PNW says its Range stem is CNCd from a block of 6061 aluminium, but judging by the shape it’s been cold-forged first, a process all the best  mountain bike stems undergo. Cold forging any aluminium component under huge hydraulic pressures increases its strength, first by squashing the material into a denser form and second by aligning the grain structure of the metal on a molecular level to follow the form of the product. This alignment process also reduces the chance of stress risers and cracks forming around bolt holes and edges.

I’ve always been surprised by the difference in extra stiffness between stems machined from billet and stems that are CNC finished from cold-forged shapes. PNW’s stem follows this trend and definitely feels rock solid with zero twist or flex, even with 800mm wide bars.

Cold forged then CNCd. the Range stem is about as stiff possible without resorting to a 35mm bar

The Range stem is finished off with some chevron details on the side, torque bolt settings and an easily removeable go-pro or headlight mount to put a night riding lamp or POV camera out front.

The stem has zero rise and a 38mm stack height that is pretty typical for any stem. The weight is decent, but 145g for a 40mm/35mm diameter stem is still a bit heavier than some rivals.

The Range stayed perfectly in shape despite swapping between multiple bikes

Performance

I’m a big fan of stems where you clamp down one side to touch and then tension the remaining two bolts because it’s impossible to get it wrong. You can’t mount the face plate off-centre or end with one or two bolts holding more tension than others. PNW’s no-gap part is at the top too, which always looks best peering down at the bars. The 4mm allen bots tighten with a 6Nm torque driver, which is slightly tighter than many stems so you know things are less likely to budge.

Because I regularly test and ride different bikes, I’ve had the PNW Range stem and Loam handlebar on three different bikes, and also had to fiddle with setting bar/stem height multiple times. My experience in the past has been that when frequently removing and reinstalling stems, it’s easy for the shape around the steerer tube to get distorted. After a few changes, both halves of many stems start to pull together when repeatedly tightening the rear stem bolts (even to correct torque settings).

With a zero-gap connection at the top of the face plate, it’s impossible to overtighten bolts at the expense of others

I had no such issues here; the Range stem kept its shape and integrity perfectly with no sign of the gap at the back of the steerer becoming smaller over time or any of the bolts poking out of the rear side of the threads any further than when new. None of the bolts ever worked loose either and the stem stayed totally rock solid on both bars and steerer tube throughout all testing.