2021 Fox Transfer Dropper Post: It's all in the Head [Review]

The 150mm x 30.9 Fox Factory Transfer dropper post weighs roughly 568g, give or take some mud and grease.

Fox Transfer Dropper Post

Price: $349 (Remote sold separately, $65 MSRP)
Buy from Planet Cyclery and other retailers

I tested the revamped Fox Transfer dropper post that now has a 38.7mm overall length reduction on the 150mm model to fit more frames and to allow some shorter-legged riders additional travel. Apart from shrinking the overall size, Fox said that the post became easier to service. If you have a nitrogen tank at home and some proprietary tools that claim is accurate, but otherwise they likely meant it’s easier for certified service technicians to work on. As long as you’re comfortable with sending your dropper post in for a rebuild once annually when it’s recommended or when the post requires service, the dialed performance that this dropper provides will keep you smiling.

The most significant shift between the former Fox Transfer dropper and this one is in its head, or saddle clamp. The space between the base of the saddle rail and the furthest upper point that the post can drop, also known as its stack height, is shorter than ever. With the mounting platform drooping low at the front and rear like a symmetrically melted candle, the saddle can now drop a little more than a centimeter closer to the frame.

The seat tube on my Ancillotti Scarab Evo29 has a rather dramatic angle in it to accommodate the suspension design, and I’m not able to insert the previous 150mm Fox Transfer model far enough to work with my short-legged saddle height. With the new model, I can just barely squeak the 150mm post in, with the base of the post about 1mm above the internal frame blockage.

Fox says that this 150mm post has a 15.5mm shorter insertion depth than the 2020 model, while the 175mm post cuts 8.6mm, the 125mm takes off 20.3, and the 100mm dropper had it’s lower tube shortened by 25.2mm.

So simple.

Fox Transfer Dropper Post Installation

Mounting the Fox Transfer dropper post and running cable routing is as easy as with the previous iteration, and mounting a saddle is even less complicated. In fact, this might be the simplest post to swap saddles with. The bolts that tighten everything together are screwed into a pair of black alloy cylinder nuts that don’t have to be fully removed in order to pull the two plates that clamp the saddle rails in place. You can simply loosen them until they pop free from their seats in the upper plate. Then slide the cylinders aside and the whole shebang comes apart and goes back together intuitively.

If you do happen to fully unthread the cylinder nuts, the two bolts that screw into them are angled and notably easy to work with. You likely won’t need to grow a third hand in order to hold things together as you tighten the Transfer head, and the angled bolts make adjusting your saddle-tilt a breeze.

As expected, the actuator at the base of the post has a sturdy seat for the housing and cable head, making it less likely that the head will slip out of its cozy little throne while you’re pulling the cable through and inserting the post. The straightforward actuator makes it easy to drop and raise the post manually if the cable happens to break or slip out on the trail.

Fox Transfer Dropper Lever

At 33g, Fox claims that their new 1x lever is 34% lighter than the previous version. Having used the old lever a few times I can certainly say that this one feels more natural, with its shift-lever-mimicking shape. The bar clamp itself is narrow enough that I haven’t had any issue with it interfering with brake lever placement, and Fox also has SRAM and Shimano brake lever compatible versions for folks who want a tidy two-clamp bar.

In terms of feel out on the trail, there isn’t much difference between the longer Fox Transfer dropper and this one. It drops smoothly and snaps back with a crisp “clack” to let you know when it’s ready to climb again. There is less than 1mm of wiggle in my saddle, which is impressive considering the massive amount of time I’ve spent on this post.

The updated model does seem slightly more sensitive to post clamp tightening tolerances than the last. If I tighten it just a quarter turn past the torque spec it will slow down, doesn’t reach full travel consistently, and requires a little more butt weight to drop. This is easily remedied by backing off the post collar by a quarter turn or so.

Like the previous model, a 2021 Transfer has makings along the trailing side of the lower tube to speed up saddle height adjustments. At the EWS race in Pietra Ligure I noticed the podium dustin’ Eddie Masters had a hash mark cut into his 175mm Transfer post, paired with a quick-release collar. The Pivot mechanic said that Eddie likes to climb with his post higher, but drops it low in the frame on descents.

This internal-only dropper post comes in 30.9 or 31.6mm diameters, 100, 125, 150, and 175mm travel lengths, with black or Kashima coating.