KS Suspension LEV Ci 150mm 2017
Reviews / Seat Posts
5,041
At A Glance
KS have been at the forefront of seat post technology for almost as long as I can remember, while the Reverb steals the show in terms of market dominance, but when it comes to reliability, accept no substitute. We’ve got one of the original KS i900 posts, and it’s still going strong after years of abuse. While hydraulic actuation sounds great, it’s a pain to maintain and tune. With a simple cable actuation, KS have always done well.
Buy Seat Posts on
The new LEV Ci takes all their knowledge of dropper posts and packs it into a lightweight package. The Ci stands for Carbon, and the base of the post is just that, with tried and trusted internals to boot it offers an excellent option for the weight weenies out there.
How much weight? Well, we swapped it for the Reverb that weighed in at 620grams on the bike, and the LEV Ci came in at an impressive 525grams. The post also has a lower stack than the Reverb, so if you’ve got a bike that’s struggling to fit a dropper in this is a good way to save a couple of centimetres in the overall height of the setup.
On The Trail
Fitting the LEV Ci was relatively straightforward, it comes with a handy plastic guide to help you get the cable lengths just right. It’s worth pointing out the use of carbon friction paste, and a torque wrench is a must when installing. Once on the bike, the first thing you’ll notice is how solid the seat feels on the post. There is hardly any play whatsoever in any direction. In this regard, it outperforms the Reverb and most of the other posts we have tried.
Actuation is fast and solid, the seat drops with minimal input from the rider's weight and pops back up with a confidence inspiring speed. We’ve had the post on our bike for a while now, and it’s stood up to plenty of abuse. The internal stealth routing is a real bonus for cable actuated posts as in the past mud, and grime always affected performance.
After a few months of hard riding, it’s performing as intended and we haven’t need to do any servicing or maintenance. Our only gripe is the lever, KS introduced this lighter lever, it weighs just 45 grams, but it can slip a little on the bar. KS provide the lever with some grippy stickers to avoid this, and if you use the right amount of force it’s fine, but if you get heavy handed, you might find it can move a little.
At Eurobike this year KS showed us a newly updated lever that actuates the post exceedingly well and uses a more clamp style fitting to the handlebars. This new lever coupled with the excellent LEV Ci make for an impressive setup.
Overall
Light, dependable, easy to maintain (should you need to) and above all no lateral movement make this a sound choice, especially if weight is a factor for you. Dropper posts are arguably the best invention in MTB since sliced bread, but the posts were always somewhat heavy. Using Carbon doesn’t drastically reduce the weight, but at almost 100 grams less than the Reverb, it’s definitely worth taking notice of the KS LEV Ci, especially when it outperforms it in almost every regard, the only kicker is the high price tag…
This review was in Issue 50 of IMB.
For more information visit KS SuspensionRelated
By Rou Chater
Rou Chater is the Publishing Editor of IMB Magazine; he’s a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, but his passion for bikes knows no bounds. His first mountain bike was a Trek 820, which he bought in 1990. It didn’t take him long to earn himself a trip to the hospital on it, and he’s never looked back since. These days he’s keeping it rubber side down, riding locally and overseas as much as possible.
