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Crankbrothers Highline 11 Carbon & Ti Dropper plummets 60mm-170mm

crankbrothers highline 11 carbon dropper seat post with titanium bolts for gravel xc trail and enduro
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Valentino Rossi’s launch of the VR46 eMTB spilled the beans on this one a few months ago, listing a “new premium telescopic seatpost, made of carbon and titanium” from Crankbrothers. Indeed, the Crankbrothers Highline 11 has arrived; a new lightweight dropper seat post with a carbon shaft and titanium bolts. With a drop range of 60mm to 170mm and post diameters of 30.9mm and 31.6mm, riders of gravel, XC, trail and enduro bikes can have at it, with a 4-year warranty too!

Crankbrothers Highline 11 Dropper Post

crankbrothers highline 11 carbon ti dropper seat post actuator shaft quick release head bolts

Joining Crankbrothers’ 11 series line of premium components is the Highline 11, their lightest and most expensive dropper seatpost to date, retailing at $399 USD (without a remote). The 30.9mm and 31.6mm options are both available in drop lengths of 60mm, 100mm, 125mm, 150mm and 170mm travel.

This one tips the scales at just 509g for the 31.6mm diameter 170mm drop model, thanks to its use of a carbon fibre shaft and head, as well as titanium bolts at the quick-release saddle rail clamp. To put that into context, the Highline 7 170mm dropper weighs considerably more despite its narrower post diameter of 30.6mm, coming in at 583g. 

crankbrothers highline 11 carbon dropper seat post ifp internals

Like the Highline 7 and the Highline XCG model for 27.2mm diameter seat tubes, the new Highline 11 runs a self-contained internal floating piston hydraulic cartridge, actuated mechanically via a cable. The quick-connect linear pull mechanism is said to offer ease of cable installation and routing, delivering a light action at the remote (drop-bar and flat-bar remotes available) and a quick return speed.

crankbrothers highline 11 dropper seat post saddle rail clamp quick release

The Highline 11 gets a two-bolt quick release head for easy saddle installation, fore/aft, and tilt adjustment. The minimum stack height is short at 47mm.

crankbrothers highline 11 carbon dropper seat post with titanium bolts for gravel xc trail and enduro
The Highline 11 ships with premium a Jagwire cable and housing and high-end Trelleborg seals

We met Hannah Wilson from Crankbrothers’ UK Distributor, Extra UK, at CORE Bike where she was able to give us a closer look at the Highline 11.

crankbrothers highline carbon dropper seat post shaft removal
Unthreading a small bolt underneath the clamp releases the shaft allowing you to pull it out of its lower post to re-grease the internals replace and or/replace Crankbrothers’ proprietary igus LL-glide bearings and keys

crankbrothers highline 11 carbon ti dropper post internals

crankbrothers highline 11 specs lengths and weights

Pricing & Availability

The Crankbrothers Highline 11 Carbon Dropper Post retails at $399 USD / €39. Remotes are sold separately; the flat-bar option retails at $59.99 USD while the drop-bar remote for the gravel contingent will set you back $49.99 USD.

crankbrothers highline 11 dropper remotes drop-bar flat-bar

Crankbrothers.com

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mattydubs
mattydubs
2 years ago

You should probably omit the:

With a drop range of 60mm to 170mm and post diameters of 30.9mm and 31.6mm, riders of gravel

“gravel” bit, considering most of the gravel bikes on the market use a 27.2 post for ride compliance. I won’t pretend I’ve done an exhaustive survey, but the Crux, Rodeo Labs bikes, that 3T Exploro RaceMax Ultra y’all just reviewed, etc.

There are still not enough options out there for 27.2 dropper posts.

Adding even more tonedefness to the proceedings (not germane to this article per se): the DoubleTap hack and the GRX dropper “brifter” (ST-RX810-LA) both require the shifter fitting on the end of the cable for the lever to pull the cable. Many of the 27.2 dropper posts targeted at gravel (PNW, for one) flip that arrangement and want you to thread the shifter fitting from the post… which means they don’t work with the shifter style dropper levers.
Usual incompatibility BS.

Shane
Shane
2 years ago
Reply to  mattydubs

My gravel bike has a 31.6 post, odd how that works.

BMX
BMX
2 years ago

All that and seems around the same weight as the one up dropper that is half the price.

Derron
Derron
2 years ago
Reply to  BMX

The oneup post is over 1/3 lb heavier (comparing 31.6 model of each brand). Yet, I agree that the cost of saving 1/3 lb of non-rotating mass is probably not worth it for all but the most weight-weenie focused xc racer.

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