Guitar Ted's Massive, Huge Flared Drop Bar Review

Flared drop bars for 'off road' have been in my wheelhouse for almost 20 years now. As a result, I have collected quite the pile of aluminum which has been shaped into tubing, bent into weird shapes, and sold as drop bars. I guess I didn't really understand just how many flared drop bars I had until I started poking around my shop and finding stashes of old drop bars here and there, stuck away in dark corners and forgotten. 

So, I decided after writing my post last week about flared drop bar usage in early gravel times that I should do a review of what I've got here. One- Because it might be of interest to those who once knew, have forgotten, or never knew and want to learn more. I know my "Archived Drop Bar Articles" page gets consistent hits, and so I understand that a certain amount of people get their kicks out of checking out what is out there. 

So here is how this review will work. I have a lot of flared drop bars! So, I will link to reviews I have done in many cases to keep the words short here. Secondly, this will be split into three categories: Early And Out Of Production Flared Drop Bars, Current Production Flared Drop Bars, and Innovative Flared Drop Bars. Obviously, as time goes on even handle bars I have listed as 'current' may fall out of production, so if you are coming here many months or years after this posts, don't take this as gospel for what you might be able to get your hands on.

Finally, many of these handle bars were review items sent to me at no charge. These will have asterisks by their names and this means that they fall under my Standard Disclaimer. I will, in any case, offer a short, pithy comment or three on whichever bar I show and my opinions are my own. You may not agree, and that is fine, but I've got riding time on all of these and I don't think I am changing my mind about any of them. So, there ya go.....

Now, on with the show!

Nitto standard road drop bars

 Wait! Those are NOT flared drop bars!! Yes.....that is correct. I just thought it prudent to remind ourselves what classic road drop bars look like, and yes- I used these for a time on a road bike. Note that the extensions are directly underneath the ramps and the 'reach' of the drop is pretty far forward. These features were seen as 'problems' for the drop bar user who wanted to go off-road riding with drops. Thus shallow drop, short reach, flare, and sweep were introduced to solve the problems. I won't get into all the 'why' of these features, but I do have a page to help you see these terms in a visual sense here. 

EARLY AND OUT OF PRODUCTION FLARED DROP BARS

The venerable Midge Bar. The one that got this all started for me.

The Midge Bar was once pretty much my favorite and only flared drop that I would use. I have my longest rides ever on Midge Bars, and I still have a gold anodized Midge bar in use. The two seen here have been around since the 00's! See a good comparison I did early on between this and the next handle bar on this list HERE. Amazingly, you can still buy the Midge Bar. It probably is the flared drop bar that has been in production the longest of any of them! 

Probably the second flared drop you could get that was widely available, the original Gary Bar.

There are many versions of the Gary Bar* out there, but this was the 'OG' of them all. It was similar to the Midge Bar, (see link above), but it had a wildly sloping 'flare' to it which the Midge did not have. This laid the brake levers out really weirdly. This is almost a mustache bar in that regard. A short intro for this out-of-production bar is HERE. I have this one and one I purchased which is still in use on my Raleigh Fixed Gear Rat-Rod. 

The Salsa Cycles Bell Lap Bar

The Salsa Cycles Bell Lap Bar* wasn't one that I wanted to review or even purchase. It was just what came on the Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I when I received it. I never did a proper look at this bar, but I did compare it to its replacement, the Cowbell, in 2011 here. The Bell Lap had some degree of 'flare', but it had too deep a drop and wasn't really what many of us were looking for. However; a handle bar I have coming up is actually pretty similar to the Bell Lap. Stay tuned.....

The Origin 8 Gary 2 Bar was made to address the concerns with the original Gary Bar.

The Origin 8 Gary II Bars were out by 2011 and addressed the perceived shortcomings with the original Gary Bar. I wrote up a review for it here. I wasn't all that impressed as it appeared that Origin 8 went after the Woodchipper Bar which was kind of a mistake in and of itself. No longer in production. 

My old Singular Cycles Gryphon set up with Salsa Cycles Woodchipper Bars

The first big splash made in flared drop bars beyond the Midge Bar was the Salsa Cycles Woodchipper Bar. I definitely do not like Woodchippers. This was a fail in design, in my opinion, due to the radius the designers chose to use and the weird transition from the tops to the swept extensions. While I no longer have any Woodchipper Bars around, you can still get them today. 

Yet another variation of the Gary Bar, the Gary Sweep OS Bar.

The Gary Sweep OS Bar was another variation Origin 8 had made on the flared drop bar concept. I reviewed this one here, and I found it to be 'okay', but it was now a time when bars like the Cowchipper and others were popping up that just were better designs. Had this bar come out five years earlier, it may have well been a classic. It's close, but no cigar. I think this is still available.. 

The Ragley Luxy Bar, (lower) and a Woodchipper for comparison.

 The Ragley Luxy Bar* was a collaboration between myself, Sam at Singular Cycles, and Brant Richards of Ragley Bikes, (at that time). Not much of anything I gave input on was retained, but anyway- they asked me! Had they done what I was requesting we would have ended up with a Cowchipper-like bar before the Cowchipper, but as it was, it came out really well. I was sent two Luxy Bars to check out and they are fantastic. Since then I've tracked down another couple and one I gave away. This bar reached cult-like status after Ragley discontinued it after only one run of them was made. You can read all about it here.

Current Production Flared Drop Bars

The SOMA June Bug is pretty much a knock-off of an On One Midge Bar, but a good one at that.

The SOMA June Bug Bar* was pretty good and a bar I liked well enough. No big surprise as it is nearly an identical bar to the On One Midge Bar. I reviewed the bar here. Good design, good handle bar, but it certainly is not an original design in any way to SOMA. 

You can find this design sold under various names. This one is branded "Gary Ergo Sweep OS" from Origin 8

The next bar up is branded and sold under various names, but probably most notably by Velo Orange and Origin 8. The one I tried out is called the Gary Ergo Sweep OS* and it was a chore to get on with. The drops are weird and they put my wrists at a strange angle which was uncomfortable. Your mileage may vary. I didn't like them and so I did not write up a review. 

The SOMA Gator Bar

The SOMA Gator Bar* might just be the oddest bar ever made in this genre. I wrote a review here. Nuff said....

The Salsa Cycles Cowbell

This handle bar is probably largely responsible for the adoption of flared drop bars for gravel cycling. The Salsa Cycles Cowbell II is an amazingly comfortable bar which is about as close to a traditional road drop bar as you can get in a flared drop bar. I wrote a review here.

The Salsa Cycles Cowchipper is a Cowbell with more flare and a bit more sweep.

In my mind, the Cowchipper from Salsa Cycles pretty much set the bar for any other flared drop bars for gravel to meet or exceed, if that is possible. It is darn near the perfect gravel bar, in my estimation. I wrote a review here. 

The PRO Discover Big Flare handle bar

Of course, the Cowchipper also influenced a lot of following designs, and one of them is the PRO Discover Big Flare Handlebar*. I wrote a review in tandem with MG on this bar here. Still one of my favorites although it isn't currently on one of my bikes. 

The Ritchey Venturemax Handlebar

Remember that Salsa Bell Lap bar above? Well, here is the bar I was referring to in my description of the Bell Lap. It is the Ritchey Design Venturemax Bar*. This handle bar was a good one, and I have been thinking about putting it on a bike again for a long time, but these other handle bars keep coming out and I only have so many bicycles! Anyway, here is my review on this handlebar. 

Whiskey No. 9 24° handlebar on my BMC MCD

 Eventually there were carbon fiber flared drop bars and one of them is the excellent Whiskey No. 9 24°* flared drops. I got these as a gift for my BMC MCD build. They are pretty much carbon Cowchippers, (yes- I realize there actually are carbon Cowchippers) and they feel a lot like them, but better. 

Innovative Flared Drop Bars

Spank Industries Flare Vibrocore 25 Handlebars

Another cool handle bar I got to check out is the Spank Flare Vibrocore 25* Handlebars. These are kind of different from the aspect of the vibration absorbing foam which is inside of these. Another interesting aspect of these is that they have a 31.8mm diameter from the stem to the ramps. I reviewed these here. Pretty cool handle bar that I am still using. 

Whiskey Spano Bar

Of course, carbon fiber affords you all the shaping and layup possibilities which aluminum is limited on or cannot do similarly. This is exemplified in the excellent Whiskey Spano Bar*. I have been pretty enamored of this one since I have had it and I don't plan on it going away anytime soon. I wrote a review here. 

Redshift Sports unusual Kitchen Sink Bar

Well, if you cannot form aluminum like carbon fiber, and you want some ergonomic benefits, the Kitchen Sink Handlebar by Redshift Sports* may be the option for you. Now I have to admit that I really did not think I would last very long after the review period with this bar, but I cannot seem to find any reasons to take it off. It is just that comfy with the extras in the grips that are accessories for the bar. I wrote a review here. It is heavy, and the aero section is sort of useless, but it is so good with those grips. Anyway, it's pretty nice from an ergonomic place. 

______________________________________________________________________________

And that is a wrap for now. If I get anymore bars to add to this, I will jump in and do that. this is in no way exhaustive, representative of now, or what have you. This isn't even all the drops I have ridden. (I can think of a couple others I have tried off the top of my head) But this represents a good overview from the worst, to the best, and from the weirdest to the commonplace designs. It's historical and interesting, I think, and I hope that you enjoyed this look at the flared drops I have tried.

Guitar Ted's Massive, Huge Flared Drop Bar Review

Flared drop bars for 'off road' have been in my wheelhouse for almost 20 years now. As a result, I have collected quite the pile of aluminum which has been shaped into tubing, bent into weird shapes, and sold as drop bars. I guess I didn't really understand just how many flared drop bars I had until I started poking around my shop and finding stashes of old drop bars here and there, stuck away in dark corners and forgotten. 

So, I decided after writing my post last week about flared drop bar usage in early gravel times that I should do a review of what I've got here. One- Because it might be of interest to those who once knew, have forgotten, or never knew and want to learn more. I know my "Archived Drop Bar Articles" page gets consistent hits, and so I understand that a certain amount of people get their kicks out of checking out what is out there. 

So here is how this review will work. I have a lot of flared drop bars! So, I will link to reviews I have done in many cases to keep the words short here. Secondly, this will be split into three categories: Early And Out Of Production Flared Drop Bars, Current Production Flared Drop Bars, and Innovative Flared Drop Bars. Obviously, as time goes on even handle bars I have listed as 'current' may fall out of production, so if you are coming here many months or years after this posts, don't take this as gospel for what you might be able to get your hands on.

Finally, many of these handle bars were review items sent to me at no charge. These will have asterisks by their names and this means that they fall under my Standard Disclaimer. I will, in any case, offer a short, pithy comment or three on whichever bar I show and my opinions are my own. You may not agree, and that is fine, but I've got riding time on all of these and I don't think I am changing my mind about any of them. So, there ya go.....

Now, on with the show!

Nitto standard road drop bars

 Wait! Those are NOT flared drop bars!! Yes.....that is correct. I just thought it prudent to remind ourselves what classic road drop bars look like, and yes- I used these for a time on a road bike. Note that the extensions are directly underneath the ramps and the 'reach' of the drop is pretty far forward. These features were seen as 'problems' for the drop bar user who wanted to go off-road riding with drops. Thus shallow drop, short reach, flare, and sweep were introduced to solve the problems. I won't get into all the 'why' of these features, but I do have a page to help you see these terms in a visual sense here. 

EARLY AND OUT OF PRODUCTION FLARED DROP BARS

The venerable Midge Bar. The one that got this all started for me.

The Midge Bar was once pretty much my favorite and only flared drop that I would use. I have my longest rides ever on Midge Bars, and I still have a gold anodized Midge bar in use. The two seen here have been around since the 00's! See a good comparison I did early on between this and the next handle bar on this list HERE. Amazingly, you can still buy the Midge Bar. It probably is the flared drop bar that has been in production the longest of any of them! 

Probably the second flared drop you could get that was widely available, the original Gary Bar.

There are many versions of the Gary Bar* out there, but this was the 'OG' of them all. It was similar to the Midge Bar, (see link above), but it had a wildly sloping 'flare' to it which the Midge did not have. This laid the brake levers out really weirdly. This is almost a mustache bar in that regard. A short intro for this out-of-production bar is HERE. I have this one and one I purchased which is still in use on my Raleigh Fixed Gear Rat-Rod. 

The Salsa Cycles Bell Lap Bar

The Salsa Cycles Bell Lap Bar* wasn't one that I wanted to review or even purchase. It was just what came on the Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I when I received it. I never did a proper look at this bar, but I did compare it to its replacement, the Cowbell, in 2011 here. The Bell Lap had some degree of 'flare', but it had too deep a drop and wasn't really what many of us were looking for. However; a handle bar I have coming up is actually pretty similar to the Bell Lap. Stay tuned.....

The Origin 8 Gary 2 Bar was made to address the concerns with the original Gary Bar.

The Origin 8 Gary II Bars were out by 2011 and addressed the perceived shortcomings with the original Gary Bar. I wrote up a review for it here. I wasn't all that impressed as it appeared that Origin 8 went after the Woodchipper Bar which was kind of a mistake in and of itself. No longer in production. 

My old Singular Cycles Gryphon set up with Salsa Cycles Woodchipper Bars

The first big splash made in flared drop bars beyond the Midge Bar was the Salsa Cycles Woodchipper Bar. I definitely do not like Woodchippers. This was a fail in design, in my opinion, due to the radius the designers chose to use and the weird transition from the tops to the swept extensions. While I no longer have any Woodchipper Bars around, you can still get them today. 

Yet another variation of the Gary Bar, the Gary Sweep OS Bar.

The Gary Sweep OS Bar was another variation Origin 8 had made on the flared drop bar concept. I reviewed this one here, and I found it to be 'okay', but it was now a time when bars like the Cowchipper and others were popping up that just were better designs. Had this bar come out five years earlier, it may have well been a classic. It's close, but no cigar. I think this is still available.. 

The Ragley Luxy Bar, (lower) and a Woodchipper for comparison.

 The Ragley Luxy Bar* was a collaboration between myself, Sam at Singular Cycles, and Brant Richards of Ragley Bikes, (at that time). Not much of anything I gave input on was retained, but anyway- they asked me! Had they done what I was requesting we would have ended up with a Cowchipper-like bar before the Cowchipper, but as it was, it came out really well. I was sent two Luxy Bars to check out and they are fantastic. Since then I've tracked down another couple and one I gave away. This bar reached cult-like status after Ragley discontinued it after only one run of them was made. You can read all about it here.

Current Production Flared Drop Bars

The SOMA June Bug is pretty much a knock-off of an On One Midge Bar, but a good one at that.

The SOMA June Bug Bar* was pretty good and a bar I liked well enough. No big surprise as it is nearly an identical bar to the On One Midge Bar. I reviewed the bar here. Good design, good handle bar, but it certainly is not an original design in any way to SOMA. 

You can find this design sold under various names. This one is branded "Gary Ergo Sweep OS" from Origin 8

The next bar up is branded and sold under various names, but probably most notably by Velo Orange and Origin 8. The one I tried out is called the Gary Ergo Sweep OS* and it was a chore to get on with. The drops are weird and they put my wrists at a strange angle which was uncomfortable. Your mileage may vary. I didn't like them and so I did not write up a review. 

The SOMA Gator Bar

The SOMA Gator Bar* might just be the oddest bar ever made in this genre. I wrote a review here. Nuff said....

The Salsa Cycles Cowbell

This handle bar is probably largely responsible for the adoption of flared drop bars for gravel cycling. The Salsa Cycles Cowbell II is an amazingly comfortable bar which is about as close to a traditional road drop bar as you can get in a flared drop bar. I wrote a review here.

The Salsa Cycles Cowchipper is a Cowbell with more flare and a bit more sweep.

In my mind, the Cowchipper from Salsa Cycles pretty much set the bar for any other flared drop bars for gravel to meet or exceed, if that is possible. It is darn near the perfect gravel bar, in my estimation. I wrote a review here. 

The PRO Discover Big Flare handle bar

Of course, the Cowchipper also influenced a lot of following designs, and one of them is the PRO Discover Big Flare Handlebar*. I wrote a review in tandem with MG on this bar here. Still one of my favorites although it isn't currently on one of my bikes. 

The Ritchey Venturemax Handlebar

Remember that Salsa Bell Lap bar above? Well, here is the bar I was referring to in my description of the Bell Lap. It is the Ritchey Design Venturemax Bar*. This handle bar was a good one, and I have been thinking about putting it on a bike again for a long time, but these other handle bars keep coming out and I only have so many bicycles! Anyway, here is my review on this handlebar. 

Whiskey No. 9 24° handlebar on my BMC MCD

 Eventually there were carbon fiber flared drop bars and one of them is the excellent Whiskey No. 9 24°* flared drops. I got these as a gift for my BMC MCD build. They are pretty much carbon Cowchippers, (yes- I realize there actually are carbon Cowchippers) and they feel a lot like them, but better. 

Innovative Flared Drop Bars

Spank Industries Flare Vibrocore 25 Handlebars

Another cool handle bar I got to check out is the Spank Flare Vibrocore 25* Handlebars. These are kind of different from the aspect of the vibration absorbing foam which is inside of these. Another interesting aspect of these is that they have a 31.8mm diameter from the stem to the ramps. I reviewed these here. Pretty cool handle bar that I am still using. 

Whiskey Spano Bar

Of course, carbon fiber affords you all the shaping and layup possibilities which aluminum is limited on or cannot do similarly. This is exemplified in the excellent Whiskey Spano Bar*. I have been pretty enamored of this one since I have had it and I don't plan on it going away anytime soon. I wrote a review here. 

Redshift Sports unusual Kitchen Sink Bar

Well, if you cannot form aluminum like carbon fiber, and you want some ergonomic benefits, the Kitchen Sink Handlebar by Redshift Sports* may be the option for you. Now I have to admit that I really did not think I would last very long after the review period with this bar, but I cannot seem to find any reasons to take it off. It is just that comfy with the extras in the grips that are accessories for the bar. I wrote a review here. It is heavy, and the aero section is sort of useless, but it is so good with those grips. Anyway, it's pretty nice from an ergonomic place. 

______________________________________________________________________________

And that is a wrap for now. If I get anymore bars to add to this, I will jump in and do that. this is in no way exhaustive, representative of now, or what have you. This isn't even all the drops I have ridden. (I can think of a couple others I have tried off the top of my head) But this represents a good overview from the worst, to the best, and from the weirdest to the commonplace designs. It's historical and interesting, I think, and I hope that you enjoyed this look at the flared drops I have tried.

Ti Muk 2 Gets A New Bar

The Answer Pro Taper Carbon handlebar.

After waiting two full weeks past my ordering date, these Answer Pro Taper Handlebars finally showed up. I ordered them directly from Hayes up in Mequon, Wisconsin. That's just shy of a five hour drive from where I live. Yet it took two weeks to get the handlebar here? I could have ridden the Ti Muk 2 there and back in less time. Anyway.......

I'm a little miffed. Hayes nor the USPS gave me much to go on in those two weeks. In fact, my last communique' from the USPS said that the handlebar was "moving to the next facility". Yeah....that's comforting. But I hear this is par for the course now when ordering stuff. I guess my excellent experience recently ordering from Silca is extraordinarily rare. 

But, the point! Yes......the handlebar arrived! I got it installed and went for a ride immediately. I have a very good feeling that me and this Pro Taper bar are going to have a long, happy relationship. I surmised, as you may recall when I first brought up this handlebar, that the extreme sweep of the Jones Carbon Loop Bar was just not in agreement with me ergonomically. Not 100% at least. This Pro Taper bar looked like a good middle-ground between average sweep and the Jones sweep. Goldilocks? Yes, it would appear so, at least at first blush. I'm going to give this a bit of time before I declare this a done deal, but let's just say I am in no hurry to go put that Jones Bar back on. 

Anywho.... How about some images?

Excuse the filthy nature of the beast, but here you can see how my hand height is about the same as with the Jones Bar.

This bar is wider than the Jones bar, and it allows for a clear path for my Schmidt light to shine.

Like the black wings of a bird.....Caw-caw!

I was a bit concerned how this Answer handlebar would play with my dynamo light, but the mount snuggles right up against the stem, and there was enough straight handlebar to accommodate that mount. Plus, now I have a clear path for the light to shine instead of getting shadows from the cable housing runs, as with the Jones bar. 

The Ergon grips are nice, and I do like them, but I am going to pop for a set of the Bio-Kork Ergon grips when I can get those because they insulate a bit better than these will in the cold temperatures. I could have cut down the ESI Silicone grips I had on the Jones Bar, but I might be selling those, and whomever buys them may want those too. 

So, the experiment has been kicked off, and so far things look good. Oh....and for those who care about such things: The Pro Taper Bar weighs 190 grams. So, I lost a bit of weight with this swap also. Anyway....I will be putting in more rides on the Ti Muk 2 as cooler weather approaches, so I will update things when that happens. Right now I have a massive cleaning job to do, (obviously), and I need to do tubeless maintenance on these Cake Eater tires. Then I should be ready to roll onward. 

Stay tuned......

Ti Muk 2 Gets A New Bar

The Answer Pro Taper Carbon handlebar.

After waiting two full weeks past my ordering date, these Answer Pro Taper Handlebars finally showed up. I ordered them directly from Hayes up in Mequon, Wisconsin. That's just shy of a five hour drive from where I live. Yet it took two weeks to get the handlebar here? I could have ridden the Ti Muk 2 there and back in less time. Anyway.......

I'm a little miffed. Hayes nor the USPS gave me much to go on in those two weeks. In fact, my last communique' from the USPS said that the handlebar was "moving to the next facility". Yeah....that's comforting. But I hear this is par for the course now when ordering stuff. I guess my excellent experience recently ordering from Silca is extraordinarily rare. 

But, the point! Yes......the handlebar arrived! I got it installed and went for a ride immediately. I have a very good feeling that me and this Pro Taper bar are going to have a long, happy relationship. I surmised, as you may recall when I first brought up this handlebar, that the extreme sweep of the Jones Carbon Loop Bar was just not in agreement with me ergonomically. Not 100% at least. This Pro Taper bar looked like a good middle-ground between average sweep and the Jones sweep. Goldilocks? Yes, it would appear so, at least at first blush. I'm going to give this a bit of time before I declare this a done deal, but let's just say I am in no hurry to go put that Jones Bar back on. 

Anywho.... How about some images?

Excuse the filthy nature of the beast, but here you can see how my hand height is about the same as with the Jones Bar.

This bar is wider than the Jones bar, and it allows for a clear path for my Schmidt light to shine.

Like the black wings of a bird.....Caw-caw!

I was a bit concerned how this Answer handlebar would play with my dynamo light, but the mount snuggles right up against the stem, and there was enough straight handlebar to accommodate that mount. Plus, now I have a clear path for the light to shine instead of getting shadows from the cable housing runs, as with the Jones bar. 

The Ergon grips are nice, and I do like them, but I am going to pop for a set of the Bio-Kork Ergon grips when I can get those because they insulate a bit better than these will in the cold temperatures. I could have cut down the ESI Silicone grips I had on the Jones Bar, but I might be selling those, and whomever buys them may want those too. 

So, the experiment has been kicked off, and so far things look good. Oh....and for those who care about such things: The Pro Taper Bar weighs 190 grams. So, I lost a bit of weight with this swap also. Anyway....I will be putting in more rides on the Ti Muk 2 as cooler weather approaches, so I will update things when that happens. Right now I have a massive cleaning job to do, (obviously), and I need to do tubeless maintenance on these Cake Eater tires. Then I should be ready to roll onward. 

Stay tuned......

Friday News And Views

 Who Started This Gravel Bike Nonsense Anyway?

The "Global Cycling Network" is a site and You Tube channel that is very popular. They have a great sense of humor and their videos are always very well produced and written. More like a television production, really. Anyway, last weekend I was alerted to watch their latest (at that time) video on gravel cycling and "who is to blame for it and 'gravel bikes'". 

Well, much to my surprise and enjoyment, they mentioned Trans Iowa and had former Trans Iowa rider and winner of T.I.v5, Joe Meiser on, and he mentions me by name in the interview GCN did with him. (See the video here) The piece was done in association with Salsa Cycles, by the way, so that would account for maybe why I got mentioned, I suppose, but either way, I was pleasantly surprised to see the piece. 

Even if you don't agree about any part I had to play in things, check out the video. It's pretty well done, and the opening bit is hilarious. 

An excerpt from the latest LOOK Bicycles Press Release

LOOK, This Isn't Funny:

I heard about a weird press release a while back out of LOOK Bicycles which featured news about a gravel racing team they were going to support. I eventually must have made the cut to be on their radar as I received the same release only a day later. This was late last week when I saw this. 

So, things start out well enough with the typical marketing banter about gravel, how exciting and popular it is, and how this team is going to be at certain high profile European based gravel events and hopes to be at "....UNBOUND Gravel, the most prestigious event on the American calendar,". 

Okay, that's all fine. No harm, no foul. But then you scroll down and the team members are presented. The image shown here is the first you see- the "Team manager"? Ah........My first reaction was, "It's not April 1st, is it?" Wow! And the other three member's profiles are no better. We have Rémi Aubert, AKA "The Doctor", shown in clinical whites with a .....wait for it.....a hypodermic needle in hand! The next rider is nicknamed "The Gardener", and is shown with a gardening shovel on his shoulder with the tag line of " Legend says that the road is never the same after he has ridden it". I don't even understand that. Must be a French thing. Anyway....

I suppose this was meant to be 'funny' and somehow be genuine and 'down-to-earth', like grassroots gravel, but it sorely misses the mark. It certainly doesn't seem serious, and I still don't know if I should laugh, (it is a joke?) or what I should think of that press release. One thing is for sure- That's maybe the weirdest press release I've ever been sent! 

PRO Vibe Evo handle bar. Image courtesy of Shimano.

Isn't It About Time For Handlebars To Evolve?

For all of the evolution in design we see- from pedals, drive trains, wheels, brakes, and even the clothes we wear for cycling- handle bars seem to have been overlooked. While we get a few different shapes, and maybe a stem clamp diameter change every 20 tears or so, the basic handle bar remains pretty much as it has been for over a century. 

Well, maybe that is all about to change. In my opinion, the only reason handle bars haven't changed radically is due to the archaic way that the controls are attached to them. Especially on drop bar bikes. The ancient band clamp mechanism works, certainly, but it also limits the bar to a certain diameter and shape for much of its length on drop bars. 

The advent of electronic shifting has kind of accelerated the idea of having your shifter work, and mount, in brand new ways. Shift pods, buttons, or other triggering gizmos are going to free up how we shift. Think about the hybridization of mechanical and electronics, as with the Archer Components (scroll down page linked) system I tried last year.  That button system could be molded right into a handle bar of any shape or size. Brake lever perches could be adapted to slide along a track to accommodate different ergonomic needs. It could be pretty interesting.

Obviously 'standards' would need to be set within the industry. This is why a component giant like Shimano should be watched closely as they have the horsepower to set trends. Did you know that it was Shimano, in cahoots with Fox, that got the industry to switch from 20mm through axles to 15mm ones? And flat mount brakes? Who do you suppose started that deal? 

So, when Shimano introduces a new handlebar with integrated grips and an aero shape, it gets me to thinking, maybe something else is coming along these lines. Something for gravel with integrated vibration damping grips, remote 'pod' shifters, and who knows? Maybe even a hybridized electric/mechanical shifting set up. 

SRAM AXS Rival may have a companion gravel group soon called "XPLR".

SRAM to Counter GRX With Rumored "XPLR" Gravel Group:

Rumors are flying that SRAM is about to unleash a new wireless gravel group set of its own to compete with Shimano's GRX groups. 

Rumors have it that the group will be a 1X12 featuring a 10-42t cassette. The name for the group is said to be "XPLR", which is interesting since the tire company Donnelly uses that same name for its gravel tire range. 

Along with the 12 speed rumors scuttlebutt is that there will be a companion dropper seat post and a Rock Shox branded gravel front suspension fork. When these parts will become available, or even announced, is not yet known, but web watchers have reported that some online retailers have already posted listings for the parts, (no images), so introduction seems imminent. 

Stay tuned......
 

Gravel Promenade Tomorrow With N.Y. Roll:

Yes, you too can ride with the great N.Y. Roll! He has a little gravel soiree' lined up for ya. It's about 77 gravelly miles out in Eastern and Southern Black Hawk County. He is leaving at 8:00am sharp from Prairie Grove Park which is in South Waterloo. 

I've ridden all of this, unless he's going places out of Black Hawk County that I haven't been to, and I can vouch for the 'cool' factor here. It's a great route and you will have a good time of it if you go. You should go too, ya know. N.Y. Roll doesn't think anyone will show up, so prove him wrong, why don't-cha?
 

That's a wrap for this week! I hope that y'all get outside and enjoy a ride or two! Thanks for reading G-Ted Productions.