When it comes to Magura, the future of mountain biking will most certainly be electrified. The Germany brake and suspension manufacturer already has a line of electronically-controlled forks and shocks and is poised to introduce the world’s first cable-free, electronically-controlled dropper seatpost.
The Vyron eLECT relies on the ANT+ protocol. A wireless signal from the remote controls the movement of a servomotor inside the seatpost, which in turn controls the flow of Magura’s ‘Royal Blood’ mineral oil that regulates the movement of the seatpost through 150mm of variable travel.
While auto-dropping seatposts may be on the horizon, the Vyron eLECT still relies on the user to weight the seatpost in order for it to drop.
The eLECT Remote can be mounted to the right or left side of the handlebar. If the bike is also equipped with Magura’s eLECT fork and shock, the user can opt to use a single eLECT remote to control the dropper as well as the front and rear suspension.
Magura claims that users should be able to get 400 actuations — or approximately two-months of riding — between charges. Battery life in conserved by an onboard motion sensor that puts the seatpost to sleep when the bike is note in use. The seatpost is recharged via a micro USB port housed on the rear of the seatpost head, while the remote control uses the widely available CR2032 battery found in many cycling computers. The estimated recharging time for the seatpost is three hours.
Should the remote fail, or if the battery in the seatpost is nearly empty, the rider can still operate the Vyron by pressing a button on the seatpost head.
The Vyron will be offered in both 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters and will be available November 2015. The claimed weight for the post and remote is 595g.
Pricing is set at €400. US, UK and Australian pricing have yet to be confirmed, but it should be in the same range as many existing droppers.
The competitive price and weight of the Vyron eLECT put it on par with many of the top-performing droppers, such as the Thomson Elite and RockShox Reverb, and while some traditionalists may scoff at the idea of adding (yet another) electronically-controlled component to modern mountain bikes, the fact that there are no wires or cables between the remote and the seatpost could be a boon to mountain bikers with a stable of bikes, as the post can be quickly swapped from one rig to another.
We’ll have one in for review in the near future, so stay tuned for our first ride impressions.
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