This is the new RockShox Reverb dropper seatpost , in fact it’s so new we had it air-lifted to the MBR offices so it could make this test.

>>> The best mountain bike dropper posts

RockShox has made quite a few changes since the last time we tested it – the first being two additional 175 and 200mm drops. By tweaking the saddle clamp position and lowering the height of the collar, RockShox has also reduced the overall length of the Reverb – the upshot being we were able to run a 175mm on our test bike, where we’d normally run a 150mm.

RockShox has also added a new Vent Valve on top of the post under the saddle clamps. This works in a similar way to the Revive valve on the Bike Yoke Revive and allows you to purge any air that’s worked it’s into the oil chamber. This would normally manifest itself as dead travel when the post is in the fully extended position.

There are also a few performance revisions designed to reduce friction and speed up the actuation and return speed – tweaked internals decrease the amount of drop force needed by over 50%, there’s a new smoother Internal Floating Piston (IFP), Reverb-specific Serene Fluid and even the grease is different.

Fitting the Reverb is more involved process than a gear cable and you need a bleed kit but we never run into issues with tight routing using the Reverb and once bled correctly we never have to maintain the hose.

With the return speed dial fully open, the new Reverb is fast but it doesn’t feel as smooth or as supple as the Bike Yoke. It’s not a big deal though because there’s a feature we think is more important – the fact that you can now run a 175mm in place of a 150mm. This makes a massive difference to rider confidence because being able to get you weight lower means you can just ride faster on rough stuff. It’s good that RockShox has addressed some of the reliability issues but getting more post in the same space, really is a big step up in performance.