Riding High Rise Bars/PNW's New Handlebars and Stem

The worst element of the rapid changes we've seen in mountain bikes over the last ten years is the increase in obsolescence. Wheel sizes, axle sizes, rear deraileur mount, headset sizes and seatpost insertion lengths are just a few of the changes that have made previously valuable bikes and parts that we own, either much less valuable or practically worthless. I hate waste and I'm not fond of losing money either, and these dramatic changes have contributed to both. Anybody looking for a Chris King PF92 bottom bracket for a 25mm spindle? Hit me up.

With this in mind I am always conflicted when a new trend or technology emerges. I feel like I need to try it, both because of the job I do and because I'm always trying to get better at riding my bike down hill. If it turns out this newness isn't for me, I'm generally a little relieved. If I like it, and feel it's likely to be accepted and/or thrust upon us, I can't help but think of all the waste and devaluation. This isn't as big deal when we are talking about a handlebar with a little more rise but my hackles were up as I installed a new Range Handlebar from PNW Components that was a big departure for me.

The Dakotah Norton Effect

I'm not sure how it happened or why but after the days of risers with crossbars faded into the past, I began to dislike the look of bars with more than about 25mm of rise. There was a time before, silly in retrospect, when many of us rode bars that were very narrow and straight enough to double as a gun barrel. Why? I have no idea why aside from, everyone else was doing it and we thought they looked cool. To compensate we were riding stems that were 150mm long. I wish that was hyperbole.

Aside from the aesthetics of risers, I have generally been working on putting more weight on the bars because that seems to be the consensus best practice for downhilling well; lengthen your legs and weight your hands, with elbows out of course.

And then Dakotah Norton came along. Dak's results since swapping to 75mm-rise ape hangers have been the best of his career, including a 2nd at Val di Sole and a 4th at Fort William. Obviously that doesn't mean they are for everyone, and Dakotah admits to having "crocodile arms," but it seems to suggest they may be for some of us.

With this in mind, when Aaron Kerson of PNW components asked me what rise I wanted for a set of yet-to-be-released test bars, I was almost all in.* Instead of asking for a set of 50s I opted for 38s. When I opened the package, for some reason I was sent a 50mm and I was glad, thinking it made more sense to go deep.

*But maybe not all in, like Bronson Moore's Reverse Rise stem, at least not yet. And actually Bronson now offers RR lite, with "only" a 90mm rise.

I wouldn't say I am T-Rex, but my arms are not long for my height. My ape index is .986, meaning my wingspan is slightly less than my height and most of my height is in my legs. Like Dakotah, I appreciate longer bikes for their stability and the space they give you to move around in the cockpit. I have compensated for my lack of personal reach by cutting my bars down to between 750 and 770mm on bikes that are in my bike reach window of 480-500mm. The element I haven't compensated for universally is stack.

My We Are One Arrival has a 100mm head tube in the XL which is quite short, likely because the bike is designed to be run at three different travels; 130, 152 and 170. I used a 25mm spacer under my stem to compensate, and let's not pretend that looks great either. It didn't feel bad like that and I was pretty sure that it matched well with a low rise bar. That is until I rode it with the 50mm PNW bar.

I have been working with a new shock on my We Are One Arrival and I've converted it to a mullet with the Kamloops company's UDH swingarm. It turns out these are not insignificant changes for a small-brained bike tester to sort out. I'd recently gone down to a 375 lb spring to achieve the suggested 30% sag, after struggling a little to get the bike to feel the way I wanted. I failed the sag test, perhaps because the spring is from another manufacturer, but on the trail the suspension felt pretty good. Overall though, I had one of my best rides ever on the Arrival, and something felt very different indeed.

Riding lately has been a dance of waiting long enough after a storm so the trails aren't too sensitive and getting out before the next one hits, so it was slippery and in many places the ground was sodden. Less than ideal to say the least but I found myself riding very well and with unexpected confidence. I felt quite relaxed in situations that normally elicit tension and fear.

Body Position

After some research and coaching, when I moved my stance forward with my legs more extended, one of the surprising advantages was how I saw the trail. The perspective you get when your eyes are closer to the front of the bike is both more accurate and informative and less terrifying in steep and/or very technical situations. That body position certainly helps when you are riding at speed but I'm not sure there is as much visual advantage when you are looking farther ahead.

As beginners in sports, when we are most nervous and least skilled, we tend to try and keep our heads safe. It's why noob skiers are on their heels with their hands out to the sides (I'm not sure why their jackets are open) and why it's hard to get new mountain bikers to stand up on the pedals while descending. While we feel safer, we are sacrificing control and vision. If you hope to progress, both sports require an aggressive posture that our reptile brains resist.

For me, the 50mm rise bars seem to improve both my vision in my neutral stance and the comfort I feel keeping my head forward in steep situations. It also feels better pulling up and reaching for a gap and controlling the front end at low speed. Cornering seems to be unaffected but I am also more comfortable riding at speed, although I'm certain there are compromises, I have yet to discover them. I haven't yet done any technical climbing where weight over the front end is essential however.

PNW Loam Stem

When a stem is done right there isn't much to say. This one looks good, comes in the appropriate sizes for the riding I do, and the machining seems to be solid. When I first installed the stem, I was thinking to myself, "why doesn't the logo on the handlebar line up with the gap in the clamp? Man, that is uncharacteristically sloppy! Now I have something to talk about that I'd rather not talk about!" It wasn't until I looked at the photo afterward, and noticed that the logo on the face plate was upside down, that I realized the oversight, unsurprisingly, was mine. Not the first time, and likely not the last. Thankfully I'm not producing your stems.

Van Halen and Brown M&Ms

Everything seems solidly done but you might want to ask for a little more machining perfection from a stem considering the importance of the job it does. It reminds me of Van Halen and how they determined whether a venue was up to the task of hosting their stage production that was, at the time, the most elaborate in the world (at least according to David Lee Roth).

By stipulating in their contract that if there were any brown M&Ms present in the bowls of the candy they asked for back stage, the promoters would forfeit their entire fee. You can imagine that members of an incredibly popular 1980s hair band created new high water marks for indulgence and entitlement, but they also had a carefully choreographed stage performance with pyrotechnics, massive lights and even aerial rigging so the performers could fly above the stage. All of those elements relied upon careful preparation by the promoters. If there were brown M&Ms, the band would trash the dressing room, but they'd also instruct their crew to check everything to make sure they could safely execute their show because they knew the promoter hadn't read the contract.

Having the lines of the face plate line up so perfectly with the stem body that it appears to be one piece when clamped, likely has virtually not impact on the integrity of the stem, but it lets you know how uncompromising the engineers and machinists were about the finished product.

The alignment here was pretty good but when I eventually installed the stem the right way up, one side was well aligned and the other side was not. The misalignment was miniscule but noticeable and I wasn't sure if I could correct it with a more careful placement before tightening things up. Actually it was easy and I managed to get it so the tiny overlap, only measured in microns, was spread over both sides and almost indistinguishable. This is not a deal breaker for me, but I'd prefer a product like this to surprise me the elegance of its fit and finish the first time. At the same time, many CNC'ed stems that look this good and have this much attention to detail, cost a little more and everything else looked perfect which means the Loam Stem passes the candy test. I am more than happy having this nicely machined piece hold up my bars, (and clamp my dreams).

PNW Range Gen. 4 Handlebar (25, 38 and 50mm rises)

These are interesting bars. They have more backsweep than most at 10º, are made from 2014 aluminum, come in 25, 38 or 50mm rises and have a 31.8mm clamp diameter. This is my favourite kind of time warp. It's not impossible to make 35mm diameter bars that feel good but it's a little more difficult. With their recent carbon handlebar release PNW engineered the bars in both diameter sizes but with the goal of having them feel the same. I can't tell you if that was successful but I applaud the effort. And if the feel of these bars is anything to go on, I would approve.

PNW didn't choose 2014 aluminum for the Gen. 4 Range bar because it was a good year. 2014 refers to the alloy which includes small amounts of chromium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, silicon, titanium, titanium alloyed with zinc and zinc on its own. Only copper is present at more than a sidgen at 3.9% but apparently all of those other minerals add characteristics that are useful in aerospace and in handlebars. PNW says 2014 was chosen because it closely replicates "carbon's chatter absorbing qualities in a more cost-conscious and durable package." I can't say much about the durability but the bar felt really good both in terms of absorbing big shocks and smaller repetitive impacts without ever feeling like a noodle.

Our cockpit is a place where we have a lot of leverage, literally and figuratively. Changing cranks or frames or wheel sizes are more involved and pricy endeavours that may produce results that are less conclusive. So much is happening in the interface of our hands and our bikes that little changes can make significant differences, either in stem length or some handlebar metric whether it's backsweep, upsweep or, perhaps most significantly, rise. You can of course play with this in a smaller way by rolling your bars forward and back and seeing how that changes the way your bike feels. When you are ready to give something a try, it also makes sense to look for something used and on the cheap as a trial run. With so many early adopters around, in many places it's easy to find used deals on products you are curious about but aren't ready to pay retail for.

After just a few rides I'm considering putting more significant risers on ever bike I ride or test. Probably not 75mm, and likely not 90 anytime soon, but 50 seems great. Of course maybe it will end like my experience with dropper posts. I was completely happy with 125mm of drop, until I tried 150. That continued until I reached 220mm where I have reached my limit. For now at least.

Keep tinkering I say!

PNW Components Loam Stem and Gen. 4 Range Handlebar