First Look: 2017 RockShox Reverb B1 - Same Look, All New Guts and More Travel

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<b>Meet the Reverb B1. It may look like your old Reverb, but it's a new beast altogether.</b>

<b>The new post has more bushing overlap, longer travel, and better reliability. Reverb B1 promises to take everything we love about the Reverb and make it better.</b>

<b>New Reverb on top, old on the bottom. RockShox's engineers had so many ideas for improvement that a new post was born. The hose, lever, and bleed process remain the same.</b>

<b>Longer bushing overlap allows for more travel options than before, including new 150 and 170mm versions. With the market for longer travel dropper posts heating up, this is a timely move.</b>

<b>The Internal Floating Piston (IFP) is a key component of the Reverb design, and also the cause of many of the reliability issues affecting the old Reverb. SKF was brought in to help address this point with a completely new seal design.</b>

<b>The new dual acting u-cup seal does a better job of keeping oil and air separate inside the post. When those two mix, you end up with the well-known squishy post syndrome.</b>

<b>There are now 100mm to 170mm travel options in all three seat post diameters (30.9, 31.6, and 34.9mm). The additional bushing overlap was initially driven by the desire for a 150mm version of the existing 30.9mm post.</b>

<b>If you're anything like Curtis Keene, you might find that 150mm is just not quite enough dropper post travel. Good news, the 170mm option is for you. Just make sure your seat tube is short enough to accept the longer post.</b>

<b>Updates to the main piston make faster return speeds possible, especially in cold weather. The slowest speed of the B1 is equal to the fastest speed of the old Reverb, and the fastest is obviously a whole lot faster now.</b>

<b>Production of the Reverb B1 started about one month ago, and the new posts will be hitting shops as we type these lines.</b>

<b>Stealth options (100 to 170mm travel) are out now. The externally routed version is due in June, but only in 100 and 125mm travel options.</b>

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The most popular dropper post on the market gets a full redesign for 2017, featuring all new internals, better reliability, and more travel options. Listen in as we chat with Jon Cancellier, RockShox Product Manager, about exactly what's new and why.

Highlights

Completely redesigned internals with new SKF internal floating piston
Improved performance and durability in all conditions
New 150mm and 170mm travel options available in all diameters for Reverb Stealth
Increased bushing overlap
New dedicated post length per travel length

On trail it's very similar to the same great post you've come to expect from RockShox, though the extra travel is certainly nice to have for those ultra steep sections. Seated it feels very firm, and there's no sense of having bonus "suspension" on your bike. Every post must have less than 3mm of deflection after assembly or it returns to an earlier step in the process. An added benefit of the increased bushing overlap is less binding on frames with slack seat tube angles, making for a smoother feel. The action is fast, but not too fast, and the new speed adjustment range will be a welcome change for many. Picking up on the saddle when the post is dropped now feels more secure as well.

Using several data acquisition systems, RockShox determined that the average rider uses their dropper post 75 times an hour. The post has been tested to 15,000 cycles without issue, so this equates to roughly 2.1 years of use without needing internal service, and many are exceeding 40,000 cycles. That's up from 5,000 on the original Reverb!

RockShox also made service a bit easier, and is recommending that riders in harsh dry or wet climates clean the lower lube every 50 hours for the best results. The clean process is reportedly very easy to do if your post is equipped with a Connectamajig hose adapter, but may otherwise require a lever bleed.

As bikes continue to have better standover heights and lower seat tubes, RockShox is encouraging bike companies to consider spec'ing longer travel posts where it makes sense. Many 2017 size medium bikes will bump up to 150mm travel posts, while larges and XL bikes will see an increase to 170mm. Some bikes may be limited to their current spec due to bent or short seat tubes, interrupting pivots, etc. For every extra millimeter of post travel, it's necessary to have twice the available room underneath the post's collar.

2017 Reverb Specs

Travel Options: 100, 125, 150, and 170mm (150 and 170mm are Stealth only)
Lengths: 340, 390, 440, and 480mm
Diameters: 30.9, 31.6, and 34.9mm
Materials: 3D forged 7050 alloy shaft, 7050 forged alloy head
Remote: Adjustable return speed at the handlebar, discrete or Match Maker X, left or right
Weights: 560g Stealth, 520g External (340mm post, 100mm travel, 30.9mm diameter, MMX remote with shifter hardware and 1300mm hose)

Pricing and Availability

The Reverb Stealth is available now, while the externally routed option drops in June, 2016. Pricing is $471 and $400 US, respectively.

Visit www.rockshox.com for more details, and be sure to check out their clean room assembly feature to see how a Reverb is made.

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