On June 19, I wrote about Orbea connecting (not just powering) several components to the e-bike system and adopting the CANBus standard from the automotive industry for communication between components:
Just as Avinox adopted Tabless batteries from the automotive industry, see the article What are Nm, Wh, W, what do the numbers mean, and what do manufacturers not want you to know about power in electric bikes – part I – about batteries
and how Avinox and Gobao have also adopted the eCVT system with two electric motors from the automotive industry:
We found out how automatic CVT transmission can be made on an e-bike: with two electric motors!
The newly launched family is called Transfer NEO, and those powered by the e-bike battery are called Transfer NEOE-Optimized:
https://ridefox.com/pages/transfer-neo
We get rid of the radio module and battery, the bulky part at the base of the dropper, exposed and prone to being hit by stones and other hard elements of the plant kingdom when we scatter off the trail or nearby, unintentionally.
Unfortunately, unlike Orbea, which integrated the dropper lever into the CANBus and connected it to the Avinox electrical system, here the lever contains a CR2032 battery, so it is wireless:
I didn't want to talk about prices because it makes me dizzy, especially since the lever and cable are not included in the price of the dropper (as if you would have anything to do with this dropper model without that lever and cable...). Adding to the $589 (and the Factory version at $659) are $219 for the lever and $38 for the cable, available only for the Specialized Levo right now. Probably more options will appear in the drop-down menu over time.
And the cable is not in stock yet. We order the dropper and lever, look at them nicely, and wait for the cable to appear, but only if we are the lucky owners of a Specialized Levo.
Otherwise, it is an impressive dropper, diameter 34.9 (that's what I can select now), travel from 125 to 225 and even 240 mm, phone app, cartridge with Schrader valve (I don't understand why they still make them without or for those without, customers should be told that they will be thrown away after a year or two, the air in the cartridge tends to leak just after the standard warranty expires):
Product presentation by Fox Academy:
It is amazing that component manufacturers are starting to offer advanced systems connected via CANBus to the e-bike's electrical system, freeing us from wireless systems with batteries, a nuisance. Fox has broken the ice, and I am sure they will announce compatibility with other e-bike systems, and other manufacturers will follow suit.
We eagerly await the next moves in the field and promise to keep you updated as soon as we learn about them.
