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The Vital MTB Crew
Easy removal is the prime one. Easy and consistent push button activation is more of a no for me as it's either go or no go, no inbetween. Most mechanical posts allow you to feather the speed of return (at least) by not pulling on the lever to the full stop.
Then it would get in the way of the Aenomaly Constructs Switchgrade and it would be a no go for me for sure!!!
Upvote placed my good man!! I do not own an e-bike but they are a ton of fun to go rip around on!! Have you rode one yet?
I'd give you a thumbs up, but I want that count to stay at 32 because irony.
I actually messaged archer with this idea years ago and they said it was already in the works. Guessing they were bs’ing or funds dried up before it could become a reality. Someone jump on this idea!
Too many variables across manufacturers to implement this. Whether you realize it or not, the rails and design of a saddle allow it to flex to give you a bit of compliance. Obviously, some saddles more than others.Trying to stuff something into an already tight adjustment area would make a really comfortable saddle extremely uncomfortable.
Haven’t seen it for quite a while, but two bolt clamp designs on slacker seat angle bikes used to inevitably have the front bolt poking the bottom of the seat. Used to see a lot of bikes come in the shop like this, and the owners didn’t actually know what was happening. Shorter bolt and problem solved.
It's actually crazy how much stuff I have zip tied/taped under my saddle. Tile tracker, extra One Up pump strap, extra derailleur hanger, extra shift cable (could go away with beep boops)
Wouldn't give up the space my Switchgrade takes up for a battery in an electronic dropper though. How cool would it be to have control of the Switchgrade on your bars? It'd certainly have to be electronic since some bike companies can't even be bothered to put one cable hole in the frame let alone (gasp) two! I'd deal with the fugly battery jutting out from the post for that control from my bars.
It sounds like you haven’t changed a lot of cable/housings on droppers.
…Especially on an E bike. Some frames you damn near have to take the bike completely apart to change it. Having a wireless dropper that you just pop it in the hole like a normal post sounds heavenly in these cases.
I Iike the way you roll Sir!!!👊
Supposedly a company called https://ogbikeworks.com/ is developing one; they claim they were working with Bike Yoke on theirs before it got delayed/cancelled:
Big ol' caveats, 1. It's MTBR: 2. If you read through subsequent posts it sounds like Bikeworks may be a little flaky, so grain of salt and all that 3. Their site isn't very confidence inspiring
"Exciting News from OG Bikeworks!
We are OG Bikeworks, creators of the actuator technology. Due to unresolved contractual matters, we are no longer collaborating with BikeYoke. However, we’re thrilled to announce the upcoming release of an aftermarket wireless dropper kit!
Our kit features the same core technology as what was shown at Eurobike but comes with some key improvements, including a sleek forged aluminum remote compatible with popular mounting systems like Matchmaker. This kit will allow you to convert your existing BikeYoke dropper to wireless operation—no more cables! (Patents Pending)
Expected Release: 6 months
Estimated MSRP: $120 USD
Stay tuned for more updates—we’re excited to bring this game-changing technology to the MTB world!"
Source: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/bikeyoke-wireless.1233215/post-16376432
I guess for E bikes that makes sense for some people. I tend to drive on salty roads to get to trails so I swap cables pretty frequently when they get sticky. Personally the beauty of bikes are that you can accomplish everything with a mechanical system that I can work on at home. I'd rather spend an hour fishing cables through my frame (or better yet using external routing on 3 out of 4 of my bikes) than re flowing solder on surface mount microcontrollers or scraping off corrosion from battery contacts.
One of the things I think is really amazing about the whole mtb thing is that IT IS ALL compromises.
Hardtail? Short travel? Long travel? 32 fork? 38 fork? 40? Forekaster? Assegai? Kryptotal?
There is no one singular answer for anything.
How much post travel would you be willing to give up for a more ideal (whatever that is to you) battery situation with your dropper post?
I'm blessed (?) with shorter legs and thickly muscular thighs. I've rubbed the little patch of printing off my saddle rail and I can feel the asymmetry of the item I have strapped to my seat tube. I think I could give up 20mm max for my dropper travel. I don't think that's enough to do anything different. At the end of the day, I think I'd prefer the design that's on Hildred's bike over giving up some of the drop on my bike.
My fs frame allows me 180mm currently and it's WILD compared to the 125mm that I started with on a different bike. I don't think that I couldn't go back (yes, the double negative is intentional) but I definitely wouldn't want to.
Another thought:
I wonder if we'll ever see a seatpost clamp with the battery built into it? You could have a small channel running down the length of the outside of the seat post (ideally cover it up but we're talking about super tight tolerances and serviceability) to run a replaceable ribbon cable to connect the battery to the mechanism. That cable being free to have its slack sit deeper into the seat tube would give you a solid connection with no problem of how high the dropper collar is above the clamp. It's still a large chunk of something on your seatpost but it's not additional growth to accompany the existing seatpost clamp.
I'm sure there's something I'm missing about this idea that clearly makes it impossible. I didn't ever claim to be an engineer.
Ironically, for the cost of 1 electronic dropper, you could buy 3 normal droppers and wouldn't need to swap anything.
Bikers will buy the most stupid sh*t and electronic droppers is at the top of that list.
This is getting dangerously close to a brake forum comment, but I think the reason you wouldn't see a vacuum bleeder for brakes is that the seals are designed to seal against positive pressure, but not against significant negative pressure. I've been testing Mavens and DB8's for the last 6 months and, even though the official SRAM mineral oil bleed procedure recommends drawing a vacuum using the Pro Bleed Kit syringe, I've stopped doing that part of the bleed process because I'm able to draw basically an endless amount of air out of my lines, at the lever or at the caliper, by pulling a significant vacuum. I think the seals are just letting more air in, so I've started bleeding with positive pressure only and that's been working A LOT better. My two cents. Also possible that I'm doing something else wrong, but yes I did try switching syringes, bleed fittings, etc and kept producing endless air bubbles.
The guys at Onlymotion are close to selling their wireless electronics kit. Pretty amazing that they have managed to pack all this into such a small volume. Also, I truly appreciate that you can charge it without removing the dropper, in contrast to certain mtbr comments. As long as you utilize this conversion kit with any of your mechanical droppers that fit it, you just need to put the included USB-C into the frame once. 10min for 2000 actuations and no proprietary charger sounds good to me. Might be difficult to fit the right insertion on some frames with the additional cylinder at the bottom of the post. We don't have all the info yet, but a visual guess of that cylinder height seems pretty similar to the original dropper pull mechanism, it would likely need to be removed, plus the 30mm radius cable hose that sticks out of it.
As soon as I can, I'll try to get one and report back to you all on its performance.
source: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/dropper-post-electric-conversion-kit-yes-it%E2%80%99s-happening.1236857/
The posted thread form mtbr :
My name is Simon, and I work at OnlyMotion, a Canadian company. We’ve been deep in development on something we believe could change how riders use their dropper posts, and we’re now wrapping up prototyping. Before moving into production, we wanted to share the idea here and gauge interest.
The concept is simple: a wireless electric conversion kit that upgrades your existing dropper post. For some of you, this idea isn’t new—it’s been floating around for years. It took us years to get here, but now it’s no longer just an idea.
Preliminary characteristics:
Compatibility: Works with most dropper posts—OneUp V2/V3, FOX Transfer, Bontrager Drop Line confirmed (more coming).
Quick Installation: We designed the charge port cable to be smooth and easy to route without snagging.
USB-C Fast Charging: External charging port; about 10 minutes gives you a full day of riding.
Battery Life: Around 50 hours or 2000 actuations per charge. Recharge with your phone, power bank or car USB port—no proprietary charger.
Weatherproof & Maintenance-Free: Built to handle the elements with zero upkeep.
In-tube battery: Compact unit hidden from the elements.
Price: ~278$USD
We’d really appreciate your thoughts and feedback. Our goal is to make sure this truly works for riders before we finalize everything.
Bringing a high-tech product like this to life has been a tough but rewarding adventure and we’re proud of how far we’ve come. It may not be for everyone, but we’ve put everything we have into delivering the best experience possible.
Production is planned to start this spring. Don’t worry, we won’t miss the bike season!
If you want to make sure you don’t miss any updates, follow OnlyMotionco on Instagram.
Thanks for reading!
I recently bleed brakes by vacuuming on one side but with the other side (syringe) open which lets the oil flow through. That way there is a vacuum, but the oil can pull through so hopefully the level of vacuum is fairly low. With a proper machine you could dial it in to a point where the seals in the master might still be holding tight instead of letting air past.
The seals in the caliper SHOULD work with vacuum as well as high pressure...
The OnlyMotion upgrade... It's the price of a full dropper? And still has a cable that needs to be routed through the frame to charge it? Aside of removing the bar-to-frame cable (of which I already have three besides the one for the dropper...), what is the exact benefit of it then?
Could be the new SRAM Motive brakes, but hard to tell from Ben's pictures.
This is the most mountain bike industry product ever. We are adding a tiny servo on the bottom of the dropper that limits insertion and also you have to charge it and pay $300 for it? For what to get ride of 2 feet of cable?
Will the remote and electronics in the post be reliable? Maybe, will they be as reliable as a $2 shifter cable? No.
I’ve had two pairs of Mavens and both had one caliper that could be vacuum bled just fine and one that pulled bubbles without end.
Did I miss the press release on the new Ibis Oso? Reach numbers seem completely nuts, but I guess it's a touch less ugly and offers decent value.
Oso - Ibis Cycles Inc.
With that price and the added stack it will be a hard sell.
Seems every bit as ugly as the last one if you ask me....
Is it the gen 5 motor?
Nice.
Brand logo reminds me of a company that was somewhere in the outdoors/hunting market but I can't put my name on it.
Gen 4
Front page of Vital has the press release... lol: Ibis Launches the Oso 1.1 - Mountain Bike Press Release - Vital MTB
Anybody have any info on the "Special Project" wheels from Hunt on the Tmac vid? Always liked their stuff. Still running my Endurowides and like them. Wondering if this could be a DH/FR entry.
New Specialized DH prototype on the Pinkbikes homepage
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/spotted-specialized-downhill-bike-with-two-chains.html
What about an annular battery that sits around the stanchion of a 34.9 post in the blank space designed for a 30.9?
i mean the area between and above the rails, make it a side clamp and you could use all the space...