What’s your favorite flared gravel bar?

[Likes2ridefar]

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[nublar]

Ritchey WCS Ergomax

[Likes2ridefar]

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[mistermo]

Had a specialized hover bar with no flare and it was good besides no flare.

Now I have a whisky No.7 12f which I like but it has round tops, and I miss the flat tops for long climbs.

I’m really curious about the lauf smoothie - does it actually do anything and not feel like a noodle? ...but may just get the specialized hover bar that is flared.

Anything else you like I should consider?

Short reach is key, the spec is 70mm and whisky is 68mm.

My current favorite are also the Whisky/Salsa 12F bars. If you want a flat top, the ENVE Aero bar is flat, flared, aero and expensive.

[R3awak3n]

I like the 3T 3t superghiaia because you get flare on the drops but the levers stay perfectly straight. I have the 44cm one which has a nice amount of flare, they did not make a 42 back then which would have been my preferred but so far its a great bar.

Its not a stiff bar which for gravel I think is a blessing but if you want a stiff bar, I would stay away, specially in the drops, its very noodly.

[zzy]

I've enjoyed my Ritchey Evomax bars on the two rides I've done so far

[sjbraun]

Salsa Cowchippers, nice flat ramp and a comfy flare.
I have Specialized Hoverbars on my new Diverge, they're okay, but I miss the more pronounced flare of the Cowchippers.

[EB]

Salsa Cowbell is the correct choice.

[jtbadge]

Salsa Cowbell is the correct choice.

Great choice, and my choice for a flared compact bar, but in fact the exact same bar as the Whisky the OP mentioned they didn't like.

[DHallerman]

I don’t like lots of flare, so the Easton EA70 AX handlebars have been working me. There’s a carbon version too, EC70 AX.

With the 44cm size, c-c, the brake hoods are 43cm apart.

[RudAwkning]

Had a specialized hover bar with no flare and it was good besides no flare.

Now I have a whisky No.7 12f which I like but it has round tops, and I miss the flat tops for long climbs.

I’m really curious about the lauf smoothie - does it actually do anything and not feel like a noodle? ...but may just get the specialized hover bar that is flared.

Anything else you like I should consider?

Short reach is key, the spec is 70mm and whisky is 68mm.

Spank has come out with some flared gravel bars recently that may fit the bill.

https://spank-ind.com/pages/spank-gravel

[Likes2ridefar]

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[Bentley]

I typically use short/shallow bars, but the FSA Adventure works well and it’s cheap. It’s 80/125, IRC

Ray

[ColonelJLloyd]

Big fan of the Ritchey EVOmax for road and gravel. Perfect degree or flare for me and a nice round bend.

[Duende]

The Enve Aero bar! Saving up for one! :)

[alexstar]

I just bought a Deda Gravel100 RHM handlebar... seems to be Cowbell-adjacent. I've been happy with Salsa bars (Bell Lap, Cowbell) in the past as well as Deda's road bars (Zero100) and this seems like a good mix. I'll report back as soon as I get the bike built.

[eddief]

i like them a lot. They're carbon and not cheap. For alloy these bars look close to perfect for my riding style - Zipp Service Course SL 70 XPLR handlebar

https://road.cc/content/review/266173-zipp-service-course-sl-70-xplr-handlebar

[AllesWirdGut]

Can't recommend the Ritchey Venturemax bars enough, which also come in XL sizing if you need wider than 46cm. Otherwise, I think the Salsa Cowchipper bars are a nice compromise as the Woodchippers are a bit too flared, the Cowbells not enough.

[floxy1]

Enve aero bar. Perfect amount of flare, IMO

[cuda]

another vote for Cowchippers

[hobbanero]

I like the Easton EC70X (is that the correct name?)....not much flare, but enough. I tried the Enve gravel bars and they have a lot of flare, but it makes the hoods effectively narrower, and the bars get wider all the way to the ends, where I never put my hands.

[justaute]

I have the 1st gen Easton EC70 AX bar, which has served me well, but I want a Di2 compatible one. 3T Superghiaia looks good, but it current out of stock.

[fa63]

Zipp Service Course SL 70 XPLR handlebar


I replaced my FSA bars with these and have been really happy with them.

[lavi]

I have/like the Shimano/PRO Discover medium flare on one bike.

I also have PNW Components Coast handlebar (https://www.pnwcomponents.com/products/the-coast-handlebar?variant=31731290112077&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjwupD4BRD4ARIsABJMmZ8O2Kdbx21OkwRba1SQ CAVYD60PCrghPUh66Y3VLKk6sW4US4lV480aApnqEALw_wcB). It's SUPER wide (come in a 48 and 52). Shallow/short drop. Very fun.

[AllesWirdGut]

I have/like the Shimano/PRO Discover medium flare on one bike.

I also have PNW Components Coast handlebar (https://www.pnwcomponents.com/products/the-coast-handlebar?variant=31731290112077&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjwupD4BRD4ARIsABJMmZ8O2Kdbx21OkwRba1SQ CAVYD60PCrghPUh66Y3VLKk6sW4US4lV480aApnqEALw_wcB). It's SUPER wide (come in a 48 and 52). Shallow/short drop. Very fun.

I just picked up a set of Coast bars as well, excited to try them. Unmounted, my initial impression is that they might not be quite as comfortable as the Venturemax bars, but we'll see soon.

[commonguy001]

I have/like the Shimano/PRO Discover medium flare on one bike.

I also have PNW Components Coast handlebar (https://www.pnwcomponents.com/products/the-coast-handlebar?variant=31731290112077&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjwupD4BRD4ARIsABJMmZ8O2Kdbx21OkwRba1SQ CAVYD60PCrghPUh66Y3VLKk6sW4US4lV480aApnqEALw_wcB). It's SUPER wide (come in a 48 and 52). Shallow/short drop. Very fun.

I’ve been running the PNW Coast 52 on my Cutthroat and they’ve ruined me for other bars. Love them on all things unpaved and really good off road.

[genefruit]

Zipp Service Course SL 70 XPLR handlebar

https://road.cc/content/review/266173-zipp-service-course-sl-70-xplr-handlebar

I went with these recently on a refresh and found them quite nice.

[Likes2ridefar]

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[Pubus]

I'm a huge fan of the PNW Components Coast handlebar with the Coast Stem.

I was a 44cm slight drop bar // 110 mm stem and went to the 48cm PNW Flare with a 90 mm stem and it matched my fit well.

They also have 52cm flare bars, but I dont mountain bike much with my gravel bike

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[doomridesout]

Anybody used the Lauf Smoothie? I’m intrigued but doubt there’s much experience with them on a bike without the Lauf Grit fork, which kind of takes the nuance out of a review of the bars alone.

[Likes2ridefar]

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[ciclista_tifoso]

.
I just bought a Deda Gravel100 RHM handlebar... seems to be Cowbell-adjacent. I've been happy with Salsa bars (Bell Lap, Cowbell) in the past as well as Deda's road bars (Zero100) and this seems like a good mix. I'll report back as soon as I get the bike built.

Managed to get first-hand exposure yet?

[alexstar]

.


Managed to get first-hand exposure yet?

Regrettably, not yet! I've put this project on the back burner for now because I have other things going on that are higher priority. Maybe in a month or so...

[benadrian]

I put a Ritchey Venturemax on my gravel/allroad/commuter/whatever bike. I really love them. Now, when I switch back to my regular drops on my carbon road bike, it feels kind of rigid.... like wearing formal clothes. I kind of want to put flared bars on everything.

[Hilltopperny]

After trying a bunch I have to say my favorite is the 3t Superghiaia. Flat at the top, shifters are not on the flare and comfortable for long hauls. It feels like a premium bar!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210109/f3f001627d024f1073056ad0c8448614.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210109/3c384faf994842483f91adf78d125a33.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ridethecliche]

Bumping this thread to see if folks have any more recommendations at this point!

Really hoping for a riser bar with flat tops and no flare for a road bike as well as the same with mild flare for a gravel bike.

What are y'all riding these days?

[zennmotion]

I like just a little flare and flat tops for my CX "gravel" bike, and Ritchey Butano is perfect. I'd consider it for a road bike too, although I prefer a traditional shape Ritchey Curve for road. Check out the Butano though, I have the less expensive Alu version.

Edit: I see Ritchey updated the Butano with more flare (18deg) and internal cable routing. The older version that I have is 12deg and no cable holes. Hope they didn't ruin a good thing!

[lorenbike]

None, and I've tried a bunch. For me, drop bars have no flare. If I need flared drops for the terrain then I'd rather be on flat bars. Also no to the wide drop bar trend especially if you run any saddle to bar drop.

[Likes2ridefar]

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[ridethecliche]

None, and I've tried a bunch. For me, drop bars have no flare. If I need flared drops for the terrain then I'd rather be on flat bars. Also no to the wide drop bar trend especially if you run any saddle to bar drop.

I run 40s on the road bike and honestly used to run 38s when I raced. I think I could afford to go to 42s these days 😁

[Likes2ridefar]

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[reuben]

After trying a bunch I have to say my favorite is the 3t Superghiaia. Flat at the top, shifters are not on the flare and comfortable for long hauls. It feels like a premium bar!
This is something I could get behind, as I contemplate a gravelish/bikepacking rig - vertical shifters. What's the flare on that? The web page notes it as F1 but doesn't specify the F1 angle. :crap:

[Likes2ridefar]

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[4151zero]

I've been on these all summer, and find the drop and flare to be both comfy and controllable

https://www.cadex-cycling.com/us/cadex-ar-handlebar

[R3awak3n]

I have had the 3T gaiaaaiaaiiiiiiiaiiii (I never knew how to pronounce it lol) and it is a great bar indeed. Flat tops, nice amount of flare, hoods still stay straight.


I just recently bought a pair of Zipp EXPLR and they are SUPER nice as well. I wanted silver bars so the 3Ts were out of the question. The zipps are cheap and excellent, the flat tops are nice (and on an aluminum bar? thats cool), they also keep the brake levers pretty flat. Flare is not that much, its like a perfect intro to flared bars in my opinion, not crazy but also definitely there.

[Likes2ridefar]

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[lorenbike]

I run 40s on the road bike and honestly used to run 38s when I raced. I think I could afford to go to 42s these days 😁

Wide, as in >46cm at the hoods. Unless you are built like a heavyweight UFC fighter!

[reuben]

I have to say, though, that i find it extraordinarily difficult to come up with any rational justification for buying $300 USD handlebars.

[RunningChoux]

I like just a little flare and flat tops for my CX "gravel" bike, and Ritchey Butano is perfect. I'd consider it for a road bike too, although I prefer a traditional shape Ritchey Curve for road. Check out the Butano though, I have the less expensive Alu version.

Edit: I see Ritchey updated the Butano with more flare (18deg) and internal cable routing. The older version that I have is 12deg and no cable holes. Hope they didn't ruin a good thing!

Agreed. I’m running the original Butano and feel the same. 42cm hoods and ~46cm drops works great for my mix of road/CX/gravel/smooth MTB trails. Maybe they can try to find one on clearance somewhere?

[Likes2ridefar]

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[Epicus07]

I loved the Ritchey Venturemax but HATED the bio bend. The FSA adventure were nice. I have some Easton EC90 AX that are waiting to go on my next build but I honestly keep looking at the Ritchey Butano. Love that backsweep. Wish it came in carbon.

[muttley]

FSA AGX such a nice design I have them on my Aspero and Revolt

[4151zero]

Same…it’s why the terra and a bar like the bar just linked at $370!! will most likely never land on my bike.

I agree, ... I was fortunate to have them installed by the previous owner on a recent gravel bike purchase.

I would have never tried them due to the high price, but I can honestly say they really perform well.

[CAAD]

EC70 ax didn't work for me. Ended up going back to the EC90slx bar that's the next size up (42cm) from what I use on the road. The width gives me a little more control. I use my drops a lot while riding and that flare was not comfortable on long road sections.

I always see guys running these crazy flared bars on rides that never seem to use them, always on the hoods. Even on fast technical descents they never use the drops where you would think that flare would come into play, what's the point?

[benadrian]

EC70 ax didn't work for me. Ended up going back to the EC90slx bar that's the next size up (42cm) from what I use on the road. The width gives me a little more control. I use my drops a lot while riding and that flare was not comfortable on long road sections.

I always see guys running these crazy flared bars on rides that never seem to use them, always on the hoods. Even on fast technical descents they never use the drops where you would think that flare would come into play, what's the point?

In addition to my Venturemax bars I also have some EC70 AX on another bike and I've really been liking them. Obviously bars are very personal, but I'm commenting because of something else you said.

It's true, I rarely ride in the drop, but I prefer flared bars. I realized that it's because I much prefer the feelings of the hoods when the brake levers are angled out. Whenever I ride a bike with no-flare bars now, the vertical brake levers just fee a bit odd and uncomfortable now. It's strange because I rode road bars for yeas and was fine.

So while I DO use the drops on fast, technical descents, I'd still run flared bars for the hood positioning, even if I never did fast, technical descents.

Cheers!

[YesNdeed]

I wanted to get weird with my latest gravel build, so I went with super flared Ritchey WCS Beacon bars. That seems to be the unpopular direction in this thread, but I have to say, I love them. At 36° of flare in the drops, this also allows for minimal drop at only 80mm. I spend more time downstairs than I ever did on traditional road drop bars. This gives it more of a mountain bike feel, and adds stability when things get dicey. I’m running a 650B setup with 2.2” knobbies, so this mistress lusts for single track. Crooked levers don’t bother me at all, and I do in fact need them that way with this much flare if I plan on braking and shifting while in the drops. Yes, they may look completely goofy to some. No, I do not care. That is all…

[Likes2ridefar]

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[eippo1]

Spank has come out with some flared gravel bars recently that may fit the bill.

https://spank-ind.com/pages/spank-gravel

I'm curious to try these since these have a little bit of flare, but have shoulder issues and don't want to spend the money only to find that they hurt.

Slight highjack, but has anyone with shoulder issues on PL successfully used a flared bar? I find anything that rotates my arm away from my body usually puts undue stress on the hardware holding everything together. But I like the idea of a wider bar at the drops for the control.

[John H.]

Enve AR bar for me- Road and gravel. love the flat top. Also love that the flare is not excessive. I have tried big sweep bars- to me they don't change my position enough vs. hoods.

[YesNdeed]

I’ve had weird builds in the past; take the On one midge bar. It is similar to the beacon and the drops worked well, however

Call me vain, I just can’t get over the appearance of the shifters and to use the drop effectively the front end needs to be higher than typical making the hoods less desirable for most riding.

I see crazy wide bars on the canals occasionally and they are almost always ridden by someone much hairier than I :fight:

Not vain. It’s your bike and it should look how you want it to. My post should not imply that I don’t care how any bike looks. I don’t get many compliments from the racer crew on that build, it has more of a MTB/bikepacking bias, and it closes that gap in my stable handsomely. My shaved leg gravel build is a 3T RaceMax with all the go-fast accoutrements. I’m running road drops on it now because the 3T Superkarmannghia bars weren’t yet available when I ordered it, but those would be my first choice for that build.

On topic, I thought the Beacon bars in all their weirdness should be added to the discussion to balance things out a bit.

[aliensporebomb]

Drop 125, Reach 80, Flare 12 with a Di2 hole but not using Di2. Light, comfortable bar for long rides.

[tellyho]

Ritchey Venturemax are my fave so far, but also have a set of cowchippers in service that are almost as good. I like the ergo grip/bio bump/whatever you want to call it on the ritchey but it's not for everybody.

[cvbm]

Has anyone tried more road oriented bars with some flare? Trying out some Easton EA70s with 4 degree flair on my next build. Felt like I was really sprawled out with Cowbells.

[mhespenheide]

Has anyone tried more road oriented bars with some flare? Trying out some Easton EA70s with 4 degree flair on my next build. Felt like I was really sprawled out with Cowbells.

I like the Salsa Cowbell. It's their version with the least amount of flare. I think it's 6 degrees on each side. Or maybe 12 dregrees on each side? Are you sure that's the one you were looking at? Their "Cowchipper" is flared more, and the "Woodchipper" is really flared.

[warren128]

Has anyone tried more road oriented bars with some flare? Trying out some Easton EA70s with 4 degree flair on my next build. Felt like I was really sprawled out with Cowbells.

My two gravel bikes have Cowbells @ 12 deg. flare. Not large flares at all, very comfortable.

Two of my road bikes have Zipp SL80 @ 4 deg. flare with short reach/shallow drop, very usable flats and traditional curves.

[cvbm]

I like the Salsa Cowbell. It's their version with the least amount of flare. I think it's 6 degrees on each side. Or maybe 12 dregrees on each side? Are you sure that's the one you were looking at? Their "Cowchipper" is flared more, and the "Woodchipper" is really flared.

Yeah, was using 42cm Cowbell Deluxe which are the slightly lighter versions. They have 12 degrees on each side. they were 42cm at the tops and 46ish cm on the drops. Maybe my problem was I need a 40cm bar.

The EA70s are 40 at the tops and 43ish at the drops I think

[cvbm]

Two of my road bikes have Zipp SL80 @ 4 deg. flare with short reach/shallow drop, very usable flats and traditional curves.

I may have try a pair of these as well. My gripe with the EA70s is they are 80/125 which is a bit longer/deeper than the Cowbell's 68/115

[Smitty2k1]

Has anyone tried more road oriented bars with some flare? Trying out some Easton EA70s with 4 degree flair on my next build. Felt like I was really sprawled out with Cowbells.

I like the Zipp XPLR for this reason - there's a little flare in the drops but the hoods sit vertical like a normal road bike.

[ridethecliche]

I loved the Ritchey Venturemax but HATED the bio bend. The FSA adventure were nice. I have some Easton EC90 AX that are waiting to go on my next build but I honestly keep looking at the Ritchey Butano. Love that backsweep. Wish it came in carbon.

The butano's don't have a flat section right?

I'm debating moving to slightly wider bars all around even though I've been on 40's for as long as I can remember these days. I really do hate having to redo things with bars all the time. Oy.

[bikesrfun]

Ritchey WCS Beacon

[YesNdeed]

Ritchey WCS Beacon

Woot woot :banana:

[RudAwkning]

I've got the new Whisky Spano on my Ellis Strada Fango and am digging it.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[lavi]

I like the Zipp XPLR for this reason - there's a little flare in the drops but the hoods sit vertical like a normal road bike.

Yup. And also just a touch of backsweep (3%) on the tops.

I dig 'em.

[ridethecliche]

I love Ritchey bars and just bought a set of the ErgoMax WCS based on some posts in this thread. I wanted a little bit of rise and a little bit of flare. Oval tops on the flat section was non negotiable and the specialized hover bars don't have that.

Looking forward to giving them a go!

[YesNdeed]

Ritchey on sale at Excel! (https://www.excelsports.com/promotion/2022-ritchey-component-sale-)

[merlinmurph]

Here I am trying to figure out why there are flared bars....

What do they accomplish? I'm curious

[hooter]

Ritchey WCS Beacon

The Beacon xl is perfect on my Fargo.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[reuben]

Better stability and control when descending rough terrain and stronger braking.

How do they generate stronger braking?

[nmrt]

Flared bars, I have found are useful, only on techy, singletrack terrain. Or on high speed gravel/fireroad/4 X 4 mounatin passes descent. Here in Colorado there are tons of these terrains. Then they give a lot of stability and I have found are indespensible for this type of riding. For just run of the mill flat gravel roads, flared bars are not needed.

EDIT: I love my Deda Gera Carbon gravel bars.

Here I am trying to figure out why there are flared bars....

What do they accomplish? I'm curious

[ridethecliche]

Ritchey on sale at Excel! (https://www.excelsports.com/promotion/2022-ritchey-component-sale-)

Ugh womp. They don't have the 40cm ones I needed.
I ordered them from performance and they had a 10 dollar off coupon and free shipping over 100 so I added a claris RD for my commuter and came in at just over 100 shipped.

Excel doesn't even carry claris haha.

Better stability and control when descending rough terrain and stronger braking.

The bar I use, Zipp xplr, is slower in the drop than the hoods for me. I’m rarely there except when in extremely steep and rugged terrain.

Honestly, if I wasn't looking for bars with a little bit of a rise to them, I'd probably go for the xplr or even the SL version of the bars. They look to be priced very well, esp at their weight. Almost tempted to just go this route instead!

The regular bar has a claimed weight close-ish to the WCS ritchey ones, albeit the ritchey ones have the 10mm rise which adds material.

Flared bars, I have found are useful, only on techy, singletrack terrain. Or on high speed gravel/fireroad/4 X 4 mounatin passes descent. Here in Colorado there are tons of these terrains. Then they give a lot of stability and I have found are indespensible for this type of riding. For just run of the mill flat gravel roads, flared bars are not needed.

EDIT: I love my Deda Gera Carbon gravel bars.

Yeah, this is probably right, but for me... i ride narrow bars and want to keep things that way on the tops/hoods. Having wider drops helps compensate for that even if riding in the drops sporadically. Even on the road without technical single-tracky stuff.

[YesNdeed]

Flared bars, I have found are useful, only on techy, singletrack terrain. Or on high speed gravel/fireroad/4 X 4 mounatin passes descent. Here in Colorado there are tons of these terrains. Then they give a lot of stability and I have found are indespensible for this type of riding. For just run of the mill flat gravel roads, flared bars are not needed.

EDIT: I love my Deda Gera Carbon gravel bars.

Fully agreed. All I would add is that on the big flare bars, minimal drop is required to fit hands in the drops making stack height less. A lot less in the case of the Ritchey Beacon WCS bars. It gives it an almost/sort of/more like flat bar/MTB feel. And a lot more inviting to use more frequently. My 650B build with these bars is currently my bike of choice.

How do they generate stronger braking?

They just do.

Lol. Alright I'll take a stab at this one.

Braking in the drops gives the hands more leverage on brake levers than in the hoods. So it should also mean that it takes less for the hands to apply sufficient brake power. That's a really good thing when descending long, rough and steep descents. I think this speaks to what Likes is saying, but I can't say they the flared bars can generate more braking power in the drops than bars with no flare. Maybe if one has arthritis and the flared allows the hands to rest in a more comfortable position?

[xterra_dan]

For aluminum I like the Zipp XPLR, for Carbon the ENVE gravel or AR bar.

[mstateglfr]

Here I am trying to figure out why there are flared bars....

What do they accomplish? I'm curious

It's the difference between steering with a tiny wheel and a giant wheel.
The giant wheel requires more input to turn and is therefore slower to turn. It's more stable.

More flare/wider bars are more stable.
Tops for regular riding and flared drops for loose and downhill.
Best of both worlds.

[klasse]

Here I am trying to figure out why there are flared bars....

What do they accomplish? I'm curious

You can get really wide, like a MTB bar. I just recently decided I "must try these before I die." Seems to be all the rage with people who use them. Saw one today with barend shifters. It's a very BOBish thing.

[Germany_chris]

I have Redshift Kitchen Sink bars on all my drop bar bikes

[scoobydrew]

Shimano PRO Discover 12 degree flare

https://www.pro-bikegear.com/us/gravel/handlebars/pro-discover-12-degree-flare-handlebar

I wanted something with a short reach (65mm), relatively minimal flare (12 deg), pre-drilled holes for Di2, modest drop, and flat top. This checked all the boxes. Had the Salsa Cowbell before which was fine but I was missing the flat top.

[Hilltopperny]

I am using carbon cowchippers.

[sjbraun]

Do you feel the carbon Cowchippers have much flex on the drops? I really like the feel of my Al Cowchippers and wonder if the cf Cowchippers might be more comfortable. When I got my Breadwinner last year I let myself get talked into Enve's gravel bars. The Enves do offer a noticeable degree of flex when in the drops, but the drop and reach are a bit more than I'd prefer.

[marc]

Enve

[stec06]

Just grabbed some PNW Coast bars for under $40 and they're great so far. Minimal flare at 12* or something close to that.

[zap]

None.

I disliked the flared "gravel" bars that came on my gravel bike. I use the drops when hammering on the flats or when I want to descend quickly. Wide drops feel odd and is aero bad. The angle of the hoods............

I do not use my gravel bike on technical single track. I have a mtb for that.

[robt57]

For aluminum I like the Zipp XPLR, for Carbon the ENVE gravel or AR bar.


+1 on the XPLR-SL Alloys. Compared to my Easton EC70 AX a lot more hand friendly, a lot cheaper, and what 45 grams heavier?

I have 3 XPLRs now, my new hand friendly goto bars. ;)

[Likes2ridefar]

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[TDot]

With the caveat of limited experience, ENVE SES AR. In fact, I just bought a set off Clean39 because I sold my last set on a bike in the spring.

[C40_guy]

I love the ergonomics of the FSA K-WING AGX handlebar. The carbon version is 25% off pretty much everywhere right now. Unfortunately REI didn't have my width in stock (I could have used an REI dividend to buy a set...)

[AM7Jeremy]

Using a Easton EC70 AX. Cheap and holding up great.

[kiwisimon]

On One Midge.
was good 15 years ago and still is.

[sjbraun]

Salsa Cowchipper

[Hilltopperny]

My current favorite bar is the Whisky Spano. I love this bar for any drop riding including pure asphalt. It's a winner!

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[oldpotatoe]

And I see I put int into wrong thread..wanted to start a new one..Mods, please move?

[tellyho]

Ritchey Venturemax is my fave but also happy with Cowchippers on another bike. I like lots of real estate in the drops - vintage GB randonneurs are also fantastic. Midges are a no go.

[C40_guy]

...I like lots of real estate in the drops...

I remember when I used drops...barely. I think I spend 80% of my time on the hoods and 20% on the tops.

[ploop098]

I love the XPLR ergo alloy bars. I think the SRAM / XPLR marketing is gimmicky, but they have a casual flare and still feel roadie enough for a road bike too.

[bshell]

Flared bars and angled controls are a resounding 'no' for me and I ride mtb trails on my cross bike. Happy just using enve compact road bars.

Great that there are so many options for different tastes. ie. the ritchey venturemax was the worst handlebar I've ever ridden with respect to the drops. The placement of that ergo bump was disastrous for off road.

[sterlingus]

Fully agreed. All I would add is that on the big flare bars, minimal drop is required to fit hands in the drops making stack height less. A lot less in the case of the Ritchey Beacon WCS bars. It gives it an almost/sort of/more like flat bar/MTB feel. And a lot more inviting to use more frequently. My 650B build with these bars is currently my bike of choice.



They just do.

Lol. Alright I'll take a stab at this one.

Braking in the drops gives the hands more leverage on brake levers than in the hoods. So it should also mean that it takes less for the hands to apply sufficient brake power. That's a really good thing when descending long, rough and steep descents. I think this speaks to what Likes is saying, but I can't say they the flared bars can generate more braking power in the drops than bars with no flare. Maybe if one has arthritis and the flared allows the hands to rest in a more comfortable position?

Thanks for the hat-tip to us arthritic riders… I would only ride Campagnolo stuff IF their calipers were canted..as it is on all my bikes I can’t the entire lever inward to ease my wrist arthritis More so on my gravel bike GRX