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Old 04-23-2024, 09:38 AM
whatshubdoc whatshubdoc is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 487
Stem material is inconsequential.

Bar material, however, I think, is perceptible. More importantly, IMO, is bar shape. If it fits nicely, you will feel less discomfort no matter what kind of terrain you are riding over, as your body will be in its natural position to absorb the shocks.

My favorite bars are EC70/90* with the MCD - mainly because the tops fit my hand perfectly, and the drops are shaped where I can use 95% of the bar surface; I am able to fully grip no matter how close or far from the ends they are. My other favorite is the Parlee handlebar, but they only come in 35mm clamp size, so you are pretty much locked into using their stem (PL helped me find out that Specialized and Bontrager make 35mm clamp stems also, outside of Deda Trentacinque). Those bars also have a sweet diameter up top, and long drops for maximum grip area.

The opposite end of the spectrum is the Roval Alpinist bar. It is way too small in diameter for larger hands.


*I also have a set of EA70 in the same width, and with MCD. The tube diameters are smaller on the tops than the carbon variant. They also feel less "soft" aka do not cancel out buzz as much as the carbon ones.
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