Wolf Tooth Remote 360 Review: Joystick Dropper Lever

One of my first memories of a joystick involved slamming tokens into a Galaga machine at the arcade and hitting the fire button as fast as humanly possible while steering a spaceship with a red ball on a stick. However, the joystick is a lot older than that. The two-axis controller—aka joystick—was first patented by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for aircraft controls back in the 1920s, and it has since been used on everything from video games to digital cameras.

Who knew we’d have a joystick on our bike handlebars nearly 100 years later, but here we are. The new joystick-style Wolf Tooth Remote 360 is a dropper post lever that uses a simple multi-axis lever to pull the dropper actuator cable. It’s designed to be installed anywhere on the bars and can be pushed or pulled in any direction with your thumb or index finger. I had the chance to give one a whirl prior to today’s launch. Read on for details.

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Minnesota’s Wolf Tooth Components already has two excellent dropper levers in their lineup: the ReMote and the ReMote Pro. However, ambidexterity is the name of the game with the all-new ReMote 360. Unlike most dropper levers that are designed for the left hand, it can be mounted to either side of the bars in any location within the 22.2mm clamp area. It can also be rotated 360° around the bars, and the base can be pivoted 360° in relation to the clamp. It’s designed to be operated with your thumb, forefinger, or both, and it can be pushed or pulled in any direction to pull the cable and actuate the dropper.

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In typical Wolf Tooth fashion, the ReMote 360 is is made up of very few intricately made, house-machined aluminum parts. The two main components are the joystick and the base, which has a circular channel that cups the lip of the joystick. The two parts have a satisfying precision fit interface but aren’t connected by anything other than the cable once it’s secured via a grub screw in the joystick and tensioned with a barrel adjuster on the side of the base.

It’s straightforward to install, and there’s no need for a cable crimp as the cut end of the cable is concealed inside the joystick. Once the cable is trimmed, clamped, and tensioned, the joystick can be pushed or pulled in any orientation while its circular lip pivots within the corresponding channel in the base. It’s an elegant and simple solution.

Despite the fact that a multi-axis joystick seems like a completely fresh approach to a dropper lever, it’s not the first time it’s been done. Back in 2020, Swiss brand YEP Components introduced the Joystick Dropper Remote with a similar lever. However, YEP’s handlebar mount doesn’t allow perpendicular rotation and seems a little less polished than Wolf Tooth’s implementation of the concept. And before that, as a reader pointed out, the original Crank Brothers Joplin lever had a similar form factor.

On the trail, I noticed right away that the ReMote 360 has a nice, light action that’s quick to engage. The knurled round end feels grippy and relatively easy to use, although it’s not as robust and can’t-miss as a typical flat paddle. It’s also not as obstructive as some of the larger paddles, either, which might be a welcome change for some folks. You’re certainly less likely to ding your knee on it, which is something I’ve done on a large dropper lever.

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I positioned it as I would any other dropper lever for use with my left thumb. I was a little disappointed that it’s not really reachable with both the thumb and the forefinger at the same time. Maybe folks with especially long fingers could make it work, but when it was spaced inboard with my Hope brakes, I couldn’t easily actuate it with my forefinger unless I rotated it far enough forward—and I still had to choke up a little on the grips. But, then it was no longer intuitive and comfy to use with my thumb. Positioning it outside the brake lever helped, but as with most dropper levers, it became irritating and in the way in this position. This might be solvable if Wolf Tooth made matchmaker hardware to attach it directly to the brake levers.

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• Model/Size Tested: Wolf Tooth Remote 360
• Actual Weight: 34 grams
• Place of Manufacture: Minnesota, USA
• Price: $59.95 at Wolf Tooth
• Manufacturer’s Details: Wolf Tooth Components

Further Reading

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