Levo Gen 2 Reverb cable not routed through D-loop

Miru

Member
Oct 23, 2020
75
37
Romania
Hi everyone,
While doing some adjustments on my 2019 L size Levo i noticed that the previous owner, that had a Reverb installed(in a small neighbourhood shop probably) and the "techie" that did the job obviously, did not route the hydraulic line through the D-loop and instead routed it directly toptube->seat-tube.
My question is if it's really that big of a deal considering it's not a mechanical dropper with internal cable that could be affected by "sharper" kinks in the cable (that would generate extra friction between the cable and the cable housing making the lever feel heavy or even causing the cable to stick) and also taking into account that the cable is static inside the frame and does not really "move" inside the frame( it's not like the brake line for example that swings back and forth with the chainstay). The point being i don't want to have to go through the hassle of having to replace the hydraulic line(buying a new line since i'm guessing the one i have was cut shorter that it needs to be if it would have been installed correctly through the D-loop, buying a bleed kit with the special adaptter for the 1x remote, new barb, labour, etc.) if there is no real issue/risk with the current setup.
Thanks!
 

DtEW

Active member
Dec 8, 2020
206
189
Bay Area, California
If your '19 Levo has an aluminum frame, the dropper cable (hose in your case) will be dragged over a sharp tube edge if it is misrouted in the direct way you are describing. When I bought my '21 Levo from a LBS, the cable was mis-routed this way as well. Aside from the barely-functional dropper, I could see that the dropper cable housing (from the backside of the Sidearm) was chewed up to heck to point where I was concerned about actual housing failure.

This might be an issue if you aren't careful enough adjusting/moving your dropper post without feeding/managing the hose. You are probably kinking the hose, but I'm not sure how much those hydraulic Reverb droppers are dependent on flow volume.
 

RebornRider

Well-known member
May 31, 2019
570
557
NorCal USA
I'm guilty of do first, read the instructions later. I didn't know about the dropper post loop until after installing a BikeYoke dropper in my carbon Levo frame. The dropper releases fine, and the lever is not hard to push, so in the short term it's not a problem. But now that I know it's wrong, I guess I'll try again with a new cable.

With a hydraulic dropper, my big concern would be a gradual weakening of the tube where the tight direction change happens. If the hose has a kink rather than a nice, radius bend, just the vibration from riding could cause it to spring a leak. OTOH, if the hose has a tight bend, but no kink, then I don't see why you'd have to fix it.
 

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