Fox D.O.S.S. First Ride Impressions

Scroll down for first impressions.

We have just taken delivery of Fox’s much anticipated dropper post. It’s called the D.O.S.S (Drop On Steep Shit) and has been in the works for a couple of years now. It’s a bit of a departure from what the other big players are doing at the moment. It has three height settings, and just like Fox’s new shocks it’s identified by the acronym CTD (Climb, Trail, Descend). On the DOSS post Climb is full height, Trail is 40mm lower and Descend is slammed right to the bottom (oh, it comes in either a 4″ or 5″ drop). It’s actuated by a standard gear cable for easy, roadtrip-friendly repairs and is air sprung by just a maximum of 25PSI.

To make finding the the 40mm Trail position easy, Fox have come out with a unique two lever remote; hit the large lever and you drop full height, stopping at the 40mm setting on the way, but hit the black lever and the the post will only drop to the 40mm setting. If you’ve used a dropper post before you’ll know that quite often you don’t want the full drop, and pinching the seat to find the height is not an accurate way of locating the right height. RockShox now provide an Enduro collar so you can set a different drop, but once set there’s no way of changing it without a torx key.

Cable routing is still at the top of the post despite a bunch of companies trying to move routing to the bottom of the post, mind you I’ve been running a dropper post since Maverick first borrowed their design off Rob Metz and have never had a big issue with the cable. Fox also wisely opted for the two bolt seat clamp for non-slip security, and for extra manliness the lower mount is made as one piece with the post itself.

The remote lever has caused some controversy among web forums with people struggling a bit with its size. We haven’t set ours up just yet, but it in the hand it makes far more sense than on computer screens. Its long levers mean it’s easy to get it into a nice position within easy reach of your thumbs, and can also be run underneath the bar. In addition it features three distance positions. Weight of the post, lever, cable and hardware comes in at 1.37 lbs / 620 g (30.9mm x 5″). RRP is NZD$612.

Leif will be putting this though its paces over the next couple of months but once it’s up and running he’ll post his initial thoughts right here on this post (hopefully on Monday).

The lowdown on the Fox D.O.S.S dropper post

I’ve managed a handful of rides on the Fox D.O.S.S post now, so I figured it was time for some first impressions. Here’s the goss on the D.O.S.S.

I’ve chosen to run the shorter of the two options (4 inch drop), which has given me just enough height at full extension for climbing (I’m 6’2”), and probably saved a little weight as a result (the post, sans lever and cable, weighs in at 470 grams). Because I’m running a single chainring on my bike I’ve been able to mount the lever for the D.O.S.S post in the position that a front shifter would normally occupy. This is a setup I’m really pleased with as it instantly felt familiar and is easy to instinctively find and actuate out on the trail.

Fox’s main point of difference with D.O.S.S is the “easy to find” intermediate position (40mm drop) which is managed by an internal stop and a dual actuation lever. This lever seems a little funky at first glance but is actually simple to use and I’m impressed with how effortlessly I’ve adapted to shifting between the full height and intermediate positions. I suspect that placement of the shifter has a big part to play in this. I guess my only niggle is that I wish the larger of the two lever blades was for the intermediate position as I’m spending about ninety-nine percent of my time between that and full height (I’ve only dropped the post to its lower position a couple of times). There is a very positive and often audible stop when dropping to the intermediate position and you can do so with your full weight on the saddle, confident in the knowledge that you won’t blow through this position and end up with your knees up around your ears. Always a bonus when dropping into steep shit.

This post has proven to be robust and reliable to date and it’s probably fair to say that overall I’m pretty impressed. But it’s early days yet and most of the issues I’ve seen arise in other dropper posts have come about after a longer period of trail use.

So, sit tight and I’ll post updates.