For years, the RockShox Reverb AXS has had no rival, no equal. But now, there's finally some serious competition: the FOX Transfer Neo. Will it be crowned the new king of wireless electronic dropper seatposts? Only time will tell.
The new Transfer Neo is designed to be faster, with more drop, lower stack, greater tire clearance, and — oh right — FOX’s trademark gold Kashima coating. The wireless electronic dropper wars are just beginning. Let’s take a closer look at FOX’s latest weapon and ponder what type of rider these ultra-expensive, ultra-fancy droppers might be for.
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FOX Transfer Neo Highlights
- Neo wireless protocol is 100x faster than Bluetooth
- 20x faster than the closest competitor
- Instantaneous actuation — virtually zero latency
- Battery placement provides maximum tire clearance
- Adjustable pressure
- Shortest stack height among wireless droppers
- 100mm, 125mm, 150mm, 175mm, and 200mm drop options
- 6x lever throw reduction compared to standard Transfer lever
- 22.2mm, MatchMaker and I-Spec EV lever mounting options
- Turns on automatically using a Shake-to-Wake function
- Monitor service intervals with the FOX Bike app
- 30 to 40-hour battery life
- IPX7 waterproof rating
- 528g in 30.9mm x 100mm length
Fox Transfer Neo Pricing
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- Transfer Neo Post: $859
- Includes, Lever, Battery, Charger, Cable, and Lever Clamps.
- Neo Spare Battery: $79
- Spare Charger and Cable: $49
What’s Special About the Transfer Neo?
The Fastest Yet
The major design goal of the Transfer Neo wasn’t just to make it wireless and electronic. It was designed from the ground up to be the fastest dropper on the market. The key to achieving this is the Neo’s wireless protocol. Essentially, FOX stripped away all non-essential functions in favor of speed. The result is a wireless protocol that FOX claims is “100x faster than Bluetooth” and “20x faster than [the] closest competitor.”
What does this faster wireless protocol get you? When you press the dropper lever, it takes 26 milliseconds for the post to move. In human terms, this is instantaneous.
Dropper Lengths, Stack Height, and Weight
Clearance, length, and stack height were also major considerations. The battery and motor sit on the lower half of the post, near the collar. This placement was chosen to maximize tire clearance. It allows riders to run the post fully slammed while reducing the chance of the rear tire hitting the battery under full compression — an issue some riders, especially those riding smaller frames, can experience with the Reverb AXS battery.
The Transfer Neo comes in 100mm, 125mm, 150mm, 175mm, and 200mm drop options. This may be welcome news to riders reluctant to use the Reverb AXS because it maxes out at 170mm. Along with the standard 30.9mm and 31.6mm diameter posts, there is also a dedicated 34.9mm diameter option with an optimized upper and lower post. Many other 34.9mm posts use the 31.6mm upper tube with a thicker lower tube, which increases weight.
FOX made efforts to reduce the stack height of the post as much as possible to allow riders to use the biggest drop possible in their frame. With the post fully compressed, the stack height of the Transfer Neo is 47mm from the collar to the saddle rail clamp. This is 11mm more than the standard 2025 Transfer, but crucially, it’s 18mm shorter than the Reverb AXS. Stack height is kept low thanks to the head design, which is identical to the head used on the new 2025 Transfer.
Serviceability
Overall, the post should be fairly reliable since it uses the same architecture as the updated 2025 Transfer seatpost. The coreless 7V motor is built with “FOX-customized” steel planetary gears for durability.
The Transfer Neo also incorporates two of the major improvements added to the updated 2025 Transfer — adjustable air pressure and improved serviceability. The Transfer Neo has a Schrader valve on the top of the post that allows riders to adjust pressure to suit their terrain or preferences, or to compensate for pressure loss over time.
When it comes to servicing, the dust wiper can be easily removed to re-grease the post and keep it running smoothly between service intervals. For major services, FOX recommends the post be serviced at a FOX Bike service after 8000 activations. There’s no need to count your “activations” because the Transfer Neo connects to a new FOX Bike app that will track your Transfer Neo activations and notify you when it’s time to service your post.
FOX Bike App
The FOX Bike app also downloads firmware updates and activates useful features like Bike Park Mode and Transport Mode. Bike Park Mode temporarily disables the dropper lever to prevent accidental seat post extension on downhill trails. When you’re done shredding, this mode can be quickly deactivated using the app or by rapidly pressing the lever four times.
Transport Mode is designed to conserve battery power while your bike is in transit (e.g. long car rides). It disables the “Shake to Wake” functionality. Transport Mode can be deactivated dropping the rear of the bike from a few feet off the ground and allowing it to bounce or by removing and reinstalling the battery.
Battery Life
The Transfer Neo system turns on automatically when the bike moves using the “Shake to Wake” functionality. It goes back to sleep after five minutes of inactivity to conserve battery. The post has 30-40 hours of battery life (comparable to SRAM’s AXS batteries) and LED lights on the post indicate the charge level. Fully charging the battery from empty takes 1.25-1.5 hours using the dock and USB-C cable.
The wireless dropper lever uses a standard CR2032 battery that should last a year or more. If it happens to die in the middle of a ride, there is a manual actuation option. Riders can press and hold the pairing button on the post to actuate it.
The Dropper Lever
The lever can be mounted to your handlebars with a standard 22.2mm clamp or the included SRAM MatchMaker or Shimano I-Spec EV clamp. FOX also claims the lever provides a “natural feel” with a bit of haptic feedback so it’s easy to tell when you’ve actually activated the post.
The lever throw is 6x shorter than a standard Transfer lever, which allows riders to rotate the lever further under the bar if desired. This might be nice for riders who regularly scrape their thumb knuckle on their dropper lever (e.g. riders with fat thumbs like me).
[newsletter]
Transfer Neo Pros and Cons + Who Is It Even For?
Enjoy your fancy seatpost you rich jerk... I'm not jealous 😭.
Honestly, I’m surprised it took FOX this long to bring out a competitor to the Reverb AXS! It’s priced the same as the current Reverb AXS (when it’s not on sale) so I can see it stealing some sales away from RockShox.
The Potential Cons
Other than the price (an maybe looks) the biggest downside for me is that the battery requires a proprietary charger. It's a bit annoying when I have 4 SRAM AXS chargers already in my garage. I'm also not too stoked to use an whole different app for a single component.
My guess is that when FOX releases it next-gen electronically controlled suspension, the app will also control those, but for now, having an app on my phone dedicated to a dropper seems excessive.
As a closeted weight weenie, the extra heft of the motor and battery are on my mind too. It is a bit lighter than the Reverb AXS, but still...
Someone's Going to Buy It
So who’s going to buy the Transfer Neo? Well, any mountain biker who doesn’t bat an eye at spending $859 on blingy upgrades. Unfortunately, that’s not me. But I understand the impulse that might drive some riders to purchase the Transfer Neo.
I like gooooold...
I was super impressed with the Reverb AXS when I had one. But I don’t use one right now because I currently have FOX suspension on all of my mountain bikes. My obsessive-compulsive side can’t stand mixing suspension brands. If I have Kashima on my forks and shocks, I want it on my dropper post too. That’s why both of my current bikes use the previous generation Transfer post. Now that the Transfer Neo is here, it’s the obvious choice if I ever want to go wireless with my droppers.
Of course, there are some who don’t like the FOX Factory Kashima gold. If that’s the case, you might have to look elsewhere. There is also an all-black Performance Elite version of the Transfer Neo, but it will be OEM only.
The Potential Pros
Is there any reason to buy a Transfer Neo other than to make your bike all matchy-matchy? For some riders, the actuation speed will be attractive. The Reverb AXS isn’t slow by any means, but there is the smallest hint of lag. It’s really only noticeable when testing the posts side-by-side. It’s similar to the difference between SRAM AXS and Shimano Di2 drivetrains.
In the real world, this small delay probably won’t really affect anything. But knowing they have the fastest dropper will make some riders happier with the performance of their bike. Note though, while it is faster than the Reverb AXS, the Transfer Neo is also a bit louder too, but you don't really notice it on the trail.
The clearance is interesting too. I ride a smaller frame and there have been a couple of times where my rear tire has flicked my Reverb AXS battery into the woods after a hard G-out. For stumpy-legged riders like me who ride with their dropper seatpost fully hilted, the extra clearance might be the most appealing aspect (assuming you don’t want a “regular" dropper which has no clearance issues anyway). Still, I’m not a huge fan of how the battery and motor look. It has a bit of an ankle monitor vibe!
It won't make you shred like Matt Hunter, but it might make you believe you could.
Ultimately, if I could actually afford it, I’d be super tempted to splurge on the Transfer Neo. I don’t think it will do anything better than a basic cable-actuated dropper, but to me, that’s not really the point. If you’re an affluent tech geek, it’s just fun to play with the latest and greatest gear. If I get the chance, I’ll probably put the Transfer Neo on my bike, just because I like cool gadgets.
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Photos courtesy of FOX
