Intend teased us with their dropper post already last year, but now their Elevator dropper is ready to drop. And for a premium suspension and brake maker well known for limited production numbers and EUR pricing that almost always is in the 4 digits… this is gonna cost a lot less. In fact, the Intend Elevator dropper is said to have a 3-digit price starting with a 3. That’ll make this the most accessible hydraulic or suspension component they’ve ever sold. And for anyone who’s lusted after the brand that was always out of reach, the Elevator dropper might become a more accessible first taste of upgrading to Intend!
Intend Elevator dropper post, coming soon
Intend wanted to make a unique dropper post but didn’t want to start from scratch, so they worked Up a new design with One of the most trusted Taiwanese-made dropper post makers. But while it may share some outward-looking similarities to existing posts, Intend wanted their own low-profile, single-piece upper tube and rail cradle. And they had to make the internals full rebuildable, so riders could service the dropper, keeping it running for years to come.
And of course, it had to come in the same black anodized lower & hard ano bronze upper to match their forks.
If you have an Intend fork, you are really going to need to buy a Elevator dropper post so your bike will finally match!
Now, what makes the Elevator unique?
Intend created a design with a sealed lower tube. That means that as the post drops, it compresses the air inside, which acts like a progressive air spring. As you sit to drop the post, it moves quickly and smoothly at first but then requires additional pressure to get it to drop all the way. Effectively, it acts as an air spring bottom out bumper, so you don’t get a mechanical clunk each time you drop the post. The interesting side benefit is that when you press the remote to lift the post when you are still seated, Intend’s Elevator will actually help lift your butt up for the first couple centimeters.
It’s a bit of an odd sensation at first, but feels smooth after just a few uses. Importantly, users can tune the force to compress the dropper and the Elevator return force by changing the air pressure in the dropper with a regular shock pump.
Final details will come soon, this summer. For now we know it will launch with a 31.6mm diameter and most likely 190mm travel at first. Other travel options will be possible, and will likely expand in the near future. And it gets its on new remote, too.
Exact pricing is not set yet, but we’ve been assured it will sell for under four hundred euros, likely around 375€. That puts it on par with premium mechanical droppers like BikeYoke, but still a fraction of what a wireless dropper like the RockShox Reverb AXS or Fox Transfer Neo posts will cost you.
Elevator Boy dropper remote
To operate it, Intend has created a nice machined dropper remote that spins on sealed bearings and gets Matchmaker mounting. It features a smart cable connection design that lets you disconnect the cable through a reverse-oriented adjuster, leaving just a grub screw cable barrel that will still fit through 5mm housing routing, to allow for fishing cables back-and-forth without losing your cable setting.
Price for the Elevator Boy remote isn’t set in stone yet either, but likely will be in the 75€ ballpark.
Other, more expensive goodies from Intend suspension?
A one-of-a-kind matte white Cerakote version of their newly popular Samurai XC fork (made extra popular this year because of its 32″ compatibility) and recent Hover Monocoque shock tease a potential future project that might bring some rare color options to Intend suspension. This combo was a one-off project just to draw eyeballs at Eurobike on this 32″ Stoll XC bike. But buyers and dealers have been begging Intend to do more custom colors, especially after they toyed with custom finishes for a mountain bike company’s own ultra-limited edition builds last year.
Maybe a Unicorn line might join Blackline as a rare occasional custom color offering in the near future. If that sounds like something you’d be willing to throw down money on, you should express your interests directly to Intend to see if you can convince them to make it so…
