A while ago I posted about drilling holes in aluminum frames to add stealth routing for dropper seatposts where they didn’t exist. Folks were so concerned. How dare he? What gives him the right? Bike frames just can’t handle this!?!! Well, I’m at it again. Carbon!
So fuck y’all.
The recent acquisition of a cheap Chinese carbon frame has worked out very well as Amanda’s mew trail bike. Everything about the bike has basically been perfect so far outside of two things. The front center may really need an adjustment to be longer but the bike is still nice now as it sits. Then there’s the big problem; the Specialized Command Post dropper post is just just junk for a novice rider (it’s a bear for even me). It’s such an incredible piece of shit that even the addition of the KS Southpaw lever didn’t make much of a difference in it’s ease of use. Thanks to a new bike purchase for me and some swapping around we are adding a RockShox Reverb Stealth post to the bike. It’s proven to be the finest dropper post on the market and certain to make it easier for her to operate. Also, indexed positioning on posts has proven to be a completely lost proposition in the face of the speed and efficiency of infinite positioning.
The frame didn’t have any provisions for routing a hydraulic stealth hose for the post (So XC!) so it had to be added. I chose a position for entry on the down tube that wouldn’t (hopefully) inerfere with the routing that was already constructed into the frame or the construction of the frame itself.
The region is covered with tape to protect it, then marked for position. A small hole is drilled and then finished to size with a small round file at an angle so that the 5mm hose guides in well. It takes a while to do a clean job but the results are worth it. Carbon frame wall thickness is a bit thicker than aluminum so you can sculpt the hole a bit.
