Hey everyone, how's it going?
At that time I was calling this a cheap bike
that I tried to put cheap components on.
nothing else but a dropper post.
than using their in-house brand Bontrager.
is the 125 and 150 mm, second and third-generation Bontrager line
and Bontrager Line Elite.
used by a few other companies but let's take a closer look.
that can also be found under different names out there.
Apparently Cube sells the same thing, SDG, Syncros, GIANT,
all being a Tranz-X dropper,
Here, under the seat, is usually where the Shredder valve is
to adjust the pressure inside of your dropper.
meaning that they are fairly simple to service.
that I usually prefer as a design.
Also, the front is fairly clearly signified here on the two pieces.
If you look carefully at the rails,
so they can accommodate either saddles installed perfectly centered
or saddles that would be installed forward like many riders prefer.
The seal head is hand tight and that's an advantage
because you can easily undo it by hand
I highly recommend to do that on a new dropper anyway.
and this is how easy it is,
They offer two of these pieces of plastic.
This is the 30 mm one, and they have a 10 mm,
And I'm going to install one of these when the dropper is on the bike.
On the lower tubes the branding can be found
Bontrager Line Elite having this glossier background.
you're gonna find the minimum insertion line,
These droppers only exist in 31.6 mm variant
And because the information about length, overall length, drop and things like that
is hard to find for these droppers,
The actuators look slightly different, Line Elite versus Line.
Also, by having them here,
That's the only option.
is about 4 inches or 10 cm.
You have 8 cm or a bit over 3 inches down to the bottom of the tube.
Weight of the Line 125 is 552 grams.
and if I add a piece of housing and inner cable to it, that's 650 grams all together.
Line Elite is 546 grams, so it's about 6-7 grams lighter,
but this is one is 150 mm dropper, and is also longer by 4 cm.
So obviously they modified the design of the new one to make it lighter.
If we add the remote that comes with it that adds up to 597 grams which is pretty much the same.
Adding the same length of cable and housing, 649 grams.
that came with this Giant Contact 100 mm dropper.
you can remove the collar, is based on Wintek cartridge as well.
This one is 500 grams, and if I add the whole shebangs,
that will come up to 605 grams, so here we go!
Servicing of these droppers is considered to be very simple because
as soon as you unscrew the actuator over here
and look at that: that's your cartridge, that's your keys,
Also, by having them here,
especially since all you need is alcohol to clean up the parts,
Remotes - the Line dropper comes with this one
which is a dedicated 1x bar clamp remote.
you can see the barrel adjuster here,
and you see a pinch bolt for your cable
The Line Elite has a few options,
and you see here the bar clamp option.
and they have a SRAM Matchmaker version.
and you keep the under the bar remote again.
stealth Bontrager printed over there.
Again, barrel adjuster, same kind of bushing,
So again, the cable is going to be terminated right here behind the dropper remote.
This is kind of a universal remote so anything like PNW or a WolfTooth ReMote
would probably work just fine with these droppers as well.
On this bike I'm going to install the 125 mm, the Bontrager Line,
you would measure the distance between the saddle rails to the collar,
and then the collar all the way down to where your dropper is going to stop.
That's going to give you the overall length that you need for your dropper post.
Remote is usually the first one to be installed
and I usually use Shimano SP-41 housing
Cable routed through the frame, inner cable connected to the actuator here,
and this is temporary because I want to measure the length of my cable.
I'm just going to pull on the cable while inserting the dropper to the desired height.
Now we can measure the length of the housing making sure that
especially since all you need is alcohol to clean up the parts,
and Slick Honey or Slickoleum to grease everything up.
Remotes - the Line dropper comes with this one
which is a dedicated 1x bar clamp remote.
It goes under the bar and it has the glossy surface
you can see the barrel adjuster here,
there's no bearing in here, probably a bushing,
and you see a pinch bolt for your cable
so the cable is terminated right here under the remote.
The Line Elite has a few options,
and you see here the bar clamp option.
But this is an i-Spec II adapter to attach it to a Shimano brake,
and they have a SRAM Matchmaker version.
You just remove the screw here
and you keep the under the bar remote again.
Grooves here on the lever for better contact,
stealth Bontrager printed over there.
Again, barrel adjuster, same kind of bushing,
and this is the pinch bolt for the cable.
So again, the cable is going to be terminated right here behind the dropper remote.
This is kind of a universal remote so anything like PNW or a WolfTooth ReMote
would probably work just fine with these droppers as well.
On this bike I'm going to install the 125 mm, the Bontrager Line,
and ideally before even purchasing a dropper,
you would measure the distance between the saddle rails to the collar,
and then the collar all the way down to where your dropper is going to stop.
That's going to give you the overall length that you need for your dropper post.
Remote is usually the first one to be installed
because that gives you the length of the cable,
and I usually use Shimano SP-41 housing
Cable routed through the frame, inner cable connected to the actuator here,
and this is temporary because I want to measure the length of my cable.
I'm just going to pull on the cable while inserting the dropper to the desired height.
Now we can measure the length of the housing making sure that you can freely rotate
your handlebars probably 180 degrees if you can.
And then, you're gonna cut the housing right here
but always remember to remove the inner cable first because otherwise is going to be very short.
I've placed my remote pretty much where my shifter is on the other side,
and now I'm ready to tighten up this inner cable with a pinch bolt
and just give it a try.
And just like that, here it is.
Nice positive return, like the sound.
Again, this is the Bontrager Line, awesome!
As you tighten the saddle remember that he have a 9 Nm limit here on these bolts
which is not a whole lot.
And the last thing I wanted to show you is
how to reduce the travel on a dropper like this
so I have 125 mm right now, it's a bit high.
As you're looking at the travel reducer
you can see these two protrusions, they're gonna slide right into the grooves of the tube.
And I'm going to coat this in Slick Honey or Slickoleum, is what I use.
So undo the seal head, remember this is hand tight.
And then you have a bushing right here up top
you're gonna have to pull that one out.
So the order of installation is
you see the spacer, then you have that top bushing,
and then you have the seal head that goes on top.
You definitely have to remember to push the dropper down,
at least half of the travel before you attempt to do this.
I forgot to do it and I can't push them down
but as soon as I do that I'm gonna be fine.
There we go, everything is sliding back in.
Seal head is back, tightened up by hand,
and that's how easy was to reduce the travel on this dropper post.
The Line Elite installation was equally easy
you can see the lever here which is longer,
so it's a bit easier to actuate or activate.
You might recognize my almighty hardtail
that's doing trainer or indoor duty right now.
As for the dropper, this is solid it might be a bit easier to push it down
or that's what Bontrager says,
but if there is a difference is not significant
and otherwise a really solid dropper
that I hope is gonna last.
So what do you guys think?
This is a very simple installation
it was a cheap dropper, I think I paid 150 bucks for it including the remote,
so if you ask me, this is definitely something that I would consider again and again
or if it comes on a TREK bike, I would hold onto it until it gives me trouble
before thinking about upgrading.
And that's pretty much all I have for you guys today.
If you found this useful, don't forget to Like subscribe,
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And until next time, I hope to see you folks on the trails
riding some Bontrager dropper posts.
Cheers guys, cheers!