TranzX EDP01 Seatpost – Reviews, Comparisons, Specifications – Seatposts

WAlthough wireless components are becoming increasingly popular (and increasing their performance), there is still a lack of relatively affordable options in the wireless dropper space. TranzX aims to remedy this and is the first company to offer a $500 wireless seatpost, tellingly named EDP01. We have been testing one for five months now and report here how it went for us. Read on to find out!

TranzX EDP01 Highlights

• Travel: 150, 170 and 200 mm
• Diameter: 30.9 and 31.6 mm
• Sealed, adjustable air cartridge
• Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity
• Waterproof rating in accordance with automotive class IPX 66
• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery for the postal service
• The lever remote control uses a conventional CR2032 battery
• 0mm offset post head with secure 2-screw saddle clamp
• Weight (Post): 721 grams (31.6/170, verified)
• Weight (remote): 53 grams (verified)
• 1 year warranty
• MSRP: $499

First impressions

And so there were three. The EDP01 joins the RockShox Reverb AXS and the Magura Vyron MDS-V3 among the wireless seatposts commercially available today (KS also now has a wireless support base that should be shipping soon), and it aims to make a splash by clearly is cheaper than the other. At $499, it’s $360 less than the Reverb and about $120 less than the Vyron, and also approaches the prices of today’s most expensive mechanical droppers. With 720 grams for the support including battery, the EDP01 is around 20 grams heavier than the RockShox and the Vyron with the same dimensions.

The EDP01 builds on the architecture of the current TranzX mechanical posts and relies on a closed internal cartridge to control the movements of the post. The cartridge is similar to many other dropper posts on the market today, but TranzX says they had to modify it slightly to work well with the electronic activation (as usual, the affordable replacement cartridges are still available should something go wrong ). therefore outside the one-year warranty period). The cartridge is activated by a small battery-powered motor in the seatpost housing, which connects to the handlebar-mounted remote control via Bluetooth.

The finish on the post and remote is acceptable – not as refined as a Reverb AXS, but everything feels solid and well put together. The head uses a clamping mechanism with a separate screw to adjust the seat angle. The case is IPX66 rated, which is automotive-standard water resistance (not enough for extended submersion, but definitely suitable for life on a mountain bike). The remote is small and although the lever feels a bit thinner than on an AXS pod, the overall build feels “good enough” for this price.

As for the dimensions of the post, it appears that the striker/motor housing has increased the head height by about 10mm, but otherwise the EDP01 is quite compact. Note that due to the lack of a cable to connect to the base, the EDP01 may fit deeper into some frames than a cable-operated post, even if it is shorter on paper. Here is a table comparing the EDP01’s key measurements with some of its products mechanical competitors (Weights include posts, remote controls and cables):

On the path

Installing a dropper seatpost without having to worry about internal cable routing is always a big plus, and the novelty of the whole thing hasn’t quite worn off yet – the lift level is high when you just slide the seatpost into the frame and the Attach remote control to the handlebars and start riding (we mounted our brake to a SRAM brake via the MatchMaker interface, but a handlebar clamp is included if needed). Our devices were already paired when delivered. If this is not the case, you will otherwise have to follow a fairly simple pairing process. What we noticed early on is that the seatpost body is very smooth, which made it difficult to prevent slipping in the seat tube. We ended up having to use some carbon grip compound, but even then it took a few rides before the surface of the post body developed enough grip to prevent slipping.

The first question we really wanted to get an answer to was: “How fast is it?” – this is primarily about the speed of operation. The good news is that TranzX has managed to minimize the delay between pressing the lever and the motor activating the cartridge mechanism. A clear motor noise accompanies the process and further emphasizes that there are no longer any cables involved in this process. You can see the post in action here to get an idea of ​​the actuation speed:

The second aspect of reactivity is of course the actual speed of movement of the post. Once you press the lever and activate the cartridge valve mechanism, the post compresses slightly and descends as quickly as you could desire, controlled primarily by your weight on the saddle. The valve closes quickly as soon as you release the lever, making it easy to stop the post at any point in the travel. When you sit on the post, you can lower it in small increments by lightly tapping the lever, which is very useful. As for the return speed, we found that it was slower even with maximum air pressure in the cartridge. We’d like TranzX to speed things up a bit here and also implement a clearer top-out sound so the driver can quickly and easily tell when the post has reached full extension. As it stands, we often had to guess, which meant waiting an extra split second before releasing the lever at maximum extension, just to be sure.

Battery life has been excellent so far, we’ve gotten almost a month of use on one charge, with about 4 rides per week. We ran out of juice on the trail once, and were a little disappointed to see that the post didn’t provide a proper warning about the battery level dropping (the LED light should turn red in this case). , but that wasn’t the case for us – perhaps a future firmware update will fix this issue as this functionality is mentioned in the user manual. When our battery died, the valve ended up in the open position, which was particularly annoying (the motor is responsible for both opening and closing the valve, so it doesn’t automatically go to the locked position when the power goes out, which would probably be the case). were preferable). Charging the battery from empty to full takes about 90 minutes.

To summarize our experiences on the slopes and in ownership so far: The overall impression of the EDP01 is very positive. The seatpost is easy to use and reliable in operation, and we’ve become very accustomed to the light touch required to press the lever – to the point that mechanical dropper levers feel quite clunky and demanding, even those best…definitely a first world problem if there ever was one! With a faster rewind speed the EDP01 would be almost perfect, as it stands it is still very good.

Things that could be improved

We’ve already mentioned the slow return speed, and that would easily be number one on our list of things to improve. It also appears that the LED in our post isn’t behaving exactly as intended, as it doesn’t seem to change color as it should as the battery level drops.

Long term durability

After 5 months of fairly intense riding (around 4 rides per week) the EDP01 is still running well. The bushing clearance has not developed beyond the small amount that was present from the start, and there is absolutely no slack in the cartridge at this point (it also still feels very solid when lifting the bike by the saddle, even if the seat post is folded down). . The seat post head doesn’t creak and we haven’t had to readjust our saddle in any way since we started testing. The actuation mechanism also works the same as on the first day. With replacement cartridges and bushing/guide wrench refresh kits also available, it looks like this unit can continue to serve you well for seasons to come. We will continue to operate and will notify you if anything unexpected arises at a later date.

What is the end result?

Wireless components are definitely a bit of a luxury, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their advantages. A wireless pipette is wonderfully easy to install and is also very comfortable to use. We like the minimal hand/finger movement required to activate the lever on a wireless seatpost (the same goes for wireless shifting, by the way), and the minimal lever travel makes it very easy to really adjust the position of the handlebar. The TranzX EDP01 offers very good performance at a new price in this market segment – $499 is still a decent amount, but if you’re looking to get into the wireless dropper experience, this is by far the cheapest option available at the moment is available. We’d like to see a faster return speed on the post itself, but wireless operation is quick and intuitive. Definitely worth considering!

More information at: na.tranzx.com.

About the reviewer

Johan Hjord – Age: 50 // Years of MTB rider: 18 // Weight: 190 pounds (87 kg) // Height: 6 feet 0 inches (1.84 m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After years of practicing falling off cliffs on a snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Since then, he has mostly ridden bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many mistakes as a rider. His 200-pound body weight, coupled with his unique ability with poor line choices and awkward landings, make him an expert in durability – if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much fine for anyone. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style he describes as “none” (although in reality he rips!). Since he doesn’t like most of the trail elements, Johan uses much of his free time to build his own. Johan’s other achievements include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly at 11.

Photos by Johan Hjord and Nils Hjord