Cyclocross and gravel bikes are increasingly being paired with dropper posts, with bike manufacturers like KHS and Specialized adding them to their mixed-terrain lineup, and companies like Kind Shock releasing their short-travel gravel-oriented Zeta 25mm travel dropper seatpost at Sea Otter.
Dropper posts are of course nothing new to fully-rigid offroad cycling and racing, and the iconic HiteRite spring came as standard equipment on Cannondale, Trek and Fisher mountain bikes thirty years ago. Although handlebar-actuated dropper posts are all the rage on enduro mountain bikes, there are still ways to experience the benefits of a dropper post without needing to route a cable to the bar. You can do it the ghetto way, or you can opt for an wireless, electronic dropper post.
Magura just released one such option with its wireless Vyron eLect Dropper Post that works on ANT+ technology and makes setting up a dropper post easy and clean.
Magura Vyron eLect wireless ANT+ dropper seat post. © Cyclocross Magazine
The Vyron eLect dropper seatpost features a whopping 150mm of stepless travel, 6 times the amount of the KS Zeta post we saw at Sea Otter.
The post features a NiMH rechargeable battery with micro USB charge socket. The battery is expected to last for about 400 actuations, and charges in 3 hours via its micro USB port.
See the Magura Vyron eLect Ant+ Wireless Dropper Post in action via our video below:
The biggest barrier to putting one on your cyclocross or gravel bike is its limited initial size options. It initially comes in just 30.9 and 31.6 mm diameters, which means it will fit some aluminum and carbon cyclocross frames, but not the popular 27.2mm seat tube found on many (especially steel frames).
Magura’s Jeff Enlow told Cyclocross Magazine the post weighs 500g alone, while the official weight including the remote is 595g.
The Vyron elect dropper post will retail for $440 and be available in November.
Magura Vyron eLect dropper seatpost specs:
MSRP: $440
Travel: 150mm, stepless
Diameters: 30.9mm and 31.6mm
Weight: 595 grams including remote
Wireless: ANT+
Availability: November 2015
More info: magura.com
