RockShox Reverb Stealth: Making the Zesty a Lowrider

In Issue #145, we debuted our new long term test bike: the Lapierre Zesty 827 AM. We had it kitted out by Shimano Australia with the latest XTR M9000 group set, plus their brilliant XTR Trail wheels. It’s got a lovely RockShox Pike fork, and the Monarch rear shock features the e:i Auto suspension management system. If you haven’t seen our initial review, go to your newsagent and pick up a copy. It looks like this:

We also had the bike set up with PRO Tharsis XC components – some lovely carbon fibre parts that are light enough for XCO and trail riding, and strong enough for all mountain riders. But the Zesty is one truly capable bike, and we wanted to get a dropper post back into it to make the best use of its confident stance and 160mm of travel.

The bike came stock with a RockShox Reverb dropper post, and that was fitted up again using the neat internal routing option. The PRO Tharsis XC carbon seatpost that was in there was brilliant (keep an eye out for a full review on this finishing kit) but the Zesty AM platform really suits a dropper post.

The Reverb Stealth is a pretty well known item, and I haven’t been disappointed since it was re-fitted onto the bike. While the Zesty AM pedals really well for a 150mm bike thanks to the e:i Auto system – it still goes down better than up! And the Reverb has a whole range of positions to get the height just right no matter what you’re dropping into – or what you’re riding back up. They’re not for everyone – but they make riding a whole lot of fun. I grew up riding without one, but find they make riding new trails blind with mates a whole different experience. Mostly a faster and more confident one.

Thanks to running a 1x setup with the Shimano XTR M9000 group set, the lever is easy to set in a good position. But sometimes it just never matches as well with a Shimano setup when running a 2x or 3x system. As is, it’s nice and neat in the cockpit. This makes a very big difference, as it means the lever is really close at hand, and makes it so easy to use it’s barely even thought about. That’s not always the case with other dropper posts, or lock out levers for that matter.

We have another change or two to make to the Zesty – stay tuned and keep an eye out for our full write up in Issue 146 – the Alpine Issue – out on February 5th. or earlier if you subscribe.