TranzX's New Dropper Has Adjustable Travel & An Integrated Seat Post Clamp

Feb 26, 2021
by Ed Spratt  

TranzX's latest dropper claims to offer the benefits of an integrated dropper post without the requirements of a specific frame.

The YSI15 uses a unique integrated collar that doubles up as a seat post clamp, allowing you to run the dropper flush with the frame as it replaces the current seat post clamp on your bike. The YSI15 also features height adjustment feature using a lever under the saddle to set the height limit for the post.

We have seen posts using travel adjust shims that let you adjust the post height to suit your needs, but they have used set reductions. The YSI15 offers infinite height adjustments, so you can set the post height to precisely what you want without predetermined height choices.

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There is not much information available for the new dropper post just yet but, it has won a Taipei d&i award. You can find out more about this here.

Author Info:
edspratt avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2017
3,021 articles

113 Comments
  • 126 18
 Crazy how this company blows away the Reverb at a fraction of the price, and now it's even better. Most reliable on the market.
  • 67 1
 The saddle height concept is pretty sweet (if it holds up).
  • 50 0
 @toast2266: Is that a pun? I can’t even tell anymore.
  • 10 2
 @toast2266: you mean, if it stays up
  • 12 0
 Trans x makes a ton of rebadged droppers already. They used to be the go to back the the day for sweet locking titanium skewers and fancy anodized parts. Glad to see they are still innovating all these years later
  • 17 37
flag jclnv (Feb 26, 2021 at 21:58) (Below Threshold)
 Reverbs don’t require you to throw the internals away and replace them when they stop working though.
  • 27 3
 @jclnv: which cost WAY less than a reverb service.....
  • 64 4
 @jclnv: no you just have to throw the whole reverb away after it fails 3 weeks from a rebuild for the hundredth time.
  • 19 0
 @jclnv: yeah you are correct, SRAM usually just throw away the whole reverb, and give you a new seatpost!
  • 26 1
 @jclnv: fair point. With Reverbs you just bin the whole post

Jokes aside when I ran a reverb I sent it off 3 times for warranty and got a brand new one every time.

Now that’s great service, but piss poor engineering and not exactly sustainable

Bit like Yeti fans ‘yeah they break but they are great at replacing them under warranty, you just get a new one’. Every time I hear that rationale I get a little shiver
  • 14 22
flag wobblegoblin (Feb 26, 2021 at 23:12) (Below Threshold)
 @rudymedea: the idea of breaking a frame scares me too much to even consider a yeti, not that I could afford one even if they were as great as all the morons who buy them think they are.
  • 9 1
 @jclnv: No, you throw the whole post away after your reverb goes squishy for the gazillionth time.
  • 3 0
 @jclnv: tbf, rs had it’s highs and lows.
  • 5 1
 @jclnv: nah, you just ditch the whole thing.

actually, what would I know, never wasted my money on one.
  • 25 5
 @unrooted: It's probably safe to say that the Reverb is the most environmentally wasteful product in the history of bicycling based upon how many have failed and been thrown away. Elixir brakes might be #2.

If SRAM had any sense of shame about the waste they have produced with the Reverb they would take it off the market and have TransX make their droppers, with a more reliable design.
  • 9 1
 @DoubleCrownAddict: What's with Cassettes where you can't replace sigle cogs?
  • 7 2
 @DoubleCrownAddict:
Nah, the most wasteful thing is the new xtr cassette.
When one alloy cog goes bad, throw the whole thing in the trash with still 5 functional titanium cogs, becauss they are riveted together.
  • 1 0
 @OneTrustMan: Never broke one of the big cogs. On which Casstte they are not rieted?
  • 6 1
 It'll be rebranded by many, many much more expensive "U.S. Proud" brands before you can tell. And you'll buy it because it says anything else but Tranz X.
  • 2 0
 @rudymedea: I don't know man my local shop so dealing with that particular bike brand because they were horrible to deal with, especially when it came to warranties.
  • 2 0
 @jclnv: just the entire post
  • 5 5
 @5afety3rd: Unless you’re a half decent mechanic and you make the thing work like new in 30 mins.
  • 4 0
 The Reverb: The gold standard for mediocrity.
  • 4 6
 @DoubleCrownAddict: SRAM==Sadly Recurring A Mistake
  • 4 1
 @OneTrustMan: Shimano in't selling even a fraction as many XTR cassettes as SRAM has Reverbs. A dropper also takes alot more materials to manufacture than a cassette.

I don't see a big difference between the xtr cassettes and an e13 cassette, except for the use of titanium. But stupid to use aluminum on a cassette, I agree with that.
  • 5 1
 @jclnv: Sounds like SRAM needs some "half decent mechanic"s then eh?
  • 4 2
 @dglass: Labour is more expensive than materials. That’s a big problem but another issue entirely.
  • 1 2
 But with the world's shittest cable remote lever. Engineered with a dog leg that places a vertical strain on a lateral pivot and made out of recycled pop cans that they didn't bother to heat treat.
  • 3 2
 @DoubleCrownAddict: You are officially speaking rubbish now.
  • 1 0
 Most reliable is a Vecnum and everybody else is just trying to catch up.
  • 2 0
 @dogdaysunrise: But they’re shimmed in anything other than 30.9mm. Not keen.
  • 2 0
 @OneTrustMan: are you familiar with Eagle cassettes? lmao
  • 3 1
 @jclnv: should skilled labor be cheaper? this argument doesn't sound......sound.
  • 5 0
 @dogdaysunrise: I see your Vecnum and raise you a BikeYoke Revive.
  • 2 0
 @southoftheborder: have a revive. simply awesome performance and the revive function couldn't be simpler. expensive post, but worth it. reliability on par with fox.
  • 3 0
 @jclnv: I can, but they’ll just need it done again is 6 months. It’s honestly a waste of time money and labor, just invest the $150 rebuild into a better post and one less thing to bleed.
  • 2 0
 Making a better product than a reverb is not saying much at all. Sram recognize reverbs dont work below freezing, nor do they address the issue to amend whats clearly a major design flaw for their customers.
  • 1 3
 @5afety3rd: I find that my post needs a clean and rebuild every 6 months anyway. Even my Revive.
  • 3 1
 @rudymedea: you see i don't get it.. i had a reverb for the last decade.. had it serviced once...

The only thing that kills them is if you pick up the bike while the saddle is down and it blows the ifp valve. I don't understand why more people don't know this??
  • 2 4
 @MrZ32:

Sounds to me like you dont ride much..
  • 3 1
 @getsomesy: 2-3 times a week, 17-50km length rides... blue, black and double black trails...

I just never put negative load on the seat post while lowered... not to say it didnt have play (in rotational movement) and I always kept the seals clean and lubed up. Understanding how they mechanically operate and a bit of maintenance goes a long way.

The reason it required a service was when my friend picked it up by the saddle when it was lowered and blew the ifp valve and made the most of it and had new bushings put in it too.
  • 47 3
 Pick your YSI15 dropper and be a PEN15 about it.
  • 8 2
 The pen is mightier than the sword
  • 6 1
 Best club
  • 10 0
 @makripper: THE PENIS MIGHTIER [Sean Connery accent]
  • 7 0
 @pnwpedal: call it what you want Trebek. Does it work?
  • 40 2
 Does that mean you can adjust your mate’s seat post max height while he’s off for a piss?
  • 4 0
 Yes, yes it does [insert evil emoji]
  • 30 4
 Take note unreliable over priced sons of bitches
  • 10 2
 Eats, Shoots and Leaves... Punctuation is not a relic of the past, although it's hard to tell from many posts.
  • 2 0
 God job@albert03:
  • 8 0
 @albert03: Actually, it's "eats, shoots, and leaves."

Don't forget your punctuation, Sir.
  • 2 0
 @lance-h They are, and have split into two camps:

A) Rebrand and sell at a huge markup

B) Copy tech and sell at a huge markup
  • 4 1
 @handynzl:
It’s either:
a: “eats shoots and leaves” if we’re discussing the dietary habits of a panda or
b: “eats, shoots, and leaves” if we’re talking about criminal activity at a diner.

I can’t think of when “eats, shoots and leaves” is actually correct.
  • 1 0
 @sigarsnsigarettes: could be describing a panda's behavior as well: "He sits comfortably in the grass while he eats, shoots and leaves dangling from the corner of his mouth with each bite."
  • 20 0
 As a short legged guy, I need this.
  • 28 3
 As a long legged guy, I can't use this.
  • 11 14
 @Slyham: yeah this is bad for a lot of us, I want all the drop all the time and not some lever that will get covered in mud and probably get caught on my shorts

I do realise not everyone is tall though and imagine this is great for people trying to get as much drop as possible out of their dropper so yeah, awesome!

The trend for trousers to be designed so that anyone of an athletic build has to choose between waist too big or legs too short though, that is not on. Why the hell are you designing sports trousers for fat people? I blame ebikes. And I own one
  • 1 3
 @rudymedea: humans come in all shapes & sizes. even athletic formed ones. 5ft6in 30in waist -pretty average build but broad shoulders & broad hips. shirts come way too long to fit & almost all pants come 34 in long which is 4inches too long and this is with a waist that is very snug as im borderline but hell no to going up a size. reckon off the peg pant would only fit the minority of rider
  • 3 0
 Yeah, definitely won’t fit my current frame unless the max extension is 240mm or so. I’m already on a 210mm post with a good bit below the collar sticking out of the seat tube. @Slyham:
  • 21 5
 They are definitely dropping some new technology. Might rise to the new standard.
  • 25 4
 I hear they have had their ups and downs.
  • 12 4
 This post definitely raised my interest.
  • 15 0
 Perfect for rental fleets and letting your mate try your bike
  • 6 1
 So does the whole post sit inside the frame with the collar engulfing the seat post? how does this effect insertion length? I have a 170mm trans x and feel like I could get a little more drop but insertion length starts coming into play.
  • 7 0
 Nice to have some innovation which isnt just making things a different size... ie boost, 35mm handlebars, dub....etc See bike industry.. it can be done!
  • 5 1
 Really like the simplicity of the seal being integrated Into the seat clamp, looks really clean but im curious with frames having shorter and shorter seat tubes to accommodate big travel droppers won’t tall riders need a crazy long post for this design to give them enough height? And if the top half is long the bottom needs to even longer to accommodate the bushing overlap, which might mean it won’t fit in a lot of frames especially with bends in the seatpost. Will be sweet with frames with enough space though.
  • 5 0
 Yep, but Trans-X also has more standard seatposts for those bikes. If anything the gamma of Trans-X caters to a lot of people of different heigth, which is awesome.
  • 6 0
 That could easily account for the stack height difference of Flat vs Clipless pedals, nice!
  • 1 0
 are you changing regularly between flats and clipless also?
  • 1 0
 @vhdh666: sometimes I am and thanks to the trend towards internal cable routing and the cables being fixed to the frame at one point, it's a pita to adjust the lenght of the dropper cable accordingly.
  • 1 0
 @Muckal: yep, that's true, as soon as you (need to) fix the cables in the frame, the adjustability of the dropper post become tedious
  • 7 0
 Trans-X droppers are awesome
  • 7 0
 There's no way iI'm buying a dropper post under $900...
  • 8 2
 VOD!!!!!!
  • 3 0
 I wrote my college thesis off the info rich video.
  • 1 0
 Cool idea, but at least for us tall folks the insertion length of the frame is a bigger limiter than the height of the collar. I have a 200mm dropper with 5-6cm of outer tube showing and I couldn’t slam it further without crimping off my remote cable.
  • 1 0
 it's good to know about this company and a few others of similar price and quality because the new bike that i ordered comes with the Reverb which i don't want . so i will just ride it until the first sign of trouble, toss it and order the Tx .
  • 3 0
 These are useful improvements, every competitor needs to follow suit or slowly lose their customers.
  • 5 1
 What is the maximum drop? 200mm?
  • 3 1
 It’s infinite! LOL
  • 3 0
 Nice idea. And they make decent dropper post at great prices. Can't wait to try it out.
  • 3 0
 Can’t believe it’s taken this long for this adjustment to come out. But cheers to TransX for implementing it!
  • 3 0
 Their droppers are great, but the remote that comes with them is total garbage.
  • 1 0
 I replaced the remote with a Crank Bros. Highline remote. Pricey but super adjustable ergonomics. No complaints at all.
  • 1 0
 True, try the Loam Lever from PNW Components. A worthy upgrade for the price.
  • 1 0
 I have a tranz X post on my bike. I have never heard of the brand and have thought it was a total pos. It’s only 120mm and has a super tall stack height, but it has been trouble free for about 2 years.
  • 10 11
 An interesting product with useful features. It's not accurate, though, to say it "offer[s] the benefits of an integrated dropper post without the requirements of a specific frame", as a truly integrated post wouldn't need the outer tube that drops into the frame.

This is just a conventional dropper with a quick adjustment for maximum extension, which is still a nice feature.
  • 5 1
 It also integrates the seat clamp so its a bit more than what your saying. The height of the collar is as a result lower, so you can get more drop. Semi integrated id say - Pretty cool
  • 6 0
 @Karve: That's true and yes, it is pretty cool. I'm just saying a truly integrated dropper would also have the seals and bushings pressed into the frame's seat-tube so that the outer tube of the seatpost could be eliminated. That's not a criticism of this product, I'm just pointing out this article overstates the situation by suggesting the YSI15 is equivalent to a true integrated post.
  • 2 0
 Fantastic features. Bravo trans-x.
  • 2 0
 Fairly brilliant. No wasted seat mast.
  • 1 0
 Now that's is a great idea, allow the customer to adjust the dropper to there liking.
  • 2 0
 This is ideal for the second/wife's/loaner bike. I'm keen to get one!
  • 5 0
 A second wife or a loaner?
  • 2 0
 Weight?
  • 3 3
 Lame. Video didn't drop $hit on the post.
  • 1 0
 Yaz
  • 1 0
 Cool, but no thanks.
  • 1 2
 Because all frames have the same seat-tube OD?
  • 1 0
 where it clamps - near enough - 28.6, 31.8 and 34.9
  • 1 0
 @Karve: I don’t think this particular post will work on all bikes, even with standard size seat post diameters. My Druid has a crazy, kinda square seat collar. Can’t see this post working on it. Hats off to TranzX though. I can always buy one of their posts without the built in collar. I own two of them which have seen regular winter duty this year and they have been flawless so far.
  • 2 0
 @Karve: and 38.4...
  • 1 0
 Seems like this is much more tailored to OEM re-brands, not the aftermarket. Think of how much benefit this is to a LBS - sell a bike and tailor it to the rider, no need to swap a different post in for someone with odd proportions. Someone also mention rental fleets.
  • 2 0
 @DrPete: @Karve: and 36.4 and 37 (transition spur)
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