BRAN Gravel: Decisions Made

 It is getting closer to crunch time and the bags need to be packed up. Decisions need to be made. Last week I wrote about bike choice and for myself, it came down to two bicycles.

The Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I is a crowd favorite. I posted an image on Facebook and Instagram of that bike and it got a lot of views. It would be the "People's Choice" bike to take on BRAN for the gravel route. 

This may not be fair, as I did not post a similar image of the Black Mountain Cycles MCD.  The bike may have received as many views as the Fargo. I can only say the two bikes got a different take here on the blog as commenters seemed to lean toward the pink machine instead of the venerable veteran choice. 

And the MCD is actually the bike that is going to Nebraska this time. I thought about this a lot, but a couple of things came to mind which swung the pendulum towards the BMC. One of those has to do with tires and what I heard randomly at work last week. 

A man came in to the Collective who said he was from Northwestern Nebraska. We got to talking about things and the subject of goat heads came up. In case you are unaware, goat heads are round-ish, smallish thorny bombs of doom and can ruin a bicycle ride in a hurry. 

The man said that in Western Nebraska this year the goat heads are at a higher level than normal. He suggested to not even roll my bike through grass out there. And he strongly suggested I run a tubeless set up. 

Of course, both my bikes under consideration are tubeless currently. However, only one has puncture protected tires, and that is the BMC. I just mounted both sets up within the last few months, but I will inject just a little extra goop into the Schwalbes before I go. Plus I will take a Stan's DART tool, extra sealant, and valve cores. 

I also mounted my XTR 11 - 40T cassette which is paired with my 46/36T crank set. This gives me two gears of 1 to 1 or lower which should be enough to get me up any hill I encounter out there. As I (vaguely ) recall, the hills aren't super steep, but longer than we have out here in Iowa. The elevation profile on Ride With GPS also suggests this with climbs of a mile to a mile and a half in some places. 

You may be wondering if my GRX derailleur will actually work with this cassette. While Shimano does not suggest that it will, if you carefully choose the correct chain length and use the B tension screw you will find it shifts in and out of the 40T cog quite nicely.  I even still have a little B tension screw sticking out beyond the derailleur, but I wouldn't push the capacity any further than 40T and expect great shifting. 

 So, there is the bike I am taking and how it will look. The water carrying capacity is great. I have low enough gearing with fast enough road gearing to suit me. The Schwalbe tires roll excellently on pavement and there will be paved sections of this ride nearly every day significant enough in length that this will make a difference. 

There is a Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro stem on this bike which should help take the zing out of the gravel. The Ritchey Design Venturemax carbon handlebars will help as well. Their flattened ovalized top section will be a nice respite for tired hands on long climbs. 

Now I have to go through my tool roll and top tube bag to see what I do or do not have. I may need to get rid of some stuff as well. Otherwise this is it. Now on to packing the rest of the gear up! 

Review: Ritchey Design SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar: Final Word

 Ritchey Design sent over a SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar for test and review at no charge. I am not being paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout. Also, make sure to read the newly revised "Drop Bar Terms Defined" section to better understand this review. 

The time has come to give you my final verdict on this handlebar from Ritchey Design. Before I dive into that, you should check out my previous post on this bar HERE and my introduction to the bar with all the specs HERE. 

The one thing that kind of bothered me about the SuperLogic was that I just was not finding that "sweet-spot" in the drops like I was finding with the aluminum Venturemax. Everytime I rode the bike with the aluminum bars I was hitting that nice grip in the drops that made my hands happy. But with the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax (SLCV) I wasn't getting that 'happy-place' feeling. But these Bio-Bend things weren't that different on the SLCV, were they?

I was determined to try anything to find out if I could replicate my experiences on the aluminum bar with that carbon bar. I went out on a ride recently and without changing a thing, hey! Suddenly I was hitting that spot and I feel that perhaps some hand injury I experienced at work during the time I was testing  the SLCV may have been the culprit. 

Whatever it was, the SLCV really did feel like the aluminum bar as I gripped the extensions. Yes - You still have to pick up your hand and move deep into the drop to use the levers. That is one thing I'd change about the Venturemax in both of its iterations if I could. 

The SLCV has a really well done flattish "flats" section from the stem to the ramps. It is shaped and tilted 'just so' and that felt right to my hands and arms. The section is wide enough to lend good hand support yet not so wide that you cannot get a grip on the tops to control the bike. 

Those ergonomically flattened sections past the stem are done quite well.

The overall ride quality is .....fine. I mean, the SLCV is maybe a tic more compliant than the aluminum bar, but I probably couldn't tell the difference if I was blindfolded and rode both bars back-to-back. So, if you were hoping that the SLCV was going to be a vibration absorber, well, I don't know that it would be quite all that. 

It is lighter than an aluminum Venturemax and it has more features due to the use of carbon fiber. In that sense, it is "the better bar" of the two versions, but it does cost well above what an aluminum Venturemax bar would cost. Here you would need to value the ergo tops, the hidden cable routing, and the lighter weight of the SLCV. 

One more thing that may cause you to choose another bar is if you need to clamp on accessories to the handlebar. As you can see from the above image, the SLCV lends little space for your accessory mounts. 

And that Bio-Bend. You have to get on with that, and this facet of the design, more than anything else, is probably going to be the fork in the road for accepting the Venturemax design or not at all. I can only speak for myself and say that this feature is one of the things I do like about the Venturemax design. So, from my viewpoint, it is a positive thing. 

Final Word: The SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax is an evolution of a design that might fit your needs and in my opinion is a very comfortable handle bar in all positions. The Bio-Bend thing is divisive and does cause one to have to adjust for reaching the levers a bit, but if the carbon features appeal to you, and you ride mostly from the hoods anyway, that may not matter to you. In my opinion it is definitely a step up from the aluminum bar and this would make a fine addition to that nice carbon or titanium gravel bike, a great choice for fine steel handmade bike, (or a Ritchey, of course!), or just a general upgrade to your gravel bike, whatever it may be.

Review: Ritchey Design SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar : Mid-Term

 Ritchey Design sent over a SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar for test and review at no charge. I am not being paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout. Also, make sure to read the newly revised "Drop Bar Terms Defined" section to better understand this review.

I've been riding this new Ritchey Design SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax handlebar for several weeks now and I have some impressions to share. The technical data and a close look at the bar can be seen in my introduction post by clicking HERE. If you have not read that you may want to check that out as well.

Briefly, I have been sent the 46cm width to test and I have it mounted to my Black Mountain Cycles MCD model as you can see here. This is the first handlebar I have used on one of my own bicycles that has integrated routing. That made for a bit of an interesting installation. 

Installation: The MCD has a full-run cable housing set up for both the brakes and the rear derailleur. I did not want to have to replace all the housings just to run the cables through the handlebar. So, I removed the inner wires and decided it would not be a bad idea to replace those. I then was able to do the routing of the front derailleur cable and front brake at my bench. I had to "back-feed" the rear housings through the bar, which ended up being a bit of a juggling act with everything still connected to the bike

It might be a job best left to the professionals....

In the end, I was successful and everything came together just fine. Again, as I mentioned in my introduction, the hash marks on the bar are a godsend for getting the levers level without driving yourself crazy. The textured areas for the stem and lever clamps is also a nice touch here. 

Wrapping the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax (Can I just shorten this to SLCV?) was no big deal. The "bump" in the extensions is nothing to fear when it comes to wrapping this handlebar. Getting around the bend to the flattened tops will use up more tape, as does the flattened top section, so a box of tape with a good stretch and longer length is advisable. I used some MSW tape which worked fine and is relatively inexpensive. 

First Ride Impressions: 

Well, I have the aluminum Venturemax and I have been putting in a lot of miles on that handlebar to be able to compare these two together. Ritchey mentioned something about adjusting the ergo-bump in the extensions in their press release on this new SLCV bar and yeah..... I can feel a difference. It hits the palm of my hand a bit differently than the aluminum bar's ergo-bump does. 

Now, this is a highly subjective take on this bar, and you may find yourself on the opposite end of this, but I like the ergo-bump on the aluminum bar a bit better for my hands. The SLCV's egro-bump is fine, it is just that the way the aluminum bar fits into my hand is more perfect, again - for my hands. 

The flat tops of the new SLCV are really nice. This is a position that works for climbing longer grinds, crusing, and anytime you just need to sit up and relax the back and hands a bit. That bit of backsweep, while not noticeable, is something that will put you more at ease as well, allowing for a bit more relaxed ergonomics there. It's a subtle but effective detail on this handlebar. 

One negative aspect of flattened tops is that most accessories will not mount on a flattened cross section bar. You get a tiny amount of space either side of your stem, and that may not work well. See in my image how the light is slightly canted? That is because the base of the light housing is against the stem's "out-front" computer mount and I cannot straighten it out perfectly. Is it good enough? Yeah, probably, but this may be an issue for some accessory items. My GPS has a place to sit, at least! 

Okay, but what about how the SLCV rides? Is the juice worth the squeeze? I will say that this bar is more forgiving from a flex standpoint. It definitely has a bit more going on there than the stiffer aluminum bar does. The other big deal is the ergonomics. You cannot do some of these shapes in aluminum, not yet anyway, and so having leveraged carbon fiber to do the things you can do with it yields some neat ergonomic benefits. Things like the extremely flattened tops, sharp transition from tops to ramps, and the ported cable routing. 

These things add up and make the SLCV a nicer Venturemax than the aluminum version. Now there is cost. The aluminum Venturemax costs $109.95 at the time of this writing. The SLCV? $299.95. That's quite a difference there. Well, what about the weight differences? The SLCV is 35 grams lighter, on average, depending upon the width of the bar. 

So, why not choose the aluminum version? Sure! Why not? If a somewhat heavier, stiffer bar is okay with you, and if the ergonomic differences between the two make no difference to you, then you would be right to go less expensive. 

But sometimes marginal gains are just what you may need, and/or appreciate, over the 'not quite so nice' version. Or - Maybe you are one of those folks that think carbon fiber has no place in use for a handlebar. Gotcha! A completely valid choice for you. 

So Far... From my saddle, the SLCV is a nicer bar than the aluminum one. I still haven't quite settled into the ergo-bump on the SLCV as being as good a perch as my aluminum Venturemax's is. To that point, I have heard from others after introducing this review that they like the Venturemax and really wish it did not have the ergo-bump thing in the extensions. And I can see their point as well. You do kind of have to make a concerted effort while switching the hand position from resting on the extension to braking so you can get up on the elevated section of the extensions and into the drops. 

I guess it isn't as annoying to me, but perhaps Ritchey would consider making a Venturemax sans ergo-bump to satisfy those folks who are not into that kink. 

Beyond that? Yeah, there is not much else to say at this point other than this is a nice carbon handlebar with some unique features and feel. I'll be riding more on this handlebar and will return with a final word on it later this Summer. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section and I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading!

Review: Ritchey Design SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar

The SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar

 Recently Ritchey Design put out the news that they now offer a SuperLogic Carbon version of their Venturemax drop handlebar. I was asked if I would like to have a sample sent to me for test and review and I said that I would. So, here we are. 

Ritchey Design sent over a SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar for test and review at no charge. I am not being paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout. 

I have had a Venturemax alloy bar for several years now and while it was out of rotation for use for a bit I decided to use it on my Honeman Flyer recently. The handlebar brought back good memories of how the Venturemax's flare, slight sweep in the extensions, and the "bio-bend" worked to give me comfort on gravel rides. So, when I saw that Ritchey had given this model the SuperLogic Carbon treatment, I was all-in.

The WCS Carbon allowed Ritchey to dial in 4° of backsweep to the tops.

The use of carbon allowed Ritchey to tweak the design of the Venturemax in ways that would be difficult, very expensive, or impossible to do in alloy. Obviously there is the flattened tops section. By the way, you may want to brush up on the drop bar terminology I use by checking out this article HERE.

Another area that Ritchey was able to massage a bit because of the use of carbon was in the area of the Bio-Bend, the bump in the drops' extensions that defines the look of the Venturemax. It is slightly different than the alloy version's "bump". You also get a 4° backsweep to the tops for better ergonomic fit, a 24° flare to the drops, and interestingly you also get a 6° sweep to the extensions which Ritchey confusingly calls a "flare out". Sweep to the extensions is a rare feature in a flared drop bar, so I took notice of that immediately. 

Internal routing is now an option and the stem and lever clamp areas are nicely textured to prevent movement of components.

The gradations on the drops aid in setting up lever controls.

The reach and drop figures for this bar are shallow and short at 102mm of drop and 76mm of reach. These are some of the most minimal figures in reach and drop you can find. Other features of the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax are the compatibility with Shimano's EW RS910 Junction box, a 31.8mm clamp diameter, and a claimed weight of 228 grams for the 42cm width. 

These bars are measured a bit differently for width as Ritchey takes the measurement at the initial bend, at the outer edge of the bars, rather than where the hoods would be located. This means that the bars will sit in your hands at the hoods a little narrower than you'd expect. So, for example, the bars I was sent are "46cm" bars. Now the ramps of the drops are lined up with the 6° of sweep in the extensions, meaning that anything following that line will be narrower forward of the tops section. This puts the levers at a canted inward position if you line the levers up with the extensions. Anyone familiar with Salsa Woodchippers knows how this works, although in that case the situation was more extreme. I estimate that these feel a bit more like a 45cm bars in the hoods than a 46cm bar from another brand would feel. So, not a big deal, but it is notable. Also it needs to be pointed out the the extensions are wider than this, with the 24 degrees of flare.

The widths available are 40cm, 42cm, 44cm, and 46cm.  The price for the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar is $249.95 USD. 

First Impressions:

The SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax feels familiar in my hands, as it should since it is pretty close to the alloy version. The flattened tops section should prove to be a comfortable addition to this handlebar, but there is a compromise to this as it limits the area you have to clamp on accessory items. 

There are several ports and holes for the Shimano Di2 feature that are molded into this bar. Everything related to these looks crisply and cleanly executed. These ports also give you a glimpse of the inner portion of the handlebar which looks as clean and smooth as the outside, albeit you see the carbon weave inside and a plain matte finish outside. 

The marketing blurb on the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax page mentions touring and single track, giving one the impression that this bar is intended for everything from pavement to mild singletrack usage. This gives me the impression that any of my typical gravel rides won't be an issue for the integrity and lifespan of this handlebar. 

I popped the handlebar on my digital scale and it showed me 249 grams for the 46cm width I was sent. That seems pretty fair in my view as this is a wider bar than the one Ritchey based their weight estimate on. I'm not going to grouse over grams as it matters not to me if the bar is super-lightweight if the ride quality is poor. That ride quality bit will be determined later on, obviously. 

I really like that Ritchey used a textured surface for the stem and the levers to grip on to. That and the gradations for positioning the levers is very much appreciated. There is nothing like having that bug in the back of your mind that suggests that your levers are not at the same level. I'd rather not go that route, so the gradations are a nice feature in my opinion. 

Now to get these mounted to a bicycle and start riding. Stay tuned for that to happen soon.