Another vote for the prime bars, and go narrow. Nothing comes remotely close for price/features/performance/weight. They even left a small round section to mount a bike computer and is rated for clip on aero bars. So versatile and might be the only bar on the market with this feature these days. Super stiff if you sprint on them.
I also went +10mm on the stem with the swap.
Rented an Emonda last week in Mallorca with traditional 42 cm bars and it felt so ridiculous after my 38s! Loved the bike otherwise though…
As long as it doesn’t markedly change anything else - I’ve seen one rider try to get themselves narrow by holding the tops by the stem, and as a result end up almost bolt upright! Not really doing much to reduce frontal area ( Cd is a bit more complex)!
Nice, I had never tried anything beyond my bolt mount in that space! It is definitely narrow so your results might vary depending on stem face width and exact mounts you use… But in any case, I’m not aware of any other model on the market anymore that even has the potential to do this.
Anyone ride the Enve SES Aero Handlebar (or SES AR) and see any merit to them flaring out in the drops that much? Other brands do it too but not to the extent Enve is doing it (afaik). Why do they do it to that extent (handling?) and what do you prefer?
I have the SES Aero bars….they are designed that way to provide a narrower profile when on the hoods, but your normal width when in the drops for better control and stability.
The SES AR follow a similar philosophy, but not as much flare. They are meant for a wider application, from road to gravel. I’m ordering a pair this week for my gravel bike.
Do the hoods get angled in a bit for further aero/comfort gains due to the flare? What are your thoughts on angling the hodds in a bit for a more natural hand position? I didn’t really like it in the drops on my straight Zipp SL70 bars but could see with the flair it being somehow better? Appreciate the conversation around this topic.
For the SES Aero bars, there is a bit of an inward angle for the levers, but nothing as significant as what you see some pros running today. I haven’t yet played with angling them in further…
I’m in the market for a new handlebar. I currently ride a 40cm Service Course Zipp SL 70 Ergo (Alu) handlebar. It was always meant as a stop gap before I wanted to commit longterm to a narrower bar as I was used to 44cm. My PT measured my shoulders to be 38cm. When I ride with the 40cm Zipp bar I find myself often to ride with collapsed(?) wrists as to make myself even smaller. So I question if I should go even narrower or if that’s just a preffered riding position. I rarely ride in the drops but I feel like I’d like a bar that flares the drops out. The SL70 Ergo has a bar reach of 70mm. I often ride in the aero position with the elbows in a 90° angle and the wrists resting on the bar, hands on the hoods, so sometimes I feel like the 70mm reach is a bit on the short side as I’d like more support in this position. I have different stem lengths to swap out. Currently ride 100mm. As for material please advise. Carbon is maybe a bit more compliant? Does that even matter with such a narrow bar whilst riding on the tops?
So far I’ve looked at the Zipp Service Course SL 70 XPLR. They don’t come narrower than 40cm, they are alu bars and flare out quite a bit (6cm). They are wider on the tops, which I’d like for climbing (big hands). They are Alu and relatively inexpensive.
Enve makes a compact road bar with a bit of flare in the drops, the SES AR with only the drops being angled out so straight hoods, unless you angle them yourself or the SES Aero bar with a 5cm flare in the drops. Obviously Enve is more expensive than Zipp and would give more Reach (79 vs 70mm).
Another option I’ve found is the PRO PLT ERGO CARBON which comes in quite a few different configurations. But it’s not available anywhere I looked. flare is only 2cm too…
Beast components has a nice gravel bar. But it’s $$$ and only comes in 40cm and flares out to 51cm(!)
It’s a steel frame so I didn’t bother to look at integrated cockpits. I don’t have internal cable routing and porky handlebar with slender headtube looks dorky anyway. Are there any other options I shoudl look at? Thank you in advance for your help.
Anyone not using 36cm bars is screwing up and throwing away watts. I don’t care how wide you think your shoulders are, or any other excuses. You’re throwing away a huge amount of watts, and everyone can comfortably ride 36cm bars if they get past the psychological barrier and stop being a snowflake about it.
Hahaha that’s quite the hot take indeed. I felt and still feel the transition going from 44 to 40. I seldom stand in the tops but when I do, boy does that feel awkward with the 40cm bars. There’s definitely a difference. Going even narrower would probably feel even funnier in some circumstances. But I‘d like to give it a try. Do you lend me yours? Quite the expensive experiment
Do you have any favorite 36cm carbon/alu bars you could share with me?
I have them on my road bikes and am using a 130mm stem to compensate for the short reach. Super comfortable and I really feel like I’m cutting through the wind.
I initially bought them as a cheap experiment but now I love them. Holy grail of aero bang for your Buck!
They do feel a little wonky out of the saddle at first but as far as riding in a straight line and handling it’s no issue for me. I’ve actually been doing better riding out of the saddle less anyway, but I can still do it with the narrow bars there’s just less leverage. The trade off is worth it for me because at a certain point you’re a parachute riding out of the saddle and it isn’t helpful.
