There’s some really cheap dropper posts on the market, and some super expensive ones. That middle price range where affordability meets function is full of a ton of options, but in this blog, we’re going to compare our two most recommend and best selling middle ground droppers:

The PNW Rainier Gen 3 and the OneUp Dropper V2.

Which one is better for you? Welp, stay tuned and you’ll find out!

Long story short, there are too many dropper post options on the market to count. The really cheap ones around $100 typically just feel pretty chincey and don’t have the best track record of being reliable, while the super expensive options around $300 and up will offer a super precise high-end feeling and better reliability but will definitely drain your pocket more. Then, we have the middle ground of options, around $200.

Recently within the past year or so this has been a hot-spot for brands to hit that $175-$200 price point with a pretty good feel and good reliability.

Buying a dropper post these days around $100 is good, around $200 is better and around $300 is best. But do you NEED the best dropper post? Well let’s dig into our two best selling and most recommend dropper posts around $200.

These are the PNW Rainier Gen 3 and the OneUp Dropper V2.

Overall, both posts are pretty dang similar, but there are enough differences to make your decision a little difficult. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Both posts are available in 30.9, 31.6 or 34.9mm diameters. For travel options, the PNW Rainier is available in 125, 150, 170 and 200mm, while the OneUp Dropper is available in 120, 150, 180 and 210mm. So as far as longer posts are concerned, the OneUp has the edge on the PNW with 10mm longer travel. This will be especially helpful to taller riders and bikes with super low seat tube heights.

Also, both posts have a very important feature these days which is adjustable travel. For aggressive riding, a longer dropper post is always better in our opinion, so if you’re in between two dropper sizes you can adjust both of these posts to get your dropper height to be right where you need it.

The PNW Rainier’s travel can be reduced 30mm in 5mm increments. So if you purchase the 200mm Rainier, you can adjust it down to 195mm, 190, 185, 180, 175 or 170mm. The OneUp can only be adjusted down 20mm total in 10mm increments, so less overall adjustability and less increments with the OneUp.

Adjusting travel on both posts is super easy requiring no tools. Simply unthread the main seal head collar and move it up the stanchion to gain access to the travel changing thingamajigs. The Rainier uses a super easy stepped shim which you just pull out and re-insert lining up the arrow with how many millimeters you’d like to reduce the travel by which is conveniently labeled on the post. And for the OneUp, take the brass keys included in the box and insert them into the channels to reduce the travel by either 10mm or 20mm depending on how many keys you install.

So, the PNW Rainier does offer more overall adjustability, more increments, and an easier process to adjust travel. PNW markets this as “travel you can adjust on the side of the trail” but we’re not quite sure who would be looking to do this in the middle of a ride, since you’ll most likely just set your travel once and run it like that forever unless you grow, shrink, or get a different bike.

The next thing to look at would be length and insertion depth as this is a super important factor which dictates how long of a dropper you can run in your bike. Both the Rainier and OneUp have some of the shortest insertion depths on the market, making it easy to fit a longer dropper post in your bike. Since both posts are available in different travel options it’s tough to do a direct insertion depth comparison, but since both are available In 150mm we’ll compare those.

The 150mm Rainier has an insertion depth of 249mm while the 150mm OneUp is 237mm. So 12mm (or around half an inch) shorter on the OneUp. And looking at the longest options, the 200mm Rainier’s insertion depth is 299mm while the longer 210mm OneUp is 297mm.

If you’re trying to squeeze the longest dropper post into your bike as possible,
the OneUp takes the cake.

Concerning weight, the OneUp is a bit lighter. When weighing both posts in the 31.6 150mm option, the Rainier weighs 595 grams while the OneUp weighs 500 grams. So nearly 100 grams or 16% less in the most common size.

What’s included in the box? Both posts include the dropper post, travel adjusting doo-dads and a cable bushing to hold the cable head at the bottom of the post. Neither posts include a lever, cable or housing (like mostly all other dropper posts on the market).

Alright, enough of the nerdy stuff. How do both posts perform on the trail?

Both posts have super similar specs, and both posts do feel pretty dang similar on the trail. While they don’t feel as perfectly precise as some of the more expensive options on the market they both do their job going up and down at your request. They both feel nice and smooth and give you confidence that they’ll be there for you every time. However, our job is to compare bike parts, and when comparing both post’s feel and performance, we’d say the OneUp has a better overall feel. 

The OneUp has a louder, more distinct noise at full extension letting you confidently know your post is fully extended. The Rainier does make noise, however it has a more quiet, less distinct sound and you might not be able to hear that it’s fully extended if you’re riding in a noisy situation.

The OneUp also has a faster extension speed which we prefer to the slower return speed of the Rainier. It’s not extremely fast like those old Specialized Command Posts which prevented men from having children, and the Rainier isn’t super duper slow like some dropper posts that literally feel like they aren’t going to fully extend.

We still feel as if the OneUp’s faster extension speed is more preferable while riding.

You can also slow down the OneUp by removing some air from the cartridge under the saddle hardware if you’d like, while the Rainier’s speed is not adjustable. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.

Our most valued characteristic of the OneUp
is that it requires much less force to compress.

To lower the Rainier, it feels like you have to sink your weight down into it a bit more compared to the OneUp, which requires a bit less force to lower it. This not only just helps the post feel a little more smooth and easy to use, but that characteristic is very valuable to lightweight riders who don’t have much mass to sink into the post.

Overall, both posts feel pretty dang good and feel better than the $100-ish options out there. So if they feel better, they must be more reliable, right?

We’ve had both of these Devinci Troy’s built up for about 6 months now and rode them through a super wet and muddy Pacific Northwest winter. Further, I've had a OneUp Dropper on my Devinci Spartan for sometime and it has been crushing it! A winter out here is sure to show reliability issues with any bike parts, especially droppers posts.

Honestly, both posts feel exactly the same as the first day we installed them and we’ve had zero issues with reliability. The first version of the OneUp Dropper, the V1, did have some reliability issues but that has since been fixed with a newly redesigned DU bushing. Since that revision, we haven’t seen or heard of a single reliability issue from any customers.

Also, we’ve seen a very small percentage of Rainier’s have a manufacturing blemish on the cable actuator causing them to function incorrectly, however not only is this an extremely uncommon occurrence but PNW will replace your actuator free of charge with a revised version which is extremely easy to replace yourself.

Overall, both posts fall into the “very reliable” category and we think you’ll be pumped on the reliability with whatever post you decide to go with. But what happens in the future when you’ve ridden through multiple winters and the post starts to feel a little funky?

Both posts are nearly identical to service. To perform a quick mid-season service, you can unthread the main sealhead collar, clean out the underside and add some fresh suspension grease like Slickoleum. For a more in-depth service (maybe once a year or whenever it feels like the post isn’t working as smooth as usual) you can pull everything apart to perform a sleeve service pretty dang easily and nearly identical on both posts.

Simply unthread the main sealhead collar and slide it up, and then fully remove the actuator by unthreading it and then remove the set screws. You can now take everything apart to carefully clean out the old grease and grime and apply some fresh new grease.

The just re-assemble the post and BOOM she’s completely freshened up for the season.

The PNW Components Rainier is the cheaper option which sells for $179 for all sizes while the OneUp Components Dropper is just a bit more starting at $199 for the 125mm and 150mm travel posts and $209 for the longer 180mm and 210mm options. But in the end, we’d rather see you make your purchase based on the features that work best for you rather than just gauging your upgrade on bottom dollar price so we’d recommend that you follow our easy guidelines to pick your poison.

• If you want a cheaper post, go with the Rainier.
• If you want a post that has more travel adjustability, go with the Rainier.
• If you want a post with easier travel adjustability, go with the Rainier.
  
  
• If you want a post that performs better, go with the OneUp.
• If you want a post with longer travel and shorter insertion depth, go with the OneUp.
• If you’re a lightweight rider, go with the OneUp.

Again, both posts are great choices
and it really just comes down to which features suit you better.

Well there you have it! That’s the rundown and our recommendations on choosing either the PNW Rainier or OneUp Dropper.

Until next time, Happy Trails!

(360) 306-8827

sales@thelostco.com