After riding the PNW Components Coast handlebar for almost a year, John’s got a lot of praise for them, along with a few notes. Let’s check out this short-reach drop-bar below…
PNW Components Coast Handlebar Gen 2 Quick Hits
- On sale for $41.3o (nice)
- Made from: 2014 Aluminum (not 4130)
- Widths: 440, 480, 520 mm (520 mm reviewed here)
- Hood to Hood Width: 440 mm 480 mm 520 mm
- Drop to Drop Width: 527 mm 567 mm 607 mm
- Reach: 65 mm
- Drop: 105 mm
- Flare: 20°
- Clamping Area: 120 mm
- Weight: 294 g, 324 g, 346 g
Context and Bike Fit
Many of the bikes we review here at The Radavist fall into the drop-bar 29er MTB or adventure gravel bike realm. Be it full-on tourers or just fun whips to rip around singletrack on, these bikes are designed with drop bars in mind. However cockpit setup can be a finicky one to dial in with these bikes, particularly with more modern gravel, adventure gravel, and tourers switching to longer reach numbers and shorter stems.
With shorter stems and modern shifter/brake levers, handlebar reach with some drop bars can drastically increase your fit extension number, or the measurement from the tip of your saddle’s nose to the center of your shifter/brake lever. PNW Components Coast Bar offers a reach number of 65 mm to bring your shifters closer to the flats of the handlebar, aiding in dialing in the perfect fit extension numbers for your drop-bar mountain, touring, or gravel bike.
Other bars in this space include the Tumbleweed Big Dipper (left), which offers a very short 50 mm of reach, and the Ritchey Beacon bar that offers 65 mm of reach (right). I looked at these on a multi-bike review last year. Travis compared the Beacon to the Corralitos bars in a great write-up.
As bars go wider, your extension decreases, so when you go to a 520 mm wide drop-bar from a 440 mm bar, a shorter reach on that bar makes it more possible to swap out the stock bike’s 440 mm wide bars without messing up your bike fit. Generally speaking, of course. For instance, the 440 mm wide Zipp bars that came on the Mason Bokeh feature 80 mm of reach. I was able to keep the same stock stem and go to a wider bar with a shorter reach to get my fit dialed in.
As a broad-shouldered rider, I find that a lot of modern drop bars specced on stock bikes aren’t wide enough for me, something I talked about in my Tumbleweed Big Dipper review.
The use case I found the PNW Coast Bars to be most helpful on was dialing in the comfort and fit throughout my Mason Cycles Bokeh review. The Bokeh is more of a straight-up gravel road bike and I felt like the wider, 520 mm bars helped me wield this bike through our chunky doubletrack roads in the Southwest.
Comparatively, I rode the PNW Coast Bars on my Meriwether Ponderosa, which falls more into the adventure gravel classification. I’ll be sharing more on this project next week, so stay tuned!
Ergonomics and Details
The PNW Coast bars have 105 mm of drop, 20º flare, and 65 mm of reach. I’ve found these two measurements make them perfect for a bike with tall stack numbers like a tourer or adventure gravel bike. The shallow drop and modest flare mean you’re comfortable descending through chunky roads, while the shorter reach metric presents some careful considerations while setting up your shifter/brake levers. When your hoods are aligned like this, the flat spot and top of the hoods make for a comfortable platform during long climbs.
Setup and Critiques
If you prefer your brake ramps to be in line with the tops of the bar, it can take some finagling to get the angle just right. I believe there is no standard way to align brake levers, and this fit setup depends on the bike’s overall geometry and fit preferences. Although, you can see I used nearly the same position with the same GRX levers just from “feel” alone on the Meriwether Ponderosa and Mason Bokeh.
Centering the stem should be easy. Most handlebars have similar index marks or a pattern allowing for handlebar centering. The Coast bar has an asymmetrical geometric design based on the PNW Components’ logo. But since it’s not symmetrical, it makes centering the stem kind of a pain. I had to grab a ruler to ensure the steam was indeed centered on the handlebar.
Another thing to note is when switching from a 470 mm wide bar to a 520 mm wide bar, you might need to run new brake and shifter hose/housing.
Overall, it’s hard to argue with the price or design of the PNW Coast drop bars. If you have a drop-bar 29er, an adventure gravel, or touring bike and are looking for a wide bar with a short reach, don’t rule these out, especially at their sale price of $41.30.
Pros
- Affordable
- Multiple widths
- Moderate flate
- Short drop
- Short reach
- Hood alignment marks on the front of drops
Cons
- Lack of alignment marks on front make for difficult stem centering
- You might have to run new brake hoses and cable housing when switching to a wider drop bar
- Not always in stock due to popularity
Check out more at PNW Components.
