Marzocchi Transfer Dropper Post Review

Words & Photos by Rob Dunnet

It’s been 20 years since Marzocchi first made a splash in the mountain bike world with their Z1 fork. Since then the brand has had some major ups and downs, going through the hands of different owners who have all left their mark on Marzocchi’s legacy. The most recent change came when Fox bought them in 2016. For the past several years the mountain bike community has been curious to see what Fox would do with Marzocchi. It looks like 2019 will be the year Marzocchi gets back in the game. We’ve been riding several products from Marzocchi over the last few months, and one of those is the Transfer dropper post.

The Lab

The new Transfer comes in three different travel options (100mm, 125mm, 150mm) and two different seat post diameters, 30.9 or 31.6. The Transfer is also available with internal or external cable routing and has two remote options. You may be thinking, doesn’t Fox already sell a Transfer post? Yes they do, but the biggest difference between the Marzocchi Transfer and the Fox Transfer is that the Marzocchi post only comes with a Black Ano finish while the Fox post is available in Kashima or Black Ano.

My Transition Patrol came stock with a cable actuated seat post so installation was extremely easy. I pulled the stock post from the frame and pulled the old cable from the housing. I then installed a new cable and dropped the Transfer into my frame. The instructions that come with the Transfer are very detailed and made installation very quick and easy. I really liked that the cable end at the remote lever tucked nicely into a little slot for a very clean look.

The Dirt

I have been riding the Transfer for the past six weeks in Squamish and the surrounding areas. Despite the demanding conditions, performance has been flawless since I installed it. I have only had to make one cable adjustment by tensioning the barrel adjustment, which may have been due to extra cable during install.

On my first ride I had to adjust the angle of my saddle and the Transfer’s two post seat clamp works great. I was pleased to find standard 4mm Allen key heads on these bolts instead of Torx bolts.

I run my brake levers quite far from the grips and don’t like it when my hands touch the dropper post remote. To get the remote far enough from my hand I had to install it on the stem side of my left brake lever. I thought it would be too far from my thumb to be in a comfortable position but it is actually in the perfect place. The paddle size works well with my thumb and eventually I think I will add some grip tape to it to avoid any slipping when the fall rains really kick in here. The remote is quite long and it’s possible that riders with small hands or who are picky about their lever position might have some difficulty getting it in the right spot.

I have used cable-actuated posts before and one of my biggest complaints has always been how the lever’s action feels. Unlike some other posts I’ve ridden, the Transfer is very smooth and the lever does not take a lot of thumb pressure to activate. I felt that with the slightest pressure I was able to drop or raise my saddle.

The seat post action was also easy to control. I was able to modulate the remote so that my seat would drop slowly and stop where I wanted it to. I found raising the post was a little bit more difficult. I wasn’t able to control it the same way as lowering it and ended up using my butt to control the post return. Feathering it just didn’t seem to work as well, which is pretty standard from my experience with dropper posts.

I never had to fight to get the seat post down and never felt that the drop speed was too slow. I was able to get my seat out of the way when things got steep and was able to bring it back up when I needed to climb. The return speed of the post is just right for me. I knew it would be there when I needed it, but didn’t have to worry about testicular bruising either.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Over the past six weeks I have not experienced any of the shortcomings that plague other dropper posts. I’m happy to report no side-to-side play has developed, which is my number one pet peeve with seat posts. The Transfer is stiction free and does what I want a dropper post to do. It gets out of the way when I am going downhill and is ready to support me on the climbs back up.

Price: $359
Website: Marzocchi.com