PNW Components Loam Post and Lever 2021
Reviews / Seat Posts
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At a glance
PNW components offer a range of high quality, fair priced bike components. Their Loam dropper post / lever combo is top class and can be found on many riders bikes or wish lists. The post is available in 30.9 / 31.6 / 34.9 diameters, and with 125 /150 / 170 and 200mm of travel. Retail price is USD 199 / EUR 171,49 / GBP 146,75.
The Loam Lever is ergonomic and rotates on a big sealed bearing. It is compatible with all cable actuated dropper posts, and you can color match with 8 different colors of the thumb pad. Retail price is USD 69 / EUR 59,64 / GBP 50.88. All PNW components come with a Lifetime Warranty.
About the brand
PNW Components was founded by Aaron Kierson and his wife, Emily. The price of bikes and components was skyrocketing, and the duo thought they could provide superior quality for a friendlier price than anyone else out there.
Emily has been a biker since day one, working in bike shops and being part of the Marin Marketing team. As a graphic designer, photographer and web developer she compliments Aaron’s knowledge and brings the creative vibes to the PNW office. Gaining experience and contacts as Product Manager for Specialized and Marin, Aaron is no newby to the bike industry either. With experience in other industries giving him the knowledge on how to successfully build an e-commerce business, the outlines for PNW were set.
The PNW brand doesn’t show a sustainability plan on their website, but all their packaging is made of recyclable materials and recycled cardboard. They offer a lifetime warranty, and have a selection of refurbished products for sale on their website giving used but still in working order products a second lease of life.
The product
When dropper posts entered the market, it really looked like the designers were so focussed on the post itself, they forgot to put some time in designing an ergonomic lever. PNW went and spent some time on getting the details dialled, and the Loam Lever is the end result of that labour. Perfectly shaped with a comfortable thumb pad, it actuates the dropper post smoothly. The big bearing ensures it stays that way too, even when things get muddy and grimey.
The Loam dropper post is a great piece of engineering, and has one of the shortest build lengths out there with it’s 290mm. Nice touch is you can fine tune the travel with 5mm increments, enabling you to fine tune it to your liking and build without using any tools. You can manage the return speed with the air pressure of the alloy cartridge. Take off the saddle and use your shock pump to change it from slow and controlled to swift and poppy.
Out on the trail
Mounting the new setup is dead easy, and can be done by anyone who is capable of assembling IKEA furniture.Out on the trail, cable action feels super smooth. The lever has a really nice feel to it, and is well engineered. Where some brands have bushings the Loam Lever has a bearing, and the cable routing is done properly making sure there are no awkward kinks or turns.
The dropper post tested has 200mm of travel, which is great for a lanky guy like me. Coming from a 210mm post, it is good to know that you don’t really notice the 10mm difference when you’re out riding. I left the return speed on the slower side, but fans of the power poppy feel have no problem cranking it up.
The start of summer has been horribly wet in my part of the world, so the Loam post got plenty of mud, muck and grit to endure. Squeak free, the post dropped or returned up on command and it still feels like it came out of the box.
What about the competition? For long travel, short build length posts, the Oneup V2 is the only one that comes close in terms of price and weight. Differences are that the PNW has smaller increments of adjusting its travel, and you can adjust the return speed. Also while the PNW has lifetime warranty, OneUp supplies a replacement cartridge for around 60 USD.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a reliable, affordable dropper post with a short build in length the Loam post is a great option. Well engineered, smooth in operation and currently the only post/lever out there where you can customize the color details on it.
Buy Seat Posts onThis review was in Issue 66 of IMB.
For more information visit PNW ComponentsRelated
By Jarno Hoogland
Jarno's life has revolved around two wheels ever since he swung a leg over his first BMX at age 4. After a BMX and DH racing career, he moved on to work for bike shops, distributors and brands before ending up in the editors seat at IMB. Based in the ultimate testing ground in the Swiss mountains, he runs his guiding operation and makes sure every IMB issue is filled with top notch content.
