Best of the Best Dropper Post Levers

Although tubeless tires are close in the running, my favorite mountain bike innovation of the past 15 or 20 years is still the dropper post. I honestly can’t remember the last ride I did without one, and if a review bike shows up with a rigid post, that gets quickly remedied before I throw a leg over it. Fortunately, most bikes come with one these days, or at least the bikes I’m interested in riding do.

That being said, it took a while for droppers to become reliable, so it hasn’t been all roses since their advent. However, over the past five or so years, they’ve become more trustworthy through improved internals and seals, plus, technology has improved to provide smoother action and longer travel—including my cherished ~240mm models, the 240mm One Up V4 and 242mm Wolf Tooth Resolve. We seem to be entering a golden age of this magnificent invention.

• 
• 

This period of improvement and evolution has pulled the humble remote lever into the spotlight, too. A great lever isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s the part you touch hundreds of times on a ride, and it can make things quicker, calmer, and more in control. The best ones nail ergonomics (thumb angle, throw, and paddle texture), offer crisp actuation with light effort, play nicely with modern brake clamps and shifters, and keep cables or hoses tidy. Bonus points for nice bearings, easy cable swaps, and adjustability that lets you fine-tune reach and angle.

I’ve cycled through a small mountain of remotes at this point, from minimalist thumb nubs to beautifully machined paddles, and five consistently rise to the top. They disappear under your thumb in the best way, and I thought it was time to roll them into a quick roundup. So, without further ado, here’s a roundup of what I’d consider the five best dropper post levers on the market.

Hope Dropper Lever

The relatively new UK-made Hope Dropper Lever is elegantly machined, fully adjustable, and comes in several finishes. I was immediately impressed with this lever, and it’s quickly become a favorite for its smooth feel, leverage, and best-in-class paddle adjustment. The fact that it comes in silver is icing on the cake.

Hope’s dropper lever is clearly designed to perfectly match the precision-machined aesthetics of Hope brakes, which is one thing I love about it, being a zealous Tech4 user. I’ve run the Hope Dropper Lever with a variety of dropper posts (OneUp, Wolf Tooth, and Bike Yoke) and installed it on both Hope Tech4 levers and Trickstuff Maxima clamps with the corresponding direct-mount hardware. It’s a clean mount, and Hope also says it can be paired with any SRAM Matchmaker or a standard bar clamp, although I haven’t had the opportunity to try that.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

The lever rotates on a ball bearing for a nice fluid actuation, and it features adjustable leverage with a 20 percent range. It’s pretty simple, really; the pad slides in and out to increase the lever distance/size. Moving it outward increases the leverage and offers a lighter, smoother feel with extended lever travel, while decreasing leverage provides quicker action and shorter travel. You can also adjust the lever reach using the beautifully machined knurled screw.

One thing to love about the Hope Dropper Lever is that it uses an M5 bolt, the same size used on a water bottle cage mount. So, if you lose a bolt, it’s easy to find a spare. I suppose I only have a couple of real complaints about the lever. One is that the cable just kind of sticks out; there’s actually a hole you can thread it into, but a little of awkward. Another potential issue is that the top cable entry makes it so water or muck could get into the housing. This hasn’t posed a problem after thousands of miles of using this lever, but it’s worth noting.

• 
• 

• Model/Size Tested: Hope Dropper Lever
• Actual Weight: 39 grams
• Place of Manufacture: UK
• Price: $75 at Jenson
• Manufacturer’s Details: Hope

PAUL Dropper Trigger

On to the blingiest of my selections—the PAUL Dropper Trigger. PAUL Components builds everything in-house at their shop in Chico, California. Their parts are machined from 100% US-forged aluminum and finished entirely in the States—premium materials and craftsmanship that help justify the price. The Dropper Trigger carries PAUL’s unmistakable aesthetic: a timeless piece that looks at home on just about any bike.

• 
• 

To be clear, the PAUL Dropper Trigger has zero bells and whistles, but functionally, it’s excellent. Dual-stacked sealed cartridge bearings at the pivot give the lever a silky, play-free action, and the cable interface is clean, accommodating both cable-end and ferrule-end routing, depending on your post. There’s no lever position adjustment, so what you see is what you get, but the trade-off is a rock-solid, precise feel. The barrel adjuster sits parallel to the bar, keeping things tidy and out of the way. The lever’s gentle curve helps your thumb settle into place, offsetting the smoothness of the thumb pad and providing just enough leverage and grip. True to PAUL form, the Dropper Trigger comes in a rainbow of finishes—black, silver, polished, red, orange, purple, and gold—if you’re after a little functional bar candy.

• Model/Size Tested: PAUL Dropper Trigger
• Actual Weight: TBD
• Place of Manufacture: California, USA
• Price: $116
• Manufacturer’s Details: PAUL

Wolf Tooth Remote Pro

If you haven’t picked up on a theme yet, beautifully machined metal is one commonality between most of my favorite dropper levers. The Wolf Tooth’s Remote Pro is no exception. It’s machined in-house by Wolf Tooth, who also have a nose for precision. Plus, the replaceable lever now comes in several color options, including silver.

Key features include an oval-shaped pulley for increased initial leverage that ramps at the start of the throw for a lighter initial push, a sealed cartridge bearing for durability, and independent rotational adjustment for 48° of lever-angle adjustment. It has two bolt placements for 12mm of lateral adjustment, too.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

The Remote Pro is also the most compatible dropper lever for mounting because of Wolf Tooth’s extensive “matchmaker” fittings, making it the best option of the bunch for a clean fit on a crowded bar with almost any brake and shifter. With eight mounting options, it mates neatly to most popular brake lever clamps, including options for a 22.2mm handlebar clamp, Shimano I-Spec EV, SRAM MatchMaker X, Shimano I-Spec II, Shimano I-Spec B, Magura, Hope Tech 4, and Hayes.

After testing it across several bikes and cockpit layouts, the Remote Pro consistently proved quick to position, mechanically smooth, and perfectly sized—an adaptable lever with excellent feel. My only complaint is that they opted to use an M4 bolt instead of the more common M5. I realized this after losing one and having to swap back and forth between bikes until I found a replacement.

• Model/Size Tested: Wolf Tooth Remote Pro
• Actual Weight: TBD
• Place of Manufacture: Minnesota, USA
• Price: $70 at Wolf Tooth
• Manufacturer’s Details: Wolf Tooth

PNW Loam Lever

The PNW Loam Lever was the first dropper remote that truly made me realize some levers are better than others. It was pretty clear from the first press that PNW put a little extra thought and engineering behind it. It’s also compact, well-finished, and feels smoother and lighter than others.

• 
• 

One standout detail on the PNW Loam lever is the molded rubber thumb pad, which I’ve found to be fairly grippy in rain or dust. It’s also available in several colors for a subtle splash. The lever rotates on a sealed cartridge bearing with an added weather seal, offers two lateral mounting positions, and includes a tiny set screw to fine-tune the home position (think brake-lever reach adjust). The version I have here has a little slot to catch the cable, but apparently, they removed that on the current generation. The Loam Lever is available with a standard 22.2 clamp or with mounting hardware for SRAM Matchmaker X, I-spec EV, and I-spec II.

The best thing about the Loam Lever is its smooth and light action. Virginia has carpal tunnel syndrome, which requires careful attention when picking levers and controls. I installed it on both of her bikes for this very reason.

• Model/Size Tested: PNW Loam Lever Gen 2
• Actual Weight: TBD
• Place of Manufacture: China
• Price: $69 at PNW
• Manufacturer’s Details: PNW

OneUp V3 Dropper Lever

OneUp’s V3 Dropper Remote is a light-action, mechanical upgrade with a replaceable rubber thumb pad, an integrated cable port, and decent cockpit compatibility. It’s offered in seven colors and several major clamp standards—22.2mm bar clamp, SRAM Matchmaker X, Shimano I-Spec II, and I-Spec EV—or a “remote only” option that lets V2 owners reuse their existing clamp.

• 
• 

There’s nothing at all flashy about the OneUp V3, but I included it because it’s fairly smooth to operate, and more importantly, like the corresponding V3 dropper, it’s very reliable. OneUp used an M5 bolt hole standard, so there’s no worry about finding replacements. There’s only one means of adjustment with the 3-bolt mounting configuration, but if simplicity and reliability are driving factors, you can’t really go wrong. Plus, the rubber paddle is one of, if not the, most grippy options in the bunch.

• Model/Size Tested: OneUp V3 Dropper Lever
• Actual Weight: TBD
• Place of Manufacture: China
• Price: $45 at Jenson
• Manufacturer’s Details: ONEUP

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...