Paul Component Engineering Announces New Dropper Trigger

Dec 20, 2018
by Paul Component  
Paul unveils the new Dropper Trigger

by PaulComponentEngineering
Views: 3,543    Faves: 7    Comments: 0


We’ve tried just about every cable-actuated dropper seatpost on the market, and while they all have their pros and cons, we weren’t satisfied with any of the triggers that actuated them. So, we designed our own.

As usual, our engineers were obsessed during the design process. We torture tested the hell out of various prototypes (including numerous crashes) in the toughest terrain in the Sierra Nevada mountains for over a year. Our final production version uses dual stacked sealed cartridge bearings in the pivot for zero slop and long (serviceable) life, a pinch bolt and cable head recess allowing you to run the cable in either direction (some droppers pinch the cable at the seatpost, while others pinch the cable at the trigger), a hinged clamp so you can install it without removing the grip, and a little barrel adjuster for fine tuning the cable tension.

Machined out of American 6061 Aluminum to 0.0005″ tolerance (holy smokes that’s precise!) here in sunny Chico, California.


Technical Information:

• Material: 6061 American Aluminum
• Weight: 40 grams
• Surface Finish: Anodized Black, Silver, or Purple. Also available in Polished.
• Clamp Diameter: 22.2
• Available: Now!
• Price $86 anodized, $92 Polished

photo
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MENTIONS: @PaulComponentEngineering


Posted In:
Press Releases Seatposts


Author Info:
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Member since Oct 25, 2018
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99 Comments
  • 58 2
 clicked on this because PURPLE is fastest
  • 17 37
flag WAKIdesigns (Dec 22, 2018 at 5:15) (Below Threshold)
 And men hit on you!
  • 5 0
 Lavender
  • 16 4
 @WAKIdesigns: U can't call Men "Men" anymore, they are now non-binary humanoids with a dick.
  • 5 6
 @moodgedog: men are not men if they haven’t installed a token in their Pike under fire!
  • 35 1
 Ticks all the boxes, colours, cnc, and expensive.
  • 21 1
 compared to the fox remote, doesnt cost a whole lot more and will probably last longer than 3 months
  • 4 0
 Made me laugh so hard man, Merry Christmas.
  • 37 10
 "We’ve tried just about every cable-actuated dropper seatpost on the market, and while they all have their pros and cons, we weren’t satisfied with any of the triggers that actuated them." Come on! This is cool cause Paul has their followers and colors are nice but give me a break! WOLFTOOTH Remote! Matches all the important break levers on the market, has a light action option, textured, bearings, break away bolt, made in Merica' you can even convert a reverb to work with one. WTF you talking about none satisfied. Try again marketing team. SIT DOWN, BE HUMBLE!
  • 12 18
flag mhoshal (Dec 21, 2018 at 17:48) (Below Threshold)
 @bubbleheadmtb last time I checked the wolftooth didn't come stock with any dropper on the market. He didn't say they tried every aftermaket remote out there. He said we've tried every cable actuated dropper on the market.
  • 8 1
 'Nother vote for Wolftooth...
  • 13 1
 @mhoshal: What are you, a lawyer?
  • 4 4
 How come no one talks about the Race Face turbine remote? It’s even better than wolftooth. It has an aluminum lever, you can get any color imaginable, and is just top of the line build quality
  • 2 0
 @Ryanrobinson1984: just got the race face lever for my transfer and I love that Sam thing
  • 6 0
 @mhoshal: Wolf Tooth remotes come stock with 9point8 droppers
  • 4 0
 I have a wolftooth on one bike and bikeyoke on the other. I prefer the triggy remote; it has speed holes.
  • 1 5
flag mhoshal (Dec 22, 2018 at 16:16) (Below Threshold)
 @smithcreek: no I just have enough common sense to understand a sentence. There are at least 17 dumbass's that don't understand judging from the upvotes for the kids stupid assumptions.
  • 2 1
 @mhoshal: except, if the fellow a few comments up is correct the wolf tooth is coming stock on 9point8 droppers.

Also I think Paul makes the claim that he tried every remote, though I cant check that at the moment.
  • 1 0
 @allenfstar: it doesn't come stock its an option to upgrade
  • 14 0
 It's very nice but why go to all the effort and use a plastic barrel adjuster?
  • 3 0
 Agreed, even my Brand X remote has an aluminium barrel adjuster. That chrome would be awesome otherwise...
  • 3 0
 @jzPV: true story! All that effort and gorgeousness and stick a shitty bit of plastic on it.
  • 3 2
 Why go with a metal barrel adjuster if you're going to use a plastic outer cable anyway? They could of course use a metal adjuster, but you'd then be a fool to not use one of these metal Nokon outer cables. Of course you could go for perfectly crisp dropper seatpost actuation and get that sorted too. But then please PLEASE get a metal bicycle frame too.
  • 4 0
 looks really nice, i like the two bearing idea and its obviously well engineered. im glad there are more and more options for the levers. all the improved levers seem to have about the same design though which makes me wounder why companies didn't just get it right the first time.
  • 2 2
 Some slick b2b salesman probably locked all the dropper manufactures in on those 90 degree noodles from the get-go. Stoked on this Paul lever (and my 35mm boxcar), will add to the queue if my raceface turbine lever (KS integra) ever snaps in a wreck.
  • 15 1
 it also makes me wonder how RockShox can continue to put out a hydraulicly actuated plunger as a dropper trigger
  • 6 18
flag bike2850 (Dec 21, 2018 at 9:04) (Below Threshold)
 @fuzzhead45: because there dumb
  • 41 1
 @bike2850: They're
  • 23 0
 @bike2850: Where dumb?
  • 7 1
 @slovenian6474:

The British Parliament
tup
  • 1 0
 @kurtz433: lol yes totally
  • 1 0
 PURPLE AF! rad
  • 1 2
 @fuzzhead45: I completely agree I was having so much trouble with my revert because of the hydraulicly actuated plunger. Converted to a cable actuated with the wolftooth trigger and now the revert works great! I did lose the speed control but it is reliable now, and even works in the cold ( ridden in 18F and works great). It will be interesting to see if it tops the wolftooth trigger in quality. It certainly won on looks,the colors of those Paul triggers are so sick !
  • 6 0
 I don't understand why they wouldn't design a sweet machined barrel adjuster for this. Feels half assed with that cheapo plastic barrel on there...
  • 3 1
 5 micron. That will be the repeatability of the cnc when it’s new. I’ll put $500 on that part not being machined anywhere near that tolerance now I’ve seen that video! Smells like marketing w£&@ to me

Nice simple looking machined stuff though.
  • 1 0
 Inches not mm. So its 5 tenths not 5 microns. Easily repeatable if you have a rigid process dialed on a decent machine. As you probably know already.
  • 1 0
 That said its prob tounge in cheek. Only a few features need that tol anyway.
  • 7 1
 Everything Paul make is a piece of art!
  • 7 1
 waiting for the $150 chris king version.
  • 6 0
 waiting for $175 dollar I9 version
  • 2 0
 @paulcomponentengineering Exactly which dimensions are to .0005"? is that +/-.00025" or =/-.0005"? How did you hold all the 3d contouring to such tight tolerances? that must have been hard to maintain that with the polishing operation after machining. also aluminum is aluminum if its 6061 it doesn't really matter where it comes from. who are you trying to fool with some of these weird marketing points?
  • 1 0
 I mean cylindrical bearing surfaces are around the 0.001” tolerance range, maybe less depending on the feature size, fit and application. So yea, for a 3D profile tolerance that’s incredibly tight. Your machining is also as good as your inspection ability. So unless you have some sort of laser/visual inspection or a specialized go/no go jig, good luck. But for bearing surfaces, sure. 0.0005” or 13 microns is not unreasonable.
  • 1 0
 Maybe someone here can help me: I'm in the market for one of these but can't find what I need.

I ride an XL frame and still bloody up my knee on the Fox dropper trigger on occasion. I have it rolled as far under the bar as possible, slammed against the XT brake lever assembly.

If I had a dropper trigger that was extremely low profile (close to the bar) and had the cable exit more parallel with the bar instead of the common angle, I think I could fit it further out of the way and save some skin.

This one has the parallel exit I'm looking for, but it's waaaay too tall: I'd bleed out on my first ride.
  • 7 0
 maybe bigger bike...lol
  • 1 0
 What about the Turbine remote that wraps around the bar/ grip. Pretty low profile
  • 4 0
 OneUp remote has the most tucked under the bar design i've seen. Also half as expensive as this retro-chic lever.
  • 2 0
 Didn't XC racers use a left hand grip shifter to operate the dropper or was it only for the lock-out? You'd probably have to remove the ratchet thing inside but that shouldn't be too hard. If you can make it work, no way you're going to hurt your knees on that one Smile .

I hate knee injuries so I always ride with pads. But you're going to need even more room to accommodate those!
  • 7 0
 are you a giraffe?
  • 1 0
 Against mounting on top of the bar?
  • 2 1
 @vinay: All those people talking about accidentally shifting gripshifts on rough descents...
Imagine that with a dropper...
  • 2 0
 @freestyIAM: Just getting back to this thread with some research time now, and I think you suggested a winner with the OneUp remote. Thanks!

@arrowheadrush: I just get a bit rowdy in the cockpit. But that's what SHE said.
  • 2 0
 Excellent. Having a good trigger on your dropper makes all the diff. I’ve got a wolf tooth one in mine and it’s sweet. Similar idea but this one looks even more heavy duty
  • 4 0
 Paul’y Wana Dropper!?!??
  • 4 0
 Every dentist will have one
  • 3 1
 $46 US for postage to Australia! was about to buy this, but with that cost it turns into a almost $175 AU part! Sorry, too exxie!
  • 1 0
 The solution for both cable ending system is absolutely clever Paul! Thank you very much for adding value to the "sometimes" crazy cycling industry! Cheers from Spain!
  • 3 0
 Bikes are like fidget toys!
  • 1 0
 Of course I had to choose polished components as my "accent colour" for my bike :/. Now I HAVE to buy this.

Also, the KS Southpaw lever is hot garbash.
  • 2 0
 Expensive but at least its really nice - that polish looks bling. I'm more offended by the $60 ones that are just meh.
  • 2 1
 Ha! "Couldn't find any levers we like" so they designed one exactly like the PNW lever but worse and more expensive?? PNW dropper lever is waaaaayyyy sicker sorry Paul.
  • 1 0
 Being able to fix either end of the cable to the lever is the real killer feature here, why isn't every aftermarket lever doing this?
  • 2 0
 Wolf Tooth.
  • 1 0
 That is definitely something every aftermarket lever maker should be working towards
  • 3 0
 that polished tho....
  • 1 1
 Gorgeous piece of CNC hardware right there. Unfortunately I don't own a dropper. Maybe I can rig it up to a bottle opener attached to my bike. Or a rocket booster.
  • 5 0
 Get off Pinkbike!!!! lol
  • 1 0
 @whattheheel: Remeber, I do whadeyewhant!
  • 3 0
 How do you huck your meat full gas?
  • 3 0
 @endlessblockades: build my jumps facing uphill!
  • 2 0
 @bike2850

There’s no money in the first time...
  • 1 0
 Why make something if you dont even understand why?
Like cable activated brakes?
  • 1 0
 9point8 basically comes with a wolf tooth dropper. They are essentially the same
  • 1 0
 I hope the edges aren't as sharp as the Wolftooth that gouged my knee.
  • 1 0
 I also received a nice scar from my fox lever.
  • 1 0
 Matchmaker clamp integration plz
  • 1 0
 Agreed. Paul is such a retro-grouch - I wouldn't hold your breath.
  • 3 1
 Matchmaker or die
  • 1 0
 Merry Christmas to me. ORDERED! Big Grin
  • 1 0
 They don't even sell the purple one on their website...What the hell?
  • 1 0
 Can we get Paul to make product announcement videos for all new products?
  • 1 0
 what no orange? ... i know first world problems
  • 1 0
 I prefer recycled French aluminum.
  • 1 0
 Coming soon...Aluminum barrel adjuster option..Add $99
  • 1 0
 Paul is triggered by dropper posts.
  • 1 0
 Expensive and not even matchmaker compatible Eek
  • 1 0
 more levericity. plus, better ergonomileration. best cable pullermising.
  • 1 0
 Beautiful.
  • 1 0
 no left hander love?
  • 1 0
 I like Paul.
  • 1 0
 Are those cable brakes?
  • 2 2
 American aluminium.....
  • 10 0
 They don't have aluminium in NA just aluminum.
  • 1 1
 Shakedown Street FTW
  • 2 0
 huh?
  • 1 0
 ????
  • 1 0
 Apparently that’s how a thumbs up translates.
  • 1 0
 Song at the end of the video is the Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Street@Kimura:
  • 1 0
 @stuaci: ooohhhhhh
  • 1 1
 FKN DOPE!







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