The PNW Loam Carbon Handlebar is designed explicitly to offer more comfort and vertical compliance than an alloy bar, to take the sting out of bumpy trails and introduce an extra level of comfort.

It’s part of a new school of carbon engineering, something we’ve seen in rims too, aiming for extra softness and vibration damping at the expense of out-and-out stiffness. Some of the best mountain bike handlebars like OneUp’s Carbon E-Bar follow this concept, and it’s one we thoroughly approve of when you’re hammering out laps on rough or long trails.

PNW uses unidirectional “premium” carbon for its Loam bar, designed to build flex and damping into your ride

Design and specifications

The Loam bar is continuously tapered, rather than ovalized like some rivals targeting similar goals. It also has slightly different geometry numbers to many rivals, with a 10° backsweep that’s a couple of degrees more than most mated to a more standard 5° upsweep, together with a full 800mm width. The carbon layup is slightly different at the tips, so if you cut the bars down to size like me (740mm minimum), the carbon doesn’t fray or split.

PNW claims that adding extra backwards sweep is more comfortable and natural on your wrists. Its bar is available in either 35mm or 31.8mm stem widths and two rise options. The brand has been known for very competitive prices on some of its products so far, but at £150, this Loam bar is definitely a premium product and priced closer to the top end for a carbon handlebar.

Performance

This isn’t a diss, but PNW’s Loam bar feels like a well-damped ‘normal’ carbon bar. It’s not as forgiving then as the super-compliant OneUp E-Bar, where you can see the tips visibly flex up and down if you press hard on the grips.

OneUp’s carbon bar is flexible enough to see it moving, while the Loam is just that bit stiffer

On the trail, there’s still excellent vibration damping and the Loam bar never feels excessively sharp, but there’s definitely less of the bending and yielding sensation when landing big jumps. But you also get more feedback when accidentally stoving it into fat tree roots or big rocks than you get on OneUp’s oval-profile bar.

On the plus side, PNW’s bar doesn’t ever give those disconcerting moments either where you can really feel the OneUp handlebar flex downwards when landing a big drop or jump if you’re a heavier rider like me.

The Loam has a standard 5° upsweep, and while its 10° backsweep is unusual I do like the feel and shape

While I’ve never had any issues with a carbon bar breaking (touch wood) except in a huge crash, it can definitely feel a bit spooky when both grips bend a fair few cms towards the earth on the most compliant carbon bar tips and then just come back into position. And, because that’s not an issue here, I’d argue the heaviest riders might find the flex characteristic a bit better here, and there’s also a bit more of a sharpness to the steering if you really lean and force the bike about on the edges of the front tyre knobs.

While I don’t like too much backsweep and go for 8-degrees normally, I found I really liked PNW’s geometry here. While it’s not radically different, it just feels perfectly natural to me when riding on a couple of different bikes, and it was easy to get the bar roll exactly how I wanted it. There are marks around the stem and cut lines on the tips to get the position exactly as you want it.