Fox Transfer Neo dropper post review: The wireless revolution is here

Batteries have been on bikes for a while now, but they’re still the most polarizing topic I see in the mountain bike world. E-bikes, electronic drivetrains, and now electronic seat posts like the Fox Transfer Neo; if it involves electrification, I guarantee people are going to have an opinion.

Fox Transfer Neo wireless dropper seatpost review: A small step for mankind, a giant leap for dropper posts

Batteries have been on bikes for a while now, but they’re still the most polarizing topic I see in the mountain bike world. E-bikes, electronic drivetrains, and now electronic seat posts like the Fox Transfer Neo; if it involves electrification, I guarantee people are going to have an opinion.

I was admittedly slow to adopt electronic shifting. In fact, I didn’t so much adopt it as I had it thrust on me when a SRAM Transmission came spec’d on a new bike I purchased. Despite my initial misgivings, I’ve had a mostly positive experience. While I’m not rushing out to upgrade all my bikes, I can honestly say I’m excited to see the technology become more of a standard.

So when I got the chance to test the new Fox Transfer Neo wireless dropper post, I was again pretty lukewarm about the concept. How was a battery-powered component superior to the slew of proven, mechanically actuated designs on the market? What was the point of another (and different!) battery?

Well, after about 160 hours on the Neo, I’ve come to appreciate it for its myriad advantages over mechanical alternatives. In order of most to least impactful, the short lever throw is definitely the place to start. You don’t realize how far you have to push the lever of a cable-actuated dropper until you replace it with a button that activates at a light touch.

If we imagine a perfect world, a dropper post would move up and down with a simple thought. It’s not Neuralink, but Neo is a small but significant step in the right direction. It’s difficult to understand the improvement until you try it on for a while, and I noticed myself using it in places I wouldn’t have previously bothered to “unwrap” my thumb from the bars.

Reliability is the second strength. Throughout my hours of testing, the Neo has simply worked, and it’s done so without all the potential issues that accompany cable routing. Worn cables, fraying cables, rattling cables, loose cable clamps, yanked cable housing in a crash — these problems and more certainly aren’t common enough to cripple the market for traditional droppers, but I’ve run into them all more than a few times. They’re a pain in the ass when you’re out on a long ride, and they can be downright devastating when you’re in the parking lot gearing up for one.

In addition to the functional advantage of reliability, you’ve got to love the clean cockpit provided by a wireless dropper. It won’t be important to everyone, but I’m a huge fan. Less cable clutter is also nice for night riding, allowing your bar light to shine unimpeded on the trail and not reflect even a small amount of light back in your face.

Another advantage to cutting the cord? Your Neo can be used on multiple bikes. Like me, you might need a $10 shim to accommodate different seat tube diameters, but I happily spent that money and 65 seconds moving my post and controller back and forth between two bikes so I could reap the benefits on every ride. This practice will also help make the post’s price a little more palatable if you don’t have $859 burning a hole in your pocket — which is an appropriate segue into the downsides.

Cost is going to have to do almost all of the heavy lifting in this section. I’ve gotten a complete (gravel) bike for less than the Neo’s MSRP, and even in the world of fancy wireless droppers it’s expensive. The KS Lev Circuit is available for $730, the Reverb AXS can now be had on sale for less than $700, and the TranzX EDP01 retails for $500.

Although Fox has left the door open for a more competitively priced wireless post, it’s telling that the first run of Transfer Neos is sold out on Fox’s website and many other popular retail sites. Build it, and they’ll buy it — even with batteries.

You will have to remember to charge those batteries by the way, albeit infrequently enough that it’s tough to call it a disadvantage. Like the Reverb AXS, the Neo features a 300mah battery that has some serious staying power. Here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, I’ve been getting 30-40 hours of riding time or about 1,200 activations per charge. Your own mileage will vary based on your terrain, with flatter, undulating trails generally requiring a more active left thumb.

Wherever you ride, I’m betting you’ll be pleasantly surprised by battery life. The only time I ran out of juice while riding was an intentional part of my testing. Unfortunately, I had managed to forget the spare I