Magura Vyron MDS V3 Wireless Dropper review

ReviewSeatposts

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The “Magura Vyron MDS V3” stands for Magura Dropper Seatpost Version 3. I’m afraid I’ve not really taken to the Magura Vyron experience. Read on…

  • Brand: Magura
  • Product: Vyron MDS V3
  • From: Magura
  • Price: £499
  • Tested by: Benji for 4 months

Pros

  • Remote is really, really nice
  • Cheaper than rival wireless droppers
  • Easy to swap between bikes

Cons

  • Still slow to respond
  • Long insertion depth

A no-wires dropper post to rival the RockShox Reverb AXS? This is the third incarnation of a wireless dropper from Magura. The Vyron MDS V.3 dispenses with a rechargeable battery, instead there’s a CR2 lithium battery with a sealed battery cover. The neat remote has a CR2032 battery. General speed of response and the drop/raise have been improved apparently. Waterproof to IP-67 rating (“dust and brief immersion in water”).

We did a deep dive on the Magura Vyron MDS V3 post last September, so feel free to revisit that for the full explanation of the what/where/why/who of this dropper. This review is going to straight into the performance of the Vyron.

To cut to the chase, it’s not bad. It’s not great either. Personally I’m not sold on any wireless dropper posts (cable actuated posts wipe the floor with them in my experience) but even just judging this post against other wireless droppers, the Vyron isn’t quite as good.

FWIW I’m a big fan of wireless drivetrains. I think they are objectively better than cable actuated drivetrains. I’m not anti-wireless.

I mean, if you really want a wireless post (multiple bike ownership, desire for neater cockpit) then the Magura Vyron MDS V3 does work and it is impressively cheaper than the market leading wireless dropper (current deals hover around the £400 mark). But for me, I don’t think the actual performance is quite there yet. The two big niggles (biggles?) I had with it were laggy response and poor insertion depth.

Despite being significantly quicker to react than previous Vyron droppers, it is still laggy. Maybe some riders can live with this. Riders who just ride binary fully-up or fully-down saddle heights. But I like to set my saddle at whim to varying heights depending on terrain, tiredness or even just mood. I just found it annoyingly tricky to set the saddle where I wanted it.

Perhaps the more universal issue if the relatively long er, length of the post. The insertion depth is 280mm. This is around 15-20mm longer than regular dropper posts with similar travel amounts (including the RockShox Reverb AXS). The Vyron didn’t fit a few test bikes because of this insertion length. Test bikes with admittedly rather lofty seat tube lengths. But the insertion depth is still an issue I feel.

I also experienced a number of occasions when – after being compressed longer durations of time – the post wouldn’t raise up without a helping hand giving it a yank. I checked the PSI pressure inside the post and all was as it should be, so that wasn’t the issue.

On to more positive aspects.

Setting it up (pairing etc) was very straightforward. The whole thing is nicely made. The remote is really, really, really nice. Great design that. There’s not much rotation play in the shaft of the post. I didn’t really have a problem with having to turn it on at the start of every ride. It’s easy to take apart.

Overall

On the whole though, I’ve not really taken to the Magura Vyron experience. If Magura can improve the post’s reaction times, hack an inch off the insertion depth (and maybe offer a 200mm travel version) it would be a much better proposition. Even then though, I think a good cable-actuated post is just… better. Having said that, if your life would be made better by having a dropper without cabling – owner’s of multiple mountain bikes – the Vyron is keenly priced.

Magura Vyron MDS V3 Specifications

  • Diamaters: 30.9 and 31.6mm
  • Travel variants: 100, 125, 150 and 175 mm (downwards adjustable by 25mm)
  • Weight: post 700g, remote 40g
  • Overall post length: 379mm (100mm travel) to 499mm (175mm)

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Review Info

Brand: Magura
Product: Vyron MDS V3
From: Magura
Price: £499
Tested: by Benji for 4 months
Author Profile Picture

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Magura Vyron MDS V3 Wireless Dropper review
  • chipps
    Full Member

    I seem to be in the opposite wireless camp to Benji. I use a wireless Reverb post and I love how, what was previously a long thumb press on a mechanical dropper lever, has been turned into an instant mouse-click. It makes several-times-a-minute saddle height changes easy. Whereas I don’t reckon there’s anything wrong with mechanical shifting on mountain bikes that needed improving. It was already pretty slick and I don’t think electronic shifting has improved the shifter ergonomics (in fact did away with the finger trigger action found on mechanical Shimano which was handy when out of the saddle, sprinting or climbing.) SRAM’s thumb/thumb shifter didn’t have it in the first place, though ‘previous’ AXS made it possible again – and now Transmission has taken it away again…

    Posted 2 months ago
    the00
    Free Member

    I think I’ll wait for the wireless BikeYoke Revive

    Posted 2 months ago
    nxgater
    Full Member

    Fundamentally I agree with Chipps though not quite for the reason. A saddle and cable dropper post together are a hefty investment. Even if you have only 2 bikes (!) a really decent wireless post and saddle could save some expense. And give consistent setup. But there’s no excuse for lag and here I agree with Benji that it’s super annoying. Or transmission well if you ride an ebike as i now do then it’s not important. In fact I think most ebikes could just as well be single speed. Long story short I’d never buy wireless transmission but I would buy a really reliable wireless dropper for a sensible price.

    Posted 2 months ago
    reeksy
    Full Member

    My bikes all use cables. I guess that makes the wireless anyway 🤷🏽‍♂️

    Posted 2 months ago
    jonnyrockymountain
    Full Member

    Ive had both versions of the Magura, and the newer one is a lot better, still not quite as good as the AXS one for speed, but the switch for the magura is better than the AXS and both are a lot better than any cable droppers

    Posted 2 months ago
    ampthill
    Full Member

    So people are sharing droppers between bikes? I’m such a princess they have to have very similar actual seat tube angles

    Posted 2 months ago
    nickfrog
    Free Member

    That’s quite a lot of money for not much of a tangible benefit compared to a quality dropper at around £100. They don’t even seem to do a 200mm which is a popular size.

    Posted 2 months ago
    monkeyboyjc
    Full Member

    I’m with chipps – I’ve axs droppers on both bikes & lucky enough to have axs gears on both too. But If I had to only have one, it would be the dropper. It’s just a far nicer operation than a cabled set up. Yes wireless is expensive, but who pays full RRP? Both of mine were bought for around 50% of the RRP (one new, one 2nd hand). With the appropriate maintenance, both have also been extremely reliable.

    Posted 2 months ago
    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    I really liked my Mk2 Vyron.

    The nice thing about it was that for things like servicing the bearings, I could just take it out and then start pressing out bearings – with a wired dropped I just dreaded the process of wrangling the cable out, and then fighting to get it back in afterwards.

    And being able to swap from a dropper to a fixed post occasionally was also pretty nice – I know it sounds daft, but sometimes I would go out and just want to ride with a fixed post to just be a bit more old-skool.

    However, I dropped it in a stream, and it turned out it was not waterproof. In the end it didn’t seem worthwhile to fork out almost the price of a new mechanical dropper on a replacement head unit that might only last until the next stream.

    I now have a one-up and it’s pretty decent. But a waterproof Vyron would be interesting if the one-up ever failed, or perhaps next time I change the bearings.

    Posted 2 months ago
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