PNW Cascade External Route Dropper Post [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

Dropper posts have become an essential component for the majority of riders, and PNW's posts have some serious bang for your buck. Our friend, JT, just installed PNW's budget friendly Cascade dropper post and loves it. Check it out!

Overview

So, I wasn’t sold on the dropper post idea when it was first pitched to me. I’m a relatively new MTB rider, and bought my bike used on Craigslist (running that 26er game). For the price, the bike was what I needed to start out, and ended up being way more than I could have bargained for. However, I noticed that my riding wasn’t progressing off of ledges, drops, and jumps, and I couldn’t figure out why I was landing so heavy on my front end so often. I needed to get my weight towards the back of the bike, but didn’t want to sacrifice my groin if something went wrong.

 Hence, my decision to go for a dropper post began. But with a zillion options out there, how are you supposed to pick? Everyone has different options, and I initially thought that I just wouldn’t be able to afford it. Most droppers are going to run around $300 for the decent options, and even though Amazon had some cheap ones for under $150, I just couldn’t get over some of the reviews and was worried about functionality and quality. I wanted something that was going to work, and work well for a long time. The PNW Cascade was talked about everywhere I looked. MTB blogs raved about it, and for $200, the price was hard to beat if this thing was what everyone said it was.

After going ahead and biting the bullet, I’m blown away by this thing.

I mean, 150mm of infinite travel for $200? That itself was enough to interest me. Additionally, installation is a breeze. Having an older bike with no fancy cable routing help, I was able to get it set up and installed in 20 minutes. I even decided to convert my bike to a 1x setup because I liked the lever so much.

Final Thoughts

Cheaper does not have to be lower quality, and PNW has truly shown us that with the Cascade. Riding this thing has changed my riding forever. I preach droppers to every rider I meet if they don’t have them. I’m a tall guy too, so I have to keep my seat up pretty high and having this much room to drop is amazing. The travel is smooth, quick, and works every time. The build quality is outstanding. I have friends who ride KS Lev’s and this thing works just as well, if not better than their droppers.