Fresh Produce: ICE Lift V8 Seatpost

We’ve been searching for a bargain priced yet quality adjustable seatpost for ages, and now we think we’ve found one…

ICE (In Case of Emergency) are a new French company who have a pretty random selection of products on offer. The reason for that though seems to be that they’re picking a few standout products from the vast array of stuff that comes out of the Far East, and then tweaking them slightly to make them even better. We reckon they might have struck gold with this Lift V8 seatpost.

Ok, so it’s no Reverb, but at a fraction of the price it was never going to be. That said, we think a load of riders will love the simplicity of this post, there really doesn’t appear to be anything to go wrong. Whoever designed it has rather cheekily picked out some of the best bits from other designs and then pieced them together in order to come up with this post. The main mechanism is basically the same as a Gravity Dropper, i.e. it uses a very simple mechanical spring to control the up and down movement, and then each of the three positions (fully up, 45mm drop, and 90mm drop) are ‘locked’ with the aid of a pin that goes into hole. It really is incredibly simple and although the design may not offer the silky smooth infinite adjustment of a hydraulic design, over the years it has proved to be amazingly reliable. There really is very little, if anything, to go wrong.

The other features of the post that impress us are that the cable is mounted to the stationary part of the post and exits at a good angle, so there’s none of that baggy cable thing going on. The saddle clamp is also a well proven design which allows precise adjustment. The rubber boot which takes care of sealing duties is fixed in place at both ends so it should do a fine job. And, it’s great to see a post coming in a 27.2mm size (it does also come with either a 30.9 or 31.6mm shim).

Finally, the other thing which we really like is the handlebar release lever which is an almost perfect copy of the old Crank Brothers one. Why they ever got rid of this design is a mystery to us as we think it’s easily one of the best. The fact that it can be pushed in any direction means that you have almost endless mounting options, and unlike other designs it is almost impossible to break in a crash. The lever uses a standard gear cable which is pretty easy to fit, and then fine tuning of the cable tension can be done via the in-line adjuster. Again, dead simple.

In terms of operation it is unsurprisingly very similar to a Gravity Dropper in that you have to weight your seat in order for you to raise it up. This is to help release the pin, and whist it might sound a little awkward you get used to it very quickly. You can adjust the return speed by simply turning (with a 6mm allen key) the spring preload at the bottom of the post, but even on the slowest setting it’s still pretty quick. That’s not really a problem though because if you push the lever without any weight on the saddle it won’t shoot up and smash your balls in, instead you have to momentarily sit on the seat, and then it safely comes up with you.

Overall then we reckon this is a great addition to the adjustable seatpost game. At 543g all in it’s not even that heavy, plus side to side movement is pretty much non-existent. If any play does start to become apparent though then the post even comes with some spare bushings which are a doddle to fit. Yes we would like to see a bit more adjustment than 90mm, but unless you’re particularly tall you should still find that this post offers you enough, and it’s certainly better than a fixed post.

Price: £120.00
www.r53sport.com