Yup
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Flare and/or out sweep? Outsweep is more important than flare for comfort. Flare is only good if you use the curved portion of the bars under the hoods or your bars are low, close, and the drops don’t extend far backward. There also center section sweep for standing-climbing.
The enve bars are flared, but not swept. I’ve got few bars - wide out swept drops are the s***, preferably with an egg-ergo shape - which doesn’t exist.
note:
-narrower is aero-er - 2cm of width equals the difference between aero and round bars; not all companies measure bars the same c-to-c)
-“Ergo” egg shaped bars are also ~50% as aero as aero bars over round.
-There also center section forward/rearward sweep for standing-climbing. (see FSA , Shimano-Pro use of the word sweep)
-If you have hydro disc brakes/internal cable routing and don’t want a million hours in labor, get externally routed cables (bar divots). Cabling through the bars is a 45min+ easy + bleeding the brakes + re-tuning the shifters.
-The specs on bars are bad. Buy a few bars and return the rejects.
I’ve got the FSA AGX ones and that divot on the corner has torn up my palm. Ive since cutup a shoe insole to use as filler. The aero bits are flattened, but turned up 10deg, so not fully aero. Despite the longer drops, these put the drop comfortable grip at the base of the curve, so these are best something between reaching down-out.
I also have the Zipp xplr ones, which have a nice shape, but I’d go down a size next time. The drops are angled don’t extend very far back - these are for fits that reach out, not down.
The Easton Aero EC70 are subtlety flared, but nicer than the AGX drops because they are outswept, not flared. They also extend further back than the Zipp Xplr ones.
For road aero with outsweep - Zipp, Easton EC70/90, and Bontrager for 5deg
For cheap aero with outsweep - https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/cycling-components/bike-handlebars-accessories/bike-handlebars/road-bike-handlebars/bontrager-elite-aero-vr-cf-road-handlebar/p/23238/?colorCode=black
Deda Superzero Alloy Handlebar | Drop Handlebars | wiggle.com
Ritchey WCS ErgoMax Bar | Adventure and Road Bike Handlebars
PRO Discover Gravel 12 Degree Sweep Handlebar | Sigma Sports
Kitchen sink - Aeroghiaia - 3T Bike
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Getting closer! hah. I’d ride ± 12cm for my road bar if they had 34-46. Just need narrower options!
We do! And love it. Could use a bit less of an acute angle and achieve better shifting and braking ability in the drops if hood mount points could move a bit narrower.
Got pictures of flare vs. sweep for dummies?
Flare = Enve Aero bars
Outsweep= Zipp XPLR
Tops sweep = Pro Pursuit bars
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Flare is a rotation of the drops around the longitudinal axis and outsweep is a rotation around the vertical axis. That road.cc article above has some pretty good graphical depictions of the different geometries.
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Helpful, thank you!
Also very helpful. Thanks.
So now… can someone comment on why they personally like sweep in one direction or the other? Seems like there are conflicting views among manufacturers. I’ve ridden my wife’s 2018 Cervelo S5 bars which have a backwards sweep to them but I suspected that was just for isolated aerodynamic performance of the bars and not an ergonomic consideration by Cervelo. Felt fine. As do my non-swept bars.
I climb in the tops almost exclusively. Someone convince me that I should care about sweep! (if this is a thread hijack, please banish me to a new thread)
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Way too narrow! How’d you even hold them.
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Yes, a typo. He clearly means 38cm or 380mm.
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Clearly…
Aero is everything!!!
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I don’t have a ton of experience with various bars but my general understanding is that most ‘ergo’ bars (like the zipp bars) will have ~3deg of back sweep on the tops of the bars (different than the outsweep of the drops). I’ve found that his is a bit more comfortable for climbing on the tops b/c of wrist angle. They will also usually have a bit of an ovalized top to spread out the pressure on your palms.
Other bars (like Vision’s integrated cockpits) will have a forward sweep to their bars. I’ve usually seen this claimed to be for more knee clearance when climbing or sprinting
I may be 94kg but I have T-rex arms and tiny hands.
jk. apparently I am a serial cm to mm typo artist.
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Makes sense. I think I may use such a narrow hand position relative to my gorilla shoulders that my wrist angle might prefer a forward-angled sweep. But probably low priority for me by comparison to a big flare with narrow hoods.
Very interesting. Sounds like this is a pretty sweet option.
I’d like to add that Ritchey’s products are perfect and there are 2 decent options more - WCS Carbon Rizer and Comp SC Rizer(review about them). Aren’t they?
Thx for your recommendations and opinion