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Today Fox presents their new dropper seat post, the Transfer. We received one some weeks ago, so that you can read our review after the product presentation.
Details
- Hydraulic operation, steel cable activated
- Infinitely adjustable
- 100mm, 125mm & 150mm travel
- 30.9mm & 31.6mm diameter
- Two styles of lever : Vertical (for 2x & 3x drivetrains) and Horizontal (for 1x drivetrains)
- Internally and External routing options
- Adjustable return speed
- Two finishes: Kashima for the Factory version, black anodized for the Performance version.
- Our Factory 30.9mm / 125mm of travel weighs 530 grams without cable or remote control.
Prices
Factory post only – $314 USD
Performance post only – $264
Remote only (1x or 2x/3x) – $65
Internals
All the hydraulics are located in the upper part of the seat post, this way the internal operating pressures are lower, ensuring better durability and a lower actuation force at the lever.
Everything revolves around the so-called Spool Valve, which locks / unlocks the flow of oil to adjust the seat movement.
If the pressure between the top and bottom of the seat is varies greatly, the Relief Valve steps in, which lets lower quantities of oil through a small gap to rebalance the system.
Set up
Mounting the Transfer is easy and intuitive, even without how-to. One end of the steel cable goes into the mechanism at the bottom of the seatpost the other goes through the lovely CNC machined remote lever. Once the cable has been cut to the right length, it will be hidden in the cavity under the lever (see photos).
The seatpost extension speed can be fine tuned with the screw barrel adjuster on the remote. On the 2x remote you will find a different barrel adjuster on the noodle (pictured below). The maximum speed is the one we liked the most on the trail.
The seatpost head has fore & aft screws for the saddle, and is made of one piece with the stanchion.
On the Trail
Dropper posts are tricky to engineer, especially if they have to work well for a long time. 3/4 weeks are far from a long term test, but we have been riding the Transfer mostly in bad weather and in wet/muddy conditions, so what you are reading right now is a review with a fair amount of heavy usage in a tough environment for a dropper post. Water, dirt and mud can get through seals and interfere with its proper working.
Even when testing the Transfer just pushing it down by hand we noticed that it is very easy to activate, independentely from where we put the weight, on the front or on the back of the saddle. The amount of pressure to lower it by hand is relatively high, but it becomes normal when riding and using the rider’s weight. The Transfer is very fluid, and we liked a lot the loud “clack” we can hear when it is bottoming out or reaching the full travel. It lets you know where you are, especially if you want to know if your pedalling position is the right one (full extended).
The 1x remote control has a good leverage ratio, therefore it works very smoothly. It doesn’t require much pressure from the thumb. It takes a little bit more of travel than a normal shifting trigger to activate the dropper post. On the other hand, its position and way of working is the same of a trigger, what all riders are used to.
The 2x remote requires more pressure and its reaction is not so immediate like the 1x. The fine tuning barrel adjuster’s position right above the bolt used to tighten the remote on the bar is less than ideal, because it interferes with the allen key when working on it.
As of today the lateral play of the Transfer is really minimal and it doesn’t affect the riding in any way.
Conclusions
We think that Fox has hit the nail on the head with the new Transfer: it works flawlessly, it’s easy to mount and it has a remote lever, the 1x, with a good leverage ratio that is very intuitive to use when the rider is busy focusing on the trail. The highest extension speed is perfect and it’s very easy to fine tune directly from the remote. On the other hand, the 2x and 3x remote control needs more pressure and it’s more exposed in case of a crash.
After nearly a month of heavy usage the Fox Transfer is still working like new, stay tuned for a long term follow up.
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