Fox Transfer Factory Neo dropper seatpost review: top-level performance, but can you afford it?

Wireless speed

Fox is especially proud of its bespoke Neo wireless protocol.

Thanks to stripping back the unnecessary bits of its wireless communication script, the Neo system is claimed to be lightning-fast.

According to Fox, there is “virtually zero latency” between lever actuation and post movement.

That should mean the post extends and compresses exactly when you want it to, by precisely the amount you want it to.

Lever ergonomics

The lever is the other part of the actuation puzzle.

Rather than rewriting how a dropper post lever should look and work – think RockShox’s original Reverb AXS lever or the newer Pod Controllers – Fox has gone down the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ route.

Claimed to have a sixfold lever-throw reduction compared to the standard Transfer lever, Fox says it can be rotated further under the bar to reduce unwanted thumb contact.

Also, its low profile – that’s claimed to be 10mm closer to the bar than its competition – means it’s less likely to contact the top tube if the bar rotates beyond 90 degrees.

It’s powered by a CR2032 coin cell, and with the 22.2mm bar clamp (supplied), it weighs 62g. Shimano I-SPEC EV and SRAM MatchMaker adaptors are also supplied.

Battery placement

Fox has fitted the post’s rechargeable battery to the seatpost’s collar, citing back-tyre clearance benefits.

Using the recognised ISO tyre-to-seat-tube clearance standard of 6mm as a reference point, it argues that its battery placement fixes tyre-clearance issues.

Widely reported, but not personally experienced, is the issue of the tyre buzzing the earlier-generation Reverb AXS seatpost’s battery, releasing it from its latch and causing it to get lost in the undergrowth.

By placing the battery on the collar – as long as the frame’s built to that specification – the tyre and battery could never contact one another, even if the post was inserted fully into the seat tube.

According to Fox, it’s possible to get a Transfer Neo post 40mm lower than the competition.

Same old seat-clamp design

The Transfer Neo uses the same two-bolt seat clamp design as the standard Transfer.

Fox doesn’t specify whether any seat rails are incompatible with the Transfer, but it would be wise to check if the clamp works with your saddle before buying.

8,000-actuation service intervals

Rather than dictating service intervals on ride time, it’s done on post actuations.

According to Fox, 8,000 is the magic number, tracked via its Bike smartphone app.

Between service intervals, the collar’s seal head can be removed and regreased easily.

There’s an app for that

It’s no surprise the Transfer Neo connects to Fox’s Bike smartphone app.

The app tells you how many actuations the post has had and can give a notification when a service is due. It can also tell you where your local Fox service centre is and create a service request. Smart.

There’s a Bike Park mode, which disables the dropper lever so it can’t be actuated accidentally. Transport mode is designed to stop unwanted battery drain, putting the post to sleep indefinitely until the mode is cancelled by removing and reinstalling the battery.

Standard firmware updates and battery life are also displayed in the app.

Travel and diameters for all

All the common seat-tube diameters (30.9mm, 31.6mm and 34.9mm) are catered for in all the Transfer’s travel options, bar the 34.9mm diameter, which starts at 125mm travel.

Travel options start at 100mm and top out at 200mm, increasing in 25mm increments.

How much does the Fox Transfer Factory Neo weigh?

My 34.9mm-diameter, 175mm-travel Fox Transfer Neo weighs 753g with its battery. The battery weighs 24g.

The lever weighs 46g on its own and 62g with the 22.2mm bar clamp.

Installation and setup

Like any wireless, electronic dropper, installation is the most beautifully simple part.

With no cables to route, tension, clamp or cut, it’s simply a case of sticking the post in your bike, the clamp on your bar, and you’re ready to go.

Pairing the remote and dropper is easy, but it’s different from RockShox’s AXS button long press. A quick browse of the instructions was needed – to confirm it’s a short press of the pairing buttons on the lever and post.

Fine-tuning the lever’s position was trickier than I'd hoped, thanks to the dedicated bar clamp’s one-bolt design. Undo the bolt enough so the lever can be adjusted from side-to-side and the clamp can rotate on the bar. Patience is required to get it right.

Installing the saddle followed standard procedure. This meant fully removing the clamp’s bolts from the nuts and the clamp from the post to get enough room to fit the saddle.

On some posts – such as the new Reverb AXS – you can get away with just removing one of the bolts and the lower clamp, leaving the upper clamp in place. This means you can slide the saddle’s rails beneath the upper clamp, then slide the lower clamp back in place.

This is usually less fiddly than trying to keep two small nuts in place with your fingers while holding the saddle and the two clamps, and tightening it all down.

The Transfer’s clamp design meant this wasn’t possible.

Personally, I still prefer the previous-generation Reverb AXS post’s single-bolt clamp compared to any two-bolt design.

Will the Fox Transfer Factory Neo dropper seatpost fit your bike and body?

Making sure the Transfer’s dimensions will work for your bike and your required saddle heights (both dropped and extended) depends heavily on several factors.

Those include the post’s dimensions, but also your bike’s. For example, if your seat tube has limited insertion depth, you may struggle to get the post low enough in its compressed position to ride comfortably.

While the Transfer’s compressed stack height is impressive – 46mm – which, if your frame permits, will mean a super-slammed saddle, its insertion depth and total compressed length are limiting.

Here, the 284mm maximum insertion depth means your seat tube will need to be long, straight and uninterrupted to get the post low enough in the frame to make the most of that stack.

This wasn’t an issue on my test bike. It’s got good insertion depth, and I like my saddle to be above my knees when I’m descending to make control easier, so having the saddle a little higher isn’t a problem.

Riders who want that slammed-saddle feel will need to make sure the Transfer Neo works for them.

Maintenance-free

The post remained maintenance-free during the test period.

Doing some extrapolation, enduro-style riders like me (who aren’t continually lifting the post up and down) will need to ride for roughly 47 weeks or 11 months before they hit their 8,000-actuation service limit.

That’s pretty good considering the post’s cost and current lack of user serviceability.

But RockShox’s drive towards making it easier for consumers to service their posts, and providing all the service documents online, begs the question of why Fox isn’t heading down a similar route.