PNW Range Handlebar KW Edition & Loam Grip Kit: 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.

The cockpit of your bike is one of the most important areas to have dialed in. A change in bar width, sweep, and rise along with new grips, can have a major impact on your riding position and confidence. Fellow rider, Chad, upgraded to PNW bars and grips from the stock setup and gives his review. Check it out! 

Introduction

My Trek Marlin 7 came with 720mm wide handlebars as stock. I had been happy enough riding on these bars, but after riding a buddies bike with even wider handlebars I decided I wanted to put a set of slightly wider handlebars on my bike too. However, I knew that I didn’t want to go with super wide bars considering pretty much all the riding I do is on single-track through somewhat heavily wooded areas with some tight squeezes, not to mention I didn’t want to have to install longer brake hoses either.

After doing a little more research, I decided I would like to stick with something around 780mm. And as it just so happened, I had recently installed a new PNW Cascade dropper post with their awesome Loam Lever on my bike, which drew my attention to the PNW Range handlebars. These just so happened to be 780 mm wide (just what I wanted, to start with anyway… I can always cut them down if necessary), but what really reeled me in was the price point. These handlebars are normally priced at $69 on the PNW website, but there was even a better deal on them here at Worldwide Cyclery! Worldwide was (is?) running a special on these handlebars with the matching Loam grips as kits, for only $75! The Loam grips are normally an additional $20, which means the handlebars and grips would normally be $90, but as a kit, they were $15 off… so why wouldn’t I decide to go this route!

Now, the price and width weren’t the only reasons I decided to go with the PNW Range handlebar and obviously weight wasn’t either, although those were good enough reasons for me to set my sights on them. I knew I wasn’t interested in carbon fiber handlebars, mostly because I didn’t want to drop that sort of $$$ on handlebars for this bike, however, according to PNW, the Range handlebars are made from a 2014 aluminum alloy, which they claim reduces chatter, similar to that of a carbon fiber handlebar, but in a more durable (and of course cost-conscious) package. Besides having some similar qualities of a carbon fiber handlebar, I really liked that the Range handlebar also featured a textured material on the handlebars that would allow items to grip the bar more without having to crank down on the bolts.

Fit and Feel 

The upsweep and the back sweep on the Range handlebar is almost the exact same as on my stock handlebar, but the Range handlebar also featured a 30mm rise, whereas my stock handlebars had a zero degree rise. The higher rise was important to me because I was also thinking about picking up their matching Range stem, which has no rise whatsoever, but the stock stem that came on my bike that I would be replacing did have a 7-degree rise, so the 30mm rise would make up that difference, plus a little extra which I was looking for too. And last but not least, it was nice seeing PNW give a portion of the sales from these handlebars to NICA. It is nice seeing a company offer quality components at a very affordable price, but still donating some of that money to the youth. 

So, saying all of that, I obviously ordered the Range handlebars and Loam grips “kit” from Worldwide Cyclery. There was a short waiting period due to the Loam Levers being out of stock (at PNW - they sold lots of them!), however, once they were back in stock, my order shipped right out, and was at my door in a matter of 3 short days! The items were packaged well, and when I unboxed them they were better than I expected! It’s always fun getting new gear, but once it’s actually in my hands, it just seems so much better than I had even imagined!

Installation

Installing the bars was as easy as installing any handlebars, however, finding the sweet spot took me a little time, which was to be expected. And just as I had also expected, the textured grippy stuff on the handlebars made securing the levers tight enough without over-tightening quite easy. And of course, now that I had the color matching Range handlebars, Loam grips, and the Loam lever, my cockpit looked pretty dang rad!

After going for a few rides, I have decided to keep the width at 780 mm’s for the time being. So far, even the tight squeezes haven’t been too tight, and the width doesn’t feel like I am overreaching. As far as absorbing trail chatter, that’s a tougher one for me to determine… there are plenty of roots that rattle me around when riding, but I am still pretty new to the sport and have only ridden 2 handlebars, so it’s tough for me to give any actual input on this. I will say that I have yet to feel like I am being rattled off the bike, so maybe they are absorbing more than I realize… either way, I have no complaints as far as chatter is concerned.

And let me not forget the grips… I am very happy with the Loam grips so far. I happen to like the way that these grips are cut and designed. I like that there are lots of lines cut into them, leaving lots of rubber fins with groves between them. To me, this design does well with providing a good grip, as well as a bit of cushion, which I imagine also helps dampen some of that trail chatter. I also really like that the ends are rubber rather than metal! My previous grips had metal ends and sometimes I forgot this when leaning the bike against my car… it’s definitely not an issue now with these rubber ended grips!

Conclusion

All in all, I am very happy with the PNW Range handlebars and the Loam grips. They feel great, must do a great job at reducing chatter, and at the price they sell for, I almost feel like I stole them! I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a great set of handlebars for their bike, especially if you aren’t set on carbon fiber handlebars!