such as the cable cutting guide that’s printed on the base of the post. Indeed, stealth-routing install is fairly painless (unless you have a PITA frame), and all the various matchmaker compatibilities net a clean cockpit. Even the seatpost head is well thought out, with its classic two-bolt design and easy-to-access bolt heads.

But what’s really notable is how this post feels on the trail. Lever action is light and smooth, breakaway force is negligible, and the post returns to fully extended with a reassuring thunk. Bottom line, this is one of, if not the best droppers we’ve ever used, making it far easier to justify the somewhat steep $400 price tag, which includes remote.