9point8 partners with Wolf Tooth to develop Digit mechanical dropper remote

Pinko,

With all due respect… nonsense.

First of all, MSRP on an M9000 left shifter is $120. But even online discounters come in higher at $74- while the bar clamp Digit and ReMote are $69.95 and the integrated ReMotes are $59.95. And of course there’s the value of your time, which may or may not be greater than zero. As an upgrade to a new DropLoc post purchase, the Digit is only $18- which won’t go very far at all, at least in terms of XTR shifters.

Sure, feel is subjective- but I’d put money on the fact that our 21mm sealed bearing pivot is smoother and has less drag than a hacked shifter (Shimano have historically used bearings for XTR and bushings further down the line). What I can say is that we tailored the Digit specifically to feel ‘right’ and have a lighter action with 9point8 and Easton/RaceFace posts while ensuring the cable pull necessary to trigger the pressure equalization valve that is needed to keep DropLoc posts working at their best. The ReMote was similarly tested and its pull and lever length optimized to work with the most common cable-actuated posts on the market (KS, Thomson, Specialized, etc.). You may prefer Shimano’s lever shape, but between the Digit and ReMote we’re likely to have something that floats most riders’ boats.

What else? The bar clamp Digit and ReMote are just over one-third the weight of a single XTR shifter (integrated versions are lighter still) and we clamp the cable at the bar which makes setup and maintenance a whole heck of a lot easier while working with all cable-actuated posts (rather than just those that clamp at the seatpost). The $5 breakaway axle isn’t something that anyone else offers either.

We’re all for people going the DIY route- but I’d encourage you to you try both side-by-side before claiming that either feels better.

I haven’t done a conversion with an XTR front shifter, but I have done it with a SRAM X9 shifter, and I have a ReMote and I can tell you the ReMote is 100x nicer. The SRAM shifter conversion never felt as snappy as the ReMote and there was always some play in the lever. Aesthetics asid, IMHO the biggest selling point of the ReMote is the beautifully simple way they handle cable adjustment (which is not exclusive to them anymore). A front shifter and many other dropper levers use the standard derailleur cable end to hold the cable, requiring you to adjust cable tension using a tiny grub screw at the post end and the adjuster barrel. The ReMote has a fixing plate built into the lever allowing you to pull the cable taut before trimming it down, which is much less of a headache than removing the seatpost (for a stealth routed post), unhooking the cable, loosening the grub screw, and trimming the splayed cable end down again.
I am using the ReMote on a KS Lev Integra and the action is far superior to the KS Southpaw lever, which is already a step up from the standard KS dropper lever. The large bearing just makes it so smooth and effortless!