Specialized hover bars for too much drop fits?

[Bantamben]

Has everyone seen the new specialized handlebars
I think they could be great if you need 1.5-2.5cm to get a smaller stack bike to fit you well.
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k610/bantamben1/DF036822-7855-4EB4-9E3A-6D347CD1FD5E.png (http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/bantamben1/media/DF036822-7855-4EB4-9E3A-6D347CD1FD5E.png.html)

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k610/bantamben1/C9AA2F01-D30F-4C12-92CF-751045768B8F.png (http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/bantamben1/media/C9AA2F01-D30F-4C12-92CF-751045768B8F.png.html)

[thirdgenbird]

If they offered a 1-1.5mm drop version, I may be interested. Lots of tall head tubes out there.

[mwynne]

Saw them on the Diverge. Was hoping for a bit more of an explanation about why they were developed, intended use, etc...

[pdmtong]

FSA k-wing on steroids

[bicycletricycle]

Those look silly

[spoonrobot]

Those are ridiculous.

[Cicli]

I hate to say it. Specialized makes good stuff.
I dont hate to say it. Those look goofy.

[bikemoore]

"If it seems stupid, but works, then it's not stupid."

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[fuzzalow]

Looks OK to me. One more option to dial in a fit which is the important thing.

Just don't run these bars with a -17 stem which might taint that kinda setup as poseur. "I get up...I get down...".

[eddief]

but I actually sent this idea to VO and suggested they make bars in this configuration for getting more rise without tall, riser stems and spacers. It seems Spec. has done it.

[ergott]

Just don't run these bars with a -17 stem which might taint that kinda setup as poseur. "I get up...I get down...".

But that's exactly what is done with the Venge. The idea being that a -17 and bars like this give the bike a lower frontal area than a rise stem and traditional bar tops.

I agree you should probably have all the other details of your aero kit (rider too) sorted out before you bother though.

[Veloo]

I hope you got your phone charged up Bantamben. ;)

Don't spacers basically do the same thing for a lot cheaper?

I think they saw these and went the other way.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/22/ib14-bp4-design-creates-new-hand-positions-with-unique-drop-top-road-handlebar/

[sandyrs]

I hope you got your phone charged up Bantamben. ;)

Don't spacers basically do the same thing for a lot cheaper?

I think they saw these and went the other way.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/22/ib14-bp4-design-creates-new-hand-positions-with-unique-drop-top-road-handlebar/

The idea is what if you're out of room for spacers?

[eddief]

I know my preferences.

I hope you got your phone charged up Bantamben. ;)

Don't spacers basically do the same thing for a lot cheaper?

I think they saw these and went the other way.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/22/ib14-bp4-design-creates-new-hand-positions-with-unique-drop-top-road-handlebar/

[Cicli]

The idea is what if you're out of room for spacers?

Then your bike (frame) dosent fit.

[fuzzalow]

But that's exactly what is done with the Venge. The idea being that a -17 and bars like this give the bike a lower frontal area than a rise stem and traditional bar tops.

I agree you should probably have all the other details of your aero kit (rider too) sorted out before you bother though.

HaHa! I would do it like this if only for the looks! I actually think it looks swoopy enough, in a Formula1 racecar frontwing kinda way, that as a design element I'd have no problem running it.

Aero is one of those unquantifiable buzz objectives in cycling. IMO. Chasing "points" (think percentage basis points in aero lingo) of drag reduction in cycling is nowhere comparable or fruitful as those same aero characteristic "points" signify in an inanimate object like a racecar. Sticking a non-static human athlete atop a bike makes for enough variance that aero quantified in points is meaningless. But it makes great ad copy!

[sandyrs]

Then your bike (frame) dosent fit.

So if you have a fork with a short steerer the bike doesn't fit if you use these bars, but it does "fit" if you have a longer steerer and use the equivalent amount of spacers? Being out of spacers doesn't always mean you have a huge stack already.

I think these bars are pretty ugly but there is a use case.

[John H.]

I know someone who has the Hi Rise ones on a Non-Venge.
Looks terrible but it gets his stack in the range that he needs.
He is really a custom bike guy but a slick salesman convinced him that this would work so he would buy a carbon halo bike.

[avalonracing]

Those look silly

True but so did sloping top tubes and long head tubes and now people think my flat TT looks "old-school".

[Bantamben]

I hope you got your phone charged up Bantamben. ;)

Don't spacers basically do the same thing for a lot cheaper?

I think they saw these and went the other way.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/22/ib14-bp4-design-creates-new-hand-positions-with-unique-drop-top-road-handlebar/

Well if your a small guy with a stiff small bike a few spacers don't make a difference but if your a taller guy with a high. Cog and a tall flexy frame putting more spacers on just contributes to a flexier front end and brings the dreaded shimmy's (see speed wobbles or death wobble) into play. So a slammed stem or 1cm spacer for me has been optimal. These bars give a nice alternative to get a little bit of help getting the drop less. It would be nice if nitto or ritchey made a classic bar in this style like my favorite bar ritchey neo Classic with a rise would be perfect.

[Kirk007]

just another tool. I have a seat height of 84.25 cm, shortish torso and my back doesn't like more that 7-8 cm drop.

Do the math and consider the aesthetics: for even a stem with -6 degree rise I need a steerer tube of 300-310 mm depending on bottom bracket drop. Unless you have a headtube/headset stack of at least 22cm, and assuming a 4 cm stack stem, you are looking at at least 4 cm of spacers. Or use a zero or positive rise stem and less spacers. Or find a frame with taller headtube without silly long top tube. Or use these bars.

Regardless of the option chosen some wanker with more middle of the bell curve dimensions is going to rag on the aesthetics: cases in point - oh those extended headtubes on Pegoretti's look like ass. Oh look at that erect stem.

With custom frames there's a lot of little tricks that can be done to help fuse form and function. For many off the rack frames not so much.

[Cicli]

So if you have a fork with a short steerer the bike doesn't fit if you use these bars, but it does "fit" if you have a longer steerer and use the equivalent amount of spacers? Being out of spacers doesn't always mean you have a huge stack already.

I think these bars are pretty ugly but there is a use case.

You can only stack so many spacers. If you cant get it right without needing more spacers, you are on the wrong bike.
Used bikes with a short steer are a different story.

[sandyrs]

just another tool. I have a seat height of 84.25 cm, shortish torso and my back doesn't like more that 7-8 cm drop.

Do the math and consider the aesthetics: for even a stem with -6 degree rise I need a steerer tube of 300-310 mm depending on bottom bracket drop. Unless you have a headtube/headset stack of at least 22cm, and assuming a 4 cm stack stem, you are looking at at least 4 cm of spacers. Or use a zero or positive rise stem and less spacers. Or find a frame with taller headtube without silly long top tube. Or use these bars.

Regardless of the option chosen some wanker with more middle of the bell curve dimensions is going to rag on the aesthetics: cases in point - oh those extended headtubes on Pegoretti's look like ass. Oh look at that erect stem.

With custom frames there's a lot of little tricks that can be done to help fuse form and function. For many off the rack frames not so much.

Well said.

[TimAZ]

I rode them for 5 days while doing a photo/video shoot for S and the whole time I was wishing my front end was lower.

[VanBikeGuy]

My 59.5cm dogma that I bought used actually only has 8mm of spacers above the 210mm headtube (with no space above the stem), so I resorted to find a 4 degree stem to try to limit the drop (12cm I think).

If they made any in carbon that would look good with that sort of frame, I'd buy them. Trying to find another fork with a longer steerer tube is crazy through the manufacturer.

Does the Specialized Venge bars fit regular stems? Any alternatives would be appreciated.

[Bantamben]

Gita has the onda dogma fork for that bike in stock brand new for 350_400$ nos.

[VanBikeGuy]

Really? How do I order it? I just assumed from others that a newer 65.1 fork would be in the $1,000 range.

[one60]

these move the reach back as opposed to up....

http://bp2.blogger.com/_C1XrRVl3W8k/RuBJf5VtRlI/AAAAAAAAB54/bPQQcCNJshc/s320/Modolo+GF+1.jpg


http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2007/09/modernist-randonneur-bars.html

[oldpotatoe]

HaHa! I would do it like this if only for the looks! I actually think it looks swoopy enough, in a Formula1 racecar frontwing kinda way, that as a design element I'd have no problem running it.

Aero is one of those unquantifiable buzz objectives in cycling. IMO. Chasing "points" (think percentage basis points in aero lingo) of drag reduction in cycling is nowhere comparable or fruitful as those same aero characteristic "points" signify in an inanimate object like a racecar. Sticking a non-static human athlete atop a bike makes for enough variance that aero quantified in points is meaningless. But it makes great ad copy!

Boy, no kidding..a bike w/o rider in a wind tunnel..I remember sram touting the 'aero' benefit of return to center TT shifters...funny. :eek:

[Mark McM]

Then your bike (frame) dosent fit.

Anything outside the box is seen as not fitting to those inside the box. But sometimes thinking outside the box results in the better solution.

It used to be, every mountain bike had flat handlebars. Then riser handlebars became the norm. Does everyone who uses a riser handlebar have a bike that doesn't fit?

[Vinci]

If they offered a 1-1.5mm drop version, I may be interested. Lots of tall head tubes out there.
Check out the 3T Aeronova. Those slope downward a bit.

(mine are knock-offs, but the shape is the same)
http://i.imgur.com/4YAXGrcl.jpg

[that guy]

The idea as it was explained to me was that you could spread your stack height through three components (stem, spacers and bars) instead of just one.

If you need to get your bars up you don't need to resort to only a stack of spacers and/or a giant riser stem. You can use a few spacers, a mostly level stem and a bit of rise in the bars to spread that stack height around.

[josephr]

I hope you got your phone charged up Bantamben. ;)


yeah...what he said! :beer:

[Mark McM]

The idea as it was explained to me was that you could spread your stack height through three components (stem, spacers and bars) instead of just one.

While this may be true, it is not the reason that this handlebar was created. As others point out, the reason (whether justified or not) was for aerodynamics. A (fat) headtube, a stack of (nearly as fat) spacers, or a (still fat) up-angled stem has more aerodynamic drag as a (thin) handlebar top, especially if that handlebar top has an airfoil shape.

Does it make much difference? Not really. It's really a game of specs-manship. Specialized wanted to be able to claim that they had the most aerodynamic production road bike, even if it took specially designed proprietary components (like funky handlebars, funky brakes, etc.). The handlebars probably saved an extra 1/2 Watt of drag, but if a 1/2 Watt was all that was need to beat the next best competitor in the wind tunnel, then they were worth it (according to that equation, anyway).

These funky shaped bars may have advantages in competitions which can be won or lost by fractions of seconds, but from a practical standpoint there are definite disadvantages. In particular, it is can be difficult, if not impossible, to mount useful accessories on them. Most handlebar mounted accessories, such as computers and lights, need to be mounted on a straight, round section of handlebar, which makes it difficult to mount on these bars. And how would you mount a handlebar bag? Even for racing, these handlebars raise issues. Many racers on a budget use the same bike for both road races and time trials. The biggest TT upgrade for a road bike is a set of aerobars - but how are you going to mount aerobars to these handlebars?

[Bantamben]

ill probably buy the alloy ones when they come out in a few weeks and ill post some pics and review

[oldpotatoe]

but I actually sent this idea to VO and suggested they make bars in this configuration for getting more rise without tall, riser stems and spacers. It seems Spec. has done it.

Sue 'em!!!:)

[that guy]

While this may be true, it is not the reason that this handlebar was created. As others point out, the reason (whether justified or not) was for aerodynamics.

That might be the case for the S-works version, but the aerodynamics of the round version found on the Sequoia were definitely not the intention.

I'm inclined to believe what the engineers at Specialized told me.

[Mark McM]

That might be the case for the S-works version, but the aerodynamics of the round version found on the Sequoia were definitely not the intention.

I'm inclined to believe what the engineers at Specialized told me.

On the Sequoia a riser drop bar makes even less sense. The Sequoia is more apt to have accessories mounted to the handlebar (handlebar bag, lights, map holder, etc.), and a riser drop bar eliminates much of the area these can be mounted. This seems more like a fashion statement than a utility.

[Kirk007]

On the Sequoia a riser drop bar makes even less sense. The Sequoia is more apt to have accessories mounted to the handlebar (handlebar bag, lights, map holder, etc.), and a riser drop bar eliminates much of the area these can be mounted. This seems more like a fashion statement than a utility.

well if so that's a bit of an ugly duckling fashion statement. I saw the 25cm riser bar on a Specialized Venge and it looks less odd on that bike which already has lots of non-traditional shaped tubes, but putting it on a more traditional frame, well that will be an acquired fashion statement to be sure. I think the getting the bars where they need to be for some riders makes more logical sense for the rationale behind the alloy bar.

[ERK55]

Don't know if it's an optical illusion but some of the photos on line suggest that these bars have a significant outward flare at the drops. (This is not specified on the Specialized website).

[VanBikeGuy]

I'm looking to put it on my Dogma to help with a short fork steerer (don't ask!). Has anybody been able to source an aerofly +25MM from Specialized? Seem to be hard to order.... If anyone is looking to sell one in 44cm, let me know.

[Shortsocks]

Actually. I would LOVE these on a Track bike. These would do very well on a Track bike, Not a fixed gear, a straight race day Track bike. I could see lots of advantages of these bars for that use.

[Bantamben]

I had these bars for part of this year rode them a few times and they worked great.
I think they look good too
From the side you can’t tell I prefer it to another 2cm of spacers.

Here’s some pics


https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=216033