The mission of the Design & Innovation Award is to shape the bicycle world in a positive way. It also serves as a forum for creativity, visionary ideas as well as the industry’s most innovative products. More than 40 experts from 10 countries joined this year’s event to test, analyze and judge the best and most innovative products of 2016 in Kronplatz/San Vigilio – Dolomites. The Gold Award recognises either perfect product design and function, or innovation that sets a new standard and inspires future product generations and forward-thinking approaches.
Installing and bleeding hydraulic seatposts is a pain, and cable-operated posts are subject to corrosion and breakage. As our bikes become increasingly electrified, it seems certain that electronic actuation of dropper posts will be the future. Well, the future is now! Magura has brought us the Vyron eLECT dropper seatpost, featuring wireless Plug and Play technology and electronic actuation. The Magura Vyron eLECT is the first post to be fully wireless, making installation and maintenance a trouble-free process. The Vyron offers 150 mm of adjustment and is controlled via an ANT+ remote, and available in both 31.6 mm and 30.9 mm diameters.
The onboard USB-rechargeable battery has a forty-hour life, and should you forget to recharge it will operate for twenty cycles in manual mode to get you home. Fitting the post is simplicity itself: simply insert into the frame, attach the remote to your chosen side, and then go shred. If you have chosen to use compatible eLECT suspension, then the remote doubles as a way to firm up the compression too, keeping the cockpit extremely uncluttered. The Vyron is not perfect – the remote is a little larger than we had hoped, and the short delay while the post locks into position takes a small amount of getting used to. However the Vyron is a clear step towards the future of dropper posts: wireless technology is here, it works, and it will make our lives easier than ever.
Price: € 400 | Weight: 574g + 20g | magura.com | Photos: Christoph Bayer, Fabian Rapp
Find out more about the other winners of the Design & Innovation Award 2016 .
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