Tech Week 2023: Clever Cockpits - An Adjustable-Width Bar & Dual-Diameter Stem
Newmen adjustable-width handlebars
Trimming handlebar width can be a daunting process for many, as once you've cut them down you can't go back. This leads to many riders putting up with whatever bar width their bike came with, or at best taking a guess at the width they need, trimming them once and sticking with that.
Newmen, the German brand best known for their wheels, have a better solution called VG, short for VariGrip. Their bar has female-threaded inserts in either end. The grip contains a matching thread on the inside, which allows the grip to be wound towards or away from the stem, over a useable range of 50 mm. The bar comes in two widths, giving a range of 710 mm to 760mm, or 760 mm to 810 mm. Markings on the bar make it easy to set the grips to the desired width, and then a single pinch bolt secures them in place just like a regular single-sided locking grip.
Cross-section of the grip.
The grip uses reinforced fibreglass to give it enough rigidity to cope with overhanging the bar by up to 50 mm. The grip isn't round - there's more padding and thicker ribs on the top side - so it's important to clamp them in the correct orientation for the intended ergonomics.
Here's the coolest part. Newmen are open to licensing their patent to other brands. In fact, they are already in discussion with two other German grip manufacturers, so there could soon be more grip options to suit more riders. They are also considering licensing the technology to other handlebar makers so there could be more options there too. And while this is sort of a new standard, you can use ordinary grips with the bar, or the grips with a standard bar, just not with the width adjustment.
Newman's bars are 31.8 mm in diameter only but are available in carbon or alloy, with 10mm, 25mm or 40mm rise. They have 8 degrees of backsweep and 8 degrees of upsweep. That's slightly more upsweep than most bars, so the shape may not suit everyone.
The alloy 760-810 mm bar weighs 339 g and the grips are 114 g per pair. That's about a 20 g penalty compared to an 800 mm 31.8 mm Renthal alloy bar with ODI grips. The grips are priced at 20€, the aluminium bar at 60€, and the carbon version goes for 120€. Availability is expected in March 2023.
Reverse Components Black-One D-2 Ø31,8 & Ø35mm stem
Having two competing handlebar diameter standards can be annoying, so Reverse components came up with a stem that can accommodate both 31.8 mm and 35 mm bars. It does this with a simple two-part shim, which clips neatly into the stem.
It appears well made and the shim clips into place with a satisfying fit - it doesn't fall out easily when the bar isn't installed. It uses a zero-gap design at the bottom, making it easier to tighten the faceplate bolts without pinching the bar. It's available in two lengths (35 mm and 50 mm) and has two price points, with either steel or titanium bolts.
It appears well made and the shim clips into place with a satisfying fit - it doesn't fall out easily when the bar isn't installed. It uses a zero-gap design at the bottom, making it easier to tighten the faceplate bolts without pinching the bar. It's available in two lengths (35 mm and 50 mm) and has two price points, with either steel or titanium bolts.
It's available now, costing €59.90 / €69.90 USD, or €84.90 / $99.90 USD for the titanium version. The 35 mm long Ti version weighs 127 g.
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Run 800mm bar, adjust the grips and controls narrower and narrower until you feel you are happy.
Then cut at 20% wider, try again, until you are sure.
Cause once you’ve got your width, I don’t think you’re practically adjusting that for different rides, but I could be wrong.
I cant see taking the time to fine tune bar width at a demo. Nothing on a demo bike is goi g to be that tailored, as ,not as the brakes work, shifting works, and the suspension bits move, I think you’re sending people on their way.
Same with rental fleets, this seems like a disaster waiting to happen on a rental bike. There’s a single pinch bolt stopping your grip from rotating, and with the life that rental bikes see, I can only imagine the litigation that would come of it. It would be the first thing I’d get rid of, along with any sort of qr on a rental bike.
Maybe I’m just jaded, I’ve been to two demo days, some of the silliest chaos I’ve experienced. Rented bikes 3 times, each time I was surprised by the state of repair the bikes were in, but prolly shouldn’t have
Quick question, what kind of sales do you think are actually driven from demo tours, etc?
I’m willing to bet it’s a loss leader, and more for brand reinforcement, like car commercials than to drive actual sales. I will accept differing opinions on the subject
The worst for riders with less experience and to complicate things more levers are always pointed too far down and inboard!
What about the Canyon demo was appealing to you, that it has swayed you from the Norco, to wanting a Canyon?
I’m not meaning to be judgemental in any way, over sensitivity to setup can be difficult to overcome, but with such a dynamic sport as mountain biking, being able to adapt to changing circumstances is key to success.
Yoga, balance training, and stretching are a big help in these regards.
What bar are you riding at 850?
Those bars are pure genius. German engineering at its finest.
How often are you making those changes? Between trails, or different riding areas, I’m very curious
I meant i’ve designed some universal bar extenders and have tested them on several different bars with the same result over and over again - problem-free performance.
The 850mm bar - an Easton Havoc 35 800mm with a pair of my extenders. Because of the super long length, i’ve lost control on a rocky section and even managed to crash-test them. Again no problems! That’s what i meant.
You prefer the extra stability that 3mm of extra bar brings to the table, but don’t just go directly to the 780.
If you’re ever in BC’s Okanagan, please let me know, as I’d love to go for a ride, and chat about that more. I’m amazed at your ability to discern added performance from 3mm, and wonder how trail variations, tire wear, sock thickness, etc must impact your riding.
Keep fit and have fun
Typical of PBers to misread or take out of context what was actually said. Nothing was said regarding
any bike being unsafe! Rather proper fitment with bars that are best suited for a person that doesn't need boat oars to navigate trail which can cause unpredictable manners of handling, especially when terrain gets spicy or leafs covering jank; even worse, wet muddy roots that can redirect the front like a marlin on a fishing line
.
Oh and all the things you mentioned are on lock BTW hahahaha
Will these be available in California?
The biggest draw back is you would also have to adjust all your controls with every change of width.
Seems like a great way to figure out what will work best without the trial and ERROR part.
Run 800mm bar, adjust the grips and controls narrower and narrower until you feel you are happy.
Then cut at 20% wider, try again, until you are sure.
Cause once you’ve got your width, I don’t think you’re practically adjusting that for different rides, but I could be wrong.
You need to be more specific, as most of these options do not make any sense, you either slept at English classes or at maths or possibly on both....
Cut it at 20% more than the reduced width you felt was comfortable (10% each side, again, didn’t realize that was tough to figure out as we don’t refer to having 400mm on each side of centre, but we do refer to 800mm bars)
So start with stock (800mm, typically)
Move grips and controls in until you feel comfortable,
Ride trails, adjust as needed (let’s say you settle on 760mm, so you’re reducing by 40mm, 20mm on each side)
Cut 15mm off each side, rinse and repeat as needed.
To add to that, at the start of each season, I usually do a wholesale change of my controls setup. I find the off season gives me the opportunity to reset. I’ll move the seat back, move brakes and shifter, change bar roll, if I have a different stem length I’ll toss it on to try it out. Our bodies, ability, flexibility, weight changes over time, why not try for an optimal setup after a bit of time off the bike.
Rental option requires you to remove all gubbins from your current h-bar, install and centre rental bar, set up to your preferred locations, go through the process of finding your preferred width, then remove everything, and re-install everything on your old bar that you’ve now cut down to your preferred width.
An adjustable width bar doesn’t make the process of finding your preferred bar width any easier, or less of a pain. You’re simply just adding a couple of extra steps (installing rental bar and controls, removing rental bar, re-I stalling old bar), that seem like they’re more of a pain than anything else.
Am I missing something from your comment, am I misunderstanding your point?
Different view points I guess, I just don’t see any value in a rental model for something as easy as moving your grips inboard.
Keep fit and have fun
@the-rise: We can both be heads. Like a two headed monster. Sesamestreet approves.
What I'd like to see is experimentation with things like smaller diameter bars + thicker grips, or floating grips like revgrips at le Tour. Maybe oval bars/grips, and further experimentation on the best angle, or a floating angle (once again like revgrips)
I live in Tweed Valley, which as you most likely know from EWS coverage has tightly spaced trees. I am 191cm with armspan of 196cm (cannot be arsed to conver it into illogical units, ask Google). I am forced to ride with bars cut to 760mm, which is what most people 10-20cm shorter than me ride. Prefer them at 800mm, but it is just too risky. I would like to have one set of bars instead of paying for two or if cost is not an issue, hassle of swapping them when I ride somewhere else.
Is that useful enough?
Yes it can, maybe manufacturers should take note of this. They could also apply the thought process to pretty much any standard.
Why no just make a set of grips with an aluminium core that can support a 25mm overhang on regular bars?
Anyway, the larger size of this bar goes from 810 to 760, so it will still be 10 mm too long for your wife at its narrowest setting. That's what I meant about the min and max lengths having to land in the right place for both people.
There's a mistake in the article: Each grip will be just overhanging for a maximum of 25mm (which for sure is plenty enough) - not 50mm as stated.
Is is "not round", or is it just offset, non-concentric?
Not thanks on this design for me.
I don't think you understand the concept of vibration. Everything has a spring mass damper. There is a reason why you get arm pump, especially if you have weak forearms. What do you think happens when you have 2 rigids and the joint connecting them is a screw. if there is enough vibration it will shear off. I've seen this happen countless times.
I don't think you realize how easy it is to shear off plastic screws. Unless they got a license from Antidote to use Vectran, guaranteed those grips will shear off. Also did you know that grips can and do rotate freely with enough force. If you think the grips are perfectly locked on, you are grossly mistaken. Vibration is Omni directional.
But prove us wrong. Buy it, and report back in 6 months. I think it'll break with in 1 month of hard riding.