PNW Range Dropper Post

With a price tag of 220 CAD you can buy five PNW Ranges for the price of one AXS Reverb. Whether you have five bikes that need droppers or four lucky riding buddies to treat to a fresh post, the value proposition seems to be there. However, a post isn't worth spending any money on if it doesn't come in the length you need, have consistent performance, and isn't made to last. I've ridden the Range on several bikes and I've torn it down. Here are my thoughts.

PNW Range Dropper Post

The Range Dropper is the latest addition to PNW's lineup. It is their most affordable post at 225 CAD, or 282 CAD as a bundle with the Range lever and cable kit. The Range dropper is offered in 125mm, 150mm, 175mm, and 200mm lengths. You cannot adjust the travel. The post uses the same cartridge as their Rainier Dropper, but is constructed from 6061 aluminum to increase affordability.

• Diameters: 30.9 or 31.6mm
• Sealed air cartridge
• Weight: 670 grams, post only, 200mm
• Price: 282 CAD (includes lever + cable kit)
• Post only: 225 CAD | Lever only: 70 CAD

The Range Dropper uses a fixed sealed air cartridge, and does not require that air be added to it. It is fully rebuildable and features a lifetime warranty.

PNW Range Dropper Lever

The lever features a sealed cartridge bearing and is made out of forged aluminum. It was buttery smooth, the barel adjuster turns easily, and the lever has a soft silicone thumb pad. It features three x-axis mounting positions, is matchmaker compatible, or can be mounted with the included standalone bar clamp. It does not have any angle and position adjustment on the y-axis. When using the standalone bar mount this didn't bother me as the clamp itself could be rotated. Those that take advantage of its matchmaker compatibility may find that the lack of y-axis adjustment puts the remote too far forward for your thumb to get good leverage in a pinch, especially if you run your brakes quite level with the ground. The lever is easily serviceable by removing the bearing bolt with a 3mm allen key and greasing the cartridge bearing.

Those that are after more adjustment, a plethora of silicone thumb pad colours, or appreciate the cleaner look and lighter weight nature of a CNC machined product, may wish to fork out the extra 25 CAD for the Loam lever - which comes with a larger sealed bearing as well. There's very little wrong with the Range lever, but in my view the Loam lever is well worth that extra 25 bucks.

Installation

The Range post was extremely easy to install. If you've installed a dropper before this should be a 15 minute job, especially if you're reusing the housing from your previous dropper. Since the post has a fixed cartridge, I didn't even have to unbolt the saddle rail clamps all the way, and was able to install my saddle immediately. If you're having some trouble with the process, PNW has a great installation video here.

Tearing it down

A teardown of this post took all of 10 minutes since I've done it before, but even if it's your first time, it's still going to be under a half an hour even if you take it slow. PNW has an awesome service video here if you're more of a visual learner.

For tools, you'll need the following: 2, 3, and 5mm Allen keys; an adjustable wrench or the super-est pliers in the world; suspension grease like slick honey or SRAM Butter; rubbing alcohol; and several clean rags.

1. Remove the cable from the remote and shift the housing towards the seat collar by pushing it with one hand at the top of the downtube and pulling the post with your other hand.
2. Unhook the cable at the actuator and remove the post. Keep the seat on for now as it'll held you get more grip on the post when we remove the actuator in the next step. The seat can always be removed later if you wish to clean the saddle rail clamps and bolt heads.
3. Use an adjustable wrench or some parallel pliers to unscrew the actuator at the bottom of the post by turning it counter-clockwise.
4. Pull the lower cartridge shaft slightly out of the lower post tubing my tugging at the actuator, and then unscrew the through bolts of the actuator using a 2mm Allen key to remove the actuator from the lower cartridge shaft.
5. Unscrew the midcap from the lower post tubing and pull the midcap up the stanchion. At this point, the stanchion can be separated from the lower post tubing.
6. Remove the brass keyways and clean all the parts with a rag and rubbing alcohol.
7. Grease the brass keyways, the stanchion, and underneath the midcap with suspension grease.
8. Re-assemble in the inverse order that you took it apart.

Putting it All Together

At half the price of more premium options, the PNW held its own and will satisfy all but the most persnickety riders. The return speed was slower than most droppers I've ridden, but not annoyingly so. Over the test period it was consistently smooth, extending with enough speed to make a quiet 'thud' when it was fully extended. After tearing it apart, it had very little dirt buildup under the seal and nothing broke or needed adjustment. The tech support at PNW is great. If you live in the US, they'll even service it for you here - which includes the replacement of bushings, seals, pins, and the cost of shipping.

My main concern is that it had a decent amount of rotational play right out of the box. This is consistent with my experience with most droppers, which tend to develop a small amount of wiggle after their break-in period. However, this was quite a bit of movement, that I could (as a mechanic and fastidious bike nerd), detect while riding. It didn't ruin my ride, but if you're picky about stuff like this then the extra savings might not be worth the annoyance. The overall length of the 200m dropper post is 565mm, as opposed to 545mm for the 210 OneUp when adjusted to 200m of drop. In this vein, it doesn't have the shortest overall length, but it's short enough that it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The higher-end PNW Loam dropper has a shorter 540mm overall length, lower weight, and 25mm of travel adjust.

The PNW Range is not as smooth as a BikeYoke Revive. It doesn't carry the cachet of an AXS Reverb. It doesn't have cool colours like the PNW Loam Dropper, nor is it nearly completely free of play like the 9Point8 Fall Line. But it works well, is easily serviceable, reasonably priced, and has plenty of parts availability - and that's more than enough to satisfy most people.

PNW Range Dropper and Lever Bundle // 282 CAD