Crank Brothers’ new Highline dropper post replaces the Kronolog, which was discontinued a little more than a year ago. The Highline has been in development and testing for two years, the goal being to have the most reliable dropper post on the market.
Internally, it’s using a swappable hydraulic cartridge that has been tested to 40,000 cycles, which they hinted is more than 3x that of a popular competitor. It’s cable actuated, with 125mm of infinite travel. Once dropped, it locks into place, so you can lift the bike by the saddle without the post rising first. They’re offering it only with internal cable routing, and the connection point is remarkable for it’s simplicity.
Check it out along with their completely redesigned pedals (and several all-new models) and more below…
The insides slide on Igus LL-glide bearings kept clean with high end Trelleborg seals. A keyed system prevents saddle wiggle, and the entire hydraulic cartridge is removeable for service or replacement if necessary…but they seem pretty confident that won’t be an issue.
The remote is all new, too, using a ball joint design that provides 360° of rotational adjustment and 22° of reach adjustment. Basically that lets you mount it anywhere, and it’s all set up with a single bolt.
In addition to the extensive testing, they spared no expense with the accessories – Cable and housing is Jagwire Elite Slick wire with Lex-SL housing. It ends in a plug-in design that’s keyed to line up with the hydraulic actuator. The white bit surrounds the actuator and has rotating slides on the outside. As the cable pulls it down, it rotates the actuator to open the hydraulic circuit and allow the post to drop. Push the lever only slightly and it opens the circuit only slightly, giving you plenty of control over the rate of descent and ascent. The gray base presses in then twists to lock it into place, and untwists for easy removal to allow for easy packing of the bike or just removing the post from your bike.
The head uses a two-bolt quick release design that makes for easy saddle installation and adjustment.
Weight is 580g all in, including housing, cable, lever, etc. Retail is $/€350 and it comes with an impressive three year warranty.
Among the pedals, they’ve completely revamped the internals to improve durability and overall refinement. All clipless pedals get Enduro cartridge bearings on the outside edge, which brings that brand’s respected performance and tight tolerances.
On the inside edge, closest to the crank arm, they worked with Igus to create a proprietary bushing material that’s better than any stock offering that company had available. They took that new bushing material to their mud bath tests and it outperformed the original bushings by 74x.
Keeping all those rolling bits clean is a new double lip internal seal and external seal that prevents water and debris from entering the pedal body. They put it through a 72 hour salt fog test and saw no penetration. Then it went to real world testing in the Pacific Northwest, where riders tested a new pedal on one side and the old ones on the other. After a couple months of wet weather riding, the new ones still looked brand new inside but the originals had a bit of contamination.
These changes come to all 2016 pedals, from the classic Eggbeater to the new Mallet E, shown above.
The Mallet E is 12% smaller than the Mallet DH and 50g lighter (419g claimed). It has a concave platform with six pins per side and a gripper section on either side of the clips. The leading outer edge gets a chamfered angle to help it glide of rock strikes rather than catch them. The Traction pads are interchangeable, and 1mm and 2mm thick pads come with the pedals. This lets you adjust for shoe wear, as do the adjustable height pins (just thread them in or out a bit to increase their height).
The new Stamp flat pedal comes in small and large platform sizes to optimize for different shoe sizes to help it fit the rider better without being too small or too large. Or compromising either end of the spectrum by sizing it in the middle.
The small is intended for shoe sizes from 5 to 10 (37 to 43 Euro) and the large is for 10 to 15 (43 to 49), with those in the middle left to choose their preference. The small’s platform is 100x100mm, large is 114x111mm (long x wide).
It uses the new Igus glide bearing material on both inside and outside with an internal o-ring and external rubber seal to keep them clean. It has an 11mm center height and 13mm on the leading/trailing edges, giving you a full millimeter of concavity per side. Pins are height adjustable, 10 per side, and the spindle is serviced by a grease port. Retail is $/€150.
The Double Shot is a new hybrid pedal with clips on one side and flat on the other. It uses a single sided version of their unique clip-and-spring design that’s locked between two lips, but should feel familiar to fans of the brand. Weight is 395g per pair. Retail is $/€90.
The Mallet 3 and 2 gets an all-alloy pedal body, replacing the inside composite section with raw aluminum. They say weight gain was minimal, but durability is much higher.
The Candy 11 and 7 get an all new body that’s 10% larger than the 3/2s. They gain the Traction Pads and get chamfered edges and an alloy bash guard on the end to protect the spindle. Weights are 249g for 11 (per pair), and 320g for the 7.
The new Y15 tool mimics the Y16 launched last year but loses the CO2 inflator and adds the patch kit. Retail is $/€40. Other tools get a new punk rock purple color option.
