Conclusion
After months of hard trail use, it has become clear that the latest generation of dropper posts are better than ever. Unreliability is rare and poor design is scarce. When Fox dropped the Transfer, with its whisper-smooth operation and effortless installation, we thought we had reached dropper nirvana and it would be a dead cert for the win. However, nobody would have predicted it would face a savage challenge from BikeYoke, with their ingenious Revive, and Crank Brothers, with their excellent Highline. Only the sublime feedback, performance, and fit-and-forget reliability of the Fox noses it in front to steal the Best in Test Award – but all three posts are exceptional. At the more affordable end of the spectrum, competition was fierce. When it comes to bang for buck, nothing could beat the Brand-X Ascend, offering reliable performance at an amazing price – but at 120 mm only, it’s too short to take the win. We fell for the e*thirteen TRS+. The only post in the group test to use a simple spring rather than a complex cartridge (and therefore cheaper in the long run), we love the easy ‘kitchen worktop’ servicing and the brilliant remote. Yes, it only has four positions, but works so well it has us questioning what more we needed from a dropper post. A Best Value winner for sure.
