There are few mountain bike components that SRAM doesn’t have in their catalogue, and until now, a mechanical dropper lever was absent from their lineup. While it doesn’t revolutionize the dropper lever, SRAM is completing their cockpit offerings with their first mechanical dropper lever. SRAM has been developing their ecosystem, and now you can have a complete SRAM control center with brakes, a shifter, and the mechanical dropper lever. Dropper levers are nothing new from SRAM, as the RockShox Reverb has been around since 2010, but it’s been actuated by either their hydraulic dropper lever or wirelessly in every generation.

The Transfer post had no complaints when mated to the SRAM Dropper Lever

With a $40 price tag, it’s about as cheap as dropper levers get, making it an enticing option for budget minded riders and SRAM enthusiasts alike. The SRAM Dropper Lever replaced the Fox Transfer dropper lever that came stock on my Transition Sentinel, and the two definitely offer different performance. While the Fox Transfer lever is rock solid with no play in any direction, SRAM’s Dropper Lever does have very noticeable vertical play in the lever even when I made sure everything was tight. It’s not something I notice while riding, but there’s no hiding it when you jiggle the lever around. Additionally, the plastic construction doesn’t offer the same amount of grip as the Fox Transfer lever, and my thumb did occasionally slip off while trying to use SRAM’s Dropper Lever on wet rides. Actuating the Transfer post was no problem for the SRAM Dropper Lever, and it has a slightly longer throw than the Transfer lever. I think that longer throw gives it a wider range of compatibility with other dropper posts, and I ended up running extra cable tension to pre-load the cable and get the post to actuate earlier in the lever stroke.

Minimalist aesthetics and clean routing. Hard to complain.

It’s hard to knock the SRAM Dropper Lever for its cheap construction when the price is so low, but I still hoped for more from SRAM’s first mechanical dropper lever. With lackluster grip and play throughout the lever, I would recommend spending a few extra dollars for something like the Fox Transfer Lever or WolfTooth ReMote. Maybe we'll see a higher end version some day in the future. I imagine this will be a popular OEM spec on bikes with a full SRAM build, and while it isn’t the highest quality product in SRAM’s lineup, it’s completely functional in getting your dropper post up and down without fail.

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