I believed dropper posts have been foolish after they first got here out, then lastly tried one and naturally can’t fathom returning to the pre-dropper submit Stone Age, however till a pair years in the past I by no means a lot thought in regards to the dropper lever. Was there a lever? Did it work? Great, that’ll do, was my common strategy.
Then I purchased a PNW Pine dropper for an older bike I had, and noticed in addition they offered a elaborate, brightly coloured lever. Why not? I figured and added one to the cart. That lever was the authentic Loam, and in the event you’ve used one, you recognize the deal. It appears so easy, actually, only a thumb lever to actuate your dropper submit, however the Loam is remarkably nice to make use of. This is what good engineering and a focus to element get you—an in any other case hum-drum product that brings a bit of spark of pleasure every time you employ it.
Gen 2 lever on the left, authentic mannequin on the best. Photo: Housman
The large injection-molded thumb pad is simple to find in a rush and is delicate and nice to the contact. The physique is hard aluminum and after just a few years of use, my authentic Loam continues to be clean and hiccup-free even after many mud baths and excessive pace rock backyard bails.
PNW simply launched the second iteration of the Loam although and it’s mainly all the above, however extra. A bigger pad. A mounting setup that enables for a bit extra flexibility on the place you sling it. Comes obtainable with a number of clamp types: normal 22.2mm hinge, Shimano I-SPEC II, and Shimano I-SPEC EV, and SRAM’s MatchMaker X.
Here’s an concept of how giant the thumb pad is. Photo: Housman
I haven’t put in the brand new one but, principally as a result of I have already got Loams on my dropper-equipped bikes, however in the event you don’t have already got a Loam, you would possibly wanna take into account upgrading to the brand new Loam. Because regardless of which (mechanical, that’s) dropper lever you will have, the Loam will be an improve.
Also, it’s not ever very costly. $69 for the brand new one. Comes in 7 colours. If you’re discount searching, the primary gen Loam might be discovered for $59 proper now.