PNW Rainier dropper post and Loam Lever review
It has to be said that the dropper post is one of the most impactful upgrades to a bike you can make. It changes the way you ride, for the better, and gives you a much safer experience on the trails. We check out the PNW Rainier Dropper Post, combined with the sublime Loam lever.
Unless you’re a pro-XC racer (but even pro-xc riders are starting to change) or just an old school rider who prefers fixed seat posts (why!?!?) or simply just hasn’t purchased a bike in a few years, then you will see that the dropper post is now ubiquitous amongst mountain bike riders.
Who is PNW?
PNW was created by husband and wife duo, Aaron and Emily Kerson. With a history of elite-level downhill, dual slalom, and BMX racing and backgrounds in bike product development, marketing, and sales, they have the vision to provide riders with the best quality components, at a much cheaper price point.
Sick and tired of how expensive bike parts are, Aaron and Emily changed the way bike products are made and sold to customers by working directly with manufacturers and cutting out the middleman.
What does that mean for us? Well, it means we get a superior product for a fraction of the cost compared to similar products on the market, leaving a few more dollars in our wallet for those post-ride beers and burritos and still have a product that performs as well, if not better, than something two to three times the price.
Above: The PNW logo is set to become a much more common sighting out on the trails. Photo: ©Richard McGibbon
PNW Rainier Dropper Post – Features
The whole idea behind the Rainier dropper post is a “set it and forget it.” ethos, and hell, isn’t that what we’re all looking for these days? A return to a simpler riding experience while the gadgetry is doing (or should be) doing its work under the hood. A bit like magic. Well, the Rainier is just like that, it’s sheer magic to ride with.
The Rainier features a Tool-Less Travel Adjust shim which allows you to reduce the travel by up to 30mm* in 5mm increments to get the longest travel post possible. This is a white plastic insert that sits under the main shaft screw and features step cutouts each marked with numbers that correspond to the height. You simply unscrew the main shaft barrel, lift up the stanchion to access the shim, and rotate to the depth you require (See video below).
The PNW Rainier IR is an internally routed dropper post that uses a coil spring rather than an air cartridge. The coil spring brings a level of reliability by reducing issues such as air leaks and stickiness due to swings in air temperature, summer vs winter for example.
The Rainer IR has a large diameter stanchion with added DU bushings which reduce the side-to-side play that you get in pretty much all other dropper posts on the market. After months of riding, there’s still no play detected. The Rainier is also pretty light. We weighed it on our scales and it came in at a feathery 0.58kg.
Above: The PNW Rainier dropper post uses an
Above: 125, 150 or 170mm options available, providing plenty of space between your bum and the seat. Photo: ©Richard McGibbon
Above: We had to use a shim to fit into the 34.9-seat post of the Evil Wreckoning test bike, which worked perfectly. Photo: ©Richard McGibbon
Features – Loam Lever
The Loam Lever is a CNC-machined custom aluminum lever designed to replace pretty much any cable-actuated dropper lever on the market (see specs below). With an underbar design, the Loam lever keeps the cockpit nice and clean and comes in a range of bar and brake matching options such as the Shimano I-Spec or Matchmaker.
The Loam lever uses a large non-slip, injection molded thumb pad, available in three colours. Orange, teal, and grey. We chose the orange as it matched some of the other components on our bike. The result is mouth-watering and certainly is a conversation starter on the trails.
PNW has focused on ease of installation by using a split clamp design, which means you don’t need to remove your brake lever or grips to get the job done. PNW also designed it with a cable clamp bolt, instead of relying on a cable head, making it much more universal and simply faster to install.
Adjustments can be refined by using the grub screw behind the lever. This adjusts the distance between the paddle and your thumb, similar to how brake lever adjustments work.
Above: The large non-slip, injection moulded thumb pad. Photo: ©Richard McGibbon
Above: The PNW Rainier dropper post and Loam lever is a marriage made in heaven. Photo: ©Richard McGibbon
On The Trails
We’ve been testing the Rainier IR and Loam lever combo for about 6 months and have been amazed at the overall performance this package offers, at such a competitive price point.
The Loam lever thumb pressure feedback is precise and buttery smooth and the large non-slip, injection molded thumb pad is very comfortable to use, in all weather conditions. The buttery smooth feel is partly down to the oversized sealed bearing the lever uses. There’s nothing worse than a wobbly or jittery lever, but after 6 months of testing, we still have a wobble-free lever. In terms of sensitivity, it’s up there with the best.
What we like is the speed of the dropper. It has that Goldilocks feel, not too fast, not too slow. There’s no need to shift your body weight to get the downward motion started, no stickiness or grinding. It simply drops and drops perfectly smooth, every single time.
What can we say about the PNW Rainier dropper post and Loam lever combo? Well, it truly is a fantastic product that marries perfectly together. If you’re looking for a dropper post upgrade and are thinking of the higher-priced brands, then stop! Stop right now and check out what PNW can offer you. This combination is worthy of an award in our books.
Where to Buy / Price
PNW Rainier Dropper Post – $299.95
PNW Loam Lever – $104.95
You can purchase the PNW Rainier Dropper post and Loam lever directly from the PNW website, most online stores, or your local bike shop if they stock them.
Rainier IR Specs:
- Infinite Adjust: choose the right position for you on any part of the trail.
- Includes lever kit (remote lever, cables/housing, all required hardware)
- Post Material: 7075 Alloy
- Travel: 125, 150 or 170mm
- Diameter: 30.9 or 31.6mm
- 125mm travel options come with lever compatible for front shifters, 150 – 170mm travel options come with 1x Lever
- Internal cable routing
- 3-year warranty!
Loam Lever Specs:
- Clamp Styles: Standard 22.2mm Hinge Clamp, Sram MatchMaker X (Guide brakes – still requires Sram hinge and T-nut), Shimano ISpec II (XTR M9000, XT M8000, SLX M7000, DEORE M6000)
- Weight: 48g (With 22.2mm Clamp)
- Accepts cable routing from either direction
- Includes Jagwire derailleur cable
- 1x Shifter Style
- We don’t believe in waste: 100% recyclable packaging
- Compatibility: Every cable-actuated dropper post we’ve tested such as:
- Fox Transfer
- OneUp Dropper Post
- 9point8 Fall Line
- Bike Yoke Revive
- DVO Garnet
- Easton Haven
- Raceface Turbine
- KS (all)
- TransX
- Thomson
- Specialized Command Post
- Shimano Koryak
- Gravity Dropper
- Brand X
- e*thirteen TRS+
- Thompson
- Giant Contact
- Bontrager
- Crank Brothers Highline
- and many more droppers
