I recently bought a new Canyon Strive, and within a month the dropper post (a Fox transfer performance elite) has got really sticky. It often needs a significant heavy bonk with my bum to make it go down, although it rises again with no problem.

Do you think this is something I may be able to fix with some self-maintenance, or is it a return-to-sender/bike repair shop issue? Opinions appreciated!

Obvious and possibly patronising answer – have you backed off the seatpost clamp bolt a bit?

No worries about patronising this fool… good point, I will check this evening. (I did use a torque wrench to tighten to the standard 5nm, but it will be interesting to see if loosening it resolves the issue.)

^ this.
Transfers seem to be affected by clamp force quite a bit. It might be fine one day, then on another colder day you need to back the clamp off a bit. 5Nm is probably too much.
The other thing is cable stretch. You might need to wind on a turn or so with the barrel adjuster at the lever.

Every time I’ve had a sticking dropper post it’s been the clamp too tight.

Thanks for the ideas All.

I have loosened the post (including to the point where it slips) and left it at 4Nm now, despite the recommended tightness actually being 6Nm. Still no good going down… the post rises immediately and pretty smoothly but still needs a good hard bump before it will drop.

I have also just tried slick honey dropper post lube with a little “in/out” before wiping off, which didn’t make any difference.

Any other ideas?

How’s the cable routing to the dropper? Is there any slack on the lever when you press it? Might just be a simple cable adjust to sort?

Are you sitting centred on the saddle when you are trying to get the post to go down . If you perch on the nose then it will bind as the force is not being applied in a straight line .

Is it an internal or external remote? The external remote versions of the Fox Transfer have a long pin down the length of the inside of the shaft which operates the release at the bottom. It can bind over time, maybe a warranty job if it’s so new. I’d also guess clamp tightness therefore has more effect on external remote posts.

The dropper on my Saracen plays up occasionally – it’s due to the routing where it comes out from the bottom of the seatpost. If I give it a tug it starts working again.

Different bike and different dropper, but an easy one to try!

My partners Whyte G-170 is in the shop at the moment & the cable routing has resulted in the cable crimping itself – have you checked the cable run?

Neil – I think you have the answer!

I was tending to sit and push down at the back of the saddle, whereas sitting on the nose as an experiment makes it drop smoothly. I’ll have a play with saddle positioning on the rails, but this confirms it’s working ok – just a user issue, and certainly something I can work around.

Thanks for the advice everybody – much appreciated.