Once I had everything mounted up, and the bar trimmed to my preferred length of 785mm, it was time to hit the trails. Six months later, after being fed a steady diet of rugged, technical rides, the SIXC / Atlas bar and stem combo is still holding strong. There haven't been any creaks from the stem, even after being subjected to plenty of rainy, muddy conditions, and the stubby 35mm length has been absolutely flex free. As for the bars, they've survived unscathed as well, and whether I was pushing hard into a corner, or monster trucking through a rock garden, the SIXC bar felt solid, instantly responding to every little input. Bar stiffness can be tricky to get right - while you obviously don't want a bar that feels like an overcooked noodle, bars that are too stiff can quickly leads to fatigued hands. The SIXC bars are certainly stiff, but Race Face has allowed for just enough flex and vibration absorption that they avoid feeling overly harsh, although riders switching from a set of 31.8mm (or 25.4mm for that matter) aluminum bars will certainly notice the difference. My first few rides I found myself wondering if the bars were possibly too stiff, simply because I wasn't used to the level of responsiveness they possessed, but I've since come to appreciate their precise feel on the trail. Aside from stiffness, the actual shape of a bar has an impact on how comfortable they are as well, and Race Face has everything in order on that front. The 8 degrees of back and 5 degrees of up sweep put my hands in a natural feeling position, one that remained comfortable no matter how long of a ride I embarked on. The world of mountain bike standards can be confusing, and downright frustrating at times, but when the end result is a bar that manages to be as wide, light, and stiff as the SIXC, it's hard to deny that the 35mm standard has merit. Does that mean your 31.8mm bars are worthless? Of course not, but for riders that are in the market for a cockpit upgrade, the SIXC bar and Atlas stem combo is an excellent option for any bike. The antiquated notion still persists that wide bars and short stems are only for downhill bikes, but that's simply not the case. Why not have the cockpit of your trail bike to feel nearly identical to that of your downhill bike? Well, with this set up you can, and without the weight penalty typically associated with DH worthy products. - Mike Kazimer |
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1) It worked, 2) it didn't work, 3) it worked, but I picked the wrong configuration
?
This is the stuff I would like to hear about in a handlebar review. Have they fixed that problem, are these carbon bars more forgiving? 35mm is supposed to be stiffer too, which might reintroduce the problem. From the review it sounds like these bars are significantly stiffer and probably not for me.
There is a 780mm version which i rode for 2 years (we don't have seasons in Cally but ride all year long in shorts) now and to my total surprise the still hold up on my Yeti SB66C.
I honestly thought i ride them for a few weeks or month till my wallet fills up again and then replace them with something sturdier but even the 2 summers of excessive of bike-park and DH-track use and some occasional races couldn't break them.
Anyway these bars are so soft you basically get another inch of travel out of them that might not be for everyone but somehow found myself liking it...
I run S-Works carbon drop bars on my road bike and they have added a noticeable (and visible) level of comfort to the front end of my road bike, which felt harsh with the stock aluminium alloy bars. If you get on the drops and push down hard, you can cause the bar to flex, which feels great on rough roads or pave (cobbles).
I also use a S-Works carbon flat bar on my hardtail MTB, which replaced Easton Havoc aluminium DH bar. The carbon bar is half the weight and feels great to ride, its obviously harder to gauge "comfort" as the MTB has a suspension fork and tubeless tires at 25psi which gives a different ride feel to a road bike!
I only really ride the road when I'm commuting, the trails are too muddy, or I'm injured, so it doesn't really matter what I use, but I'm picky about my MTB parts. I'm currently running Giant's 800mm alloy bar on my trail and DH bikes and I have a RaceFace Turbine alloy on my XC bike. Both have a nice amount of give, and it sounds like the 35/Carbon combo is probably not for me.
@katmai I thought the review was good too, just pointing out that there is more to handlebar reviews than "does it work?"
Thanks for your comment - like bike frames it depends on the intended design use of the product, rather than the material itself?
The way you can make a titanium hardtail frame super rigid, or make one that is very comfortable. Same with aluminium alloy, and carbon fibre.
The stock aluminium bar I had were Giant's own drop bar model. I've also tried a Giant Propel aero road bike with their own brand carbon fibre drop bars and that bar was bomber solid, no flex at all, ideal for sprinting but horrible for rough roads.
Making things thicker does not necessarily make them stronger. A thicker part would be less flexible and so less of the energy of an potential impact would be "used up" by flexible deformation of a part and therefore can cause it to break earlier.
@Waki: Its the same like in buildings where less flexible structures are more likely to collapse in an earthquake than flexible ones.
Hmmm...your downhill bike should be different because you actually pedal your trail/xc bike.
Don't get me wrong, I run a 50mm stem and a 780mm bar on my Spec Enduro. However, if you have a short reach/short TT geo bike it may not make sense to run these numbers. Perhaps a 60mm/720mm combo puts that rider in a more comfortable position and running 35mm/780mm would make them feel like they are on a pogo stick?
My point is, proper bike fit is often overlooked by trends. Do what makes sense for your respective bike, geometry and riding style.
If you don't look at the weight of your bar, if you don't have a 800mm wide bar, or if you don't have a carbon bar, you don't need 35 mm bar.
(I have a 6sp 11-24 cassette for downhill and I think it's enough, 5 sp is may be too narrow)
I usually replace Al bars every 18 months, what is the recommended run time on these/with regular year round coastal abuse? If these bars are lighter and thinner, do nics and scratches significantly alter integrity?
But here's the problem making stuff bigger (longer in this case) should make them heavier.
Heavy stuff kind of sucks.
35mm bars and stems make it possible for me to have a 800mm bar which is lighter than my old 750mm bar without it being more flexible (the stem is a little lighter too but let's not get off track.)
I don't feel any change in stiffness and that's great too.
For the same reason as most of the Tour de france pro teams.
www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/videos/sec-features/carbon-fiber-or-aluminium-handlebars-tour-de-france-2014
Fatigue inspection is a great issue with carbon. And handlebars are a very stressed part especially on MTBs. I am not willing to buy new bars after every crash.
tl;dr: don't hate carbon hate the way it was applied
On the other hand the there is no minimum weight for MTBs (or the UCI 6.8kg seems unreachable). So the weight of every component is pushed as low as possible.
But I am not concerned about fatigue itself. I believe Raceface is a reputable brand and would not come up with unreliable components.
The problem is the inspection of cracks in carbon. It is much harder to spot them in comparison to auminium.
flex in a stem? really?