Hello and welcome everybody!
If you were to look at your bike today what would you consider to be the least reliable part
that's installed or that you've installed in the last 5 years?
I think nine people out of ten would probably say the dropper post.
As a new component, we've had all kind of issues with them
even though I must admit that in the last few years they've been quite reliable.
Well taking this one step further is the guys at PNW or Pacific NorthWest.
That's because all their droppers today are carrying lifetime warranty.
And what I have for you guys today is the Loam dropper post, let's check it out!
I always applaud the companies that use recycled material for their packaging and
the only things that are important on this box is the manufacturing, this is made in Taiwan and
this is the only label where you see that this is a 31.6 dropper 125 mm.
And as you open the box...tada! Here's the dropper!
Now they do say Do Bikes, I should know what this is but I do not,
do you guys know what that means?
That's a ferule that's usually being used to attach the cable to the actuator
and this is a PNW sticker.
And here is my 125 millimeter Loam dropper post.
Now the very first thing you're going to notice on this is the weight and I did buy it for its weight as one of the primary considerations.
It was about last year when I looked at these cheap droppers and how they are built around a sealed Wintek cartridge,
that's a Bontrager one but this one, this one is a TranzX and you know what?
Most of these dropper posts apparently either OEM or license the design, or they're made by TranzX.
They all use or these two use a sealed cartridge inside,
That's not necessarily the case with my Loam dropper post because on this one I can adjust the internal pressure of the dropper.
If you look at the pricing for this dropper you're gonna see that
is very comparable with something like a OneUp,
but just by holding it, this feels better quality, it's a newer design that's for sure.
And the the most important part of it is maybe this the rubber band that you can customize in different colors, look at this!
You pay like 10 bucks and you can make this one of the several colors that they have to offer!
I'm kidding obviously, but this might be because just by undoing that collar
you can actually adjust the travel of this dropper by up to 25 millimeters in 5 mm increments.
They call that the RAD Travel Adjust that is specified here on the tube,
you can see the actuator at the bottom, that's where you're gonna need this,
and as you go up you're going to see the size, this is 31.6. They also have the 30.9 and 34.9 mm,
125 mm, they have droppers all the way to 200 mm.
And then the insertion marks and the max insertion is mentioned over here by that tiny line.
At the top you're gonna have all kind of information,
first the pressure that should be in the cartridge between 280 and 300 PSI, so quite high,
9-10 Nm on these two adjustable bolts,
you have the logo PNW here on the back of the dropper, and that's all there is to be seen on the tube.
Here at the bottom you can see the actuator that ultimately pushes on that pin
that releases or stops your dropper from moving.
That reminds me of TranzX that uses a sealed cartridge.
Again this is either OEM or made by TranzX as well.
In order to change travel you have to remove this top cap,
you see that o-ring right in there just to seal this from the elements and
you can already see marks here with how much travel you can reduce so 25, 15 or 5 mm travel reduced
and that happens by taking out this piece of plastic and just release.
Here we go, so you release the dropper, that exposes your plastic bushing,
you rotate it in position and that's how you change your travel.
The trick to adjusting the drop is not to have the dropper fully extended
and if you look carefully on this piece of plastic, you have a little mark right there.
We'll just orient that to the 0, to the 5, to the 15 mm.
Now even though it's not written down, you can actually modify the travel in 5 millimeter increments
and you see the little indent there in the aluminum, just rotate that piece of plastic in the right position,
and you can modify the travel anywhere between 5 and 30 millimeters if necessary.
Obviously at the end you would have to reinstall that collar and you can do all this with your bare hands which is pretty cool.
I mentioned weight as one of the main reasons why I picked this one up,
if you look here it's 474 grams, that's what they specify in the specs.
And if you're wondering that rubber band is 3 grams so there you have it.
And the other reason why I picked this was lifetime warranty.
Now the Loam dropper is not the only one that gets the full lifetime warranty,
their entire lineup gets that.
And I tried to scan this little QR code here hoping that's going to take me to their website, it doesn't.
But just go on their website and claim the warranty, this is for the original owner only.
And I have to admit that I first heard about PNW from their dropper post levers.
Well in this case I'm not going to use their lever but
they are universal so they should work with any dropper lever that you like.
This is a Bontrager one, in my case I'm gonna use it with the Shimano dropper post levers
that I reviewed on my channel.
This is the cheapo Deore but I also have the MT800, the XTR version of that.
So for installation get a good universal remote, use a good set of cables, inner and outer,
remember to put that bushing at the end of your inner cable
and otherwise the installation of this dropper is pretty trivial.
Just look up any internally routed dropper post installation and this would be no different.
So whether you're tempted by that lifetime warranty, by the fact that you can change the rubber bands
or the fact that this is one of the lighter dropper posts out there,
I think these new ones (droppers) are definitely worth a look.
I know we went all in and installed not one, but two of these droppers on our cross country race bikes.
This one is being used with a long lever so this is a Bontrager remote,
the actuation feels smoother or softer with it.
The other one is used with one of the Shimano remotes that I reviewed on my channel not too long ago,
this one is a shorter lever so it's a bit harder to actuate but totally acceptable.
Performance wise they work just fine, but these are fairly new.
If you want that easier actuation choose a remote with a longer lever like this one,
there is a tiny bit of play in the saddle side to side, I don't know if you notice it here,
maybe a millimeter or so, and overall the down movement of the dropper is not really the smoothest out there,
but I would say is on par with something like OneUp from all the droppers that I've tried up until now.
And just like the OneUp this dropper can be a bit sticky off the top,
once you use it once it's fine afterwards.
And you hear that end of the travel just like OneUp again.
I had a chance to call the service department with a question and they were pretty prompt in answering my questions,
so overall I'm pretty pleased with the experience so far.
Again the price, the weight, and overall the lifetime warranty which is kind of a first for our industry.
So what do you guys think? Are you interested in any of these PNW droppers?
Have you used PNW before?
I would love to hear your comments in the section below.
If you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe,
keep an eye on social media, and until next time,
hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!