Originally Posted by
bartek.
Thanks for the reply!
I'm still in line to purchase more endurance racing handlebars oriented (both sphinx and sprinting oriented). I did more research regarding stiffness on aero bars and own calculation based on current setup with the Scatto (35/72/128).
I have soon an appointment with my bike fitter and I need few handlebars to choose. Well, he is in charge to select the proper final dimensions but varies options are needed.
I looked also in aero-top section as favourable. I also keep the list only to narrow (<40 mm).
So this is what I got:
1) ZIPP SL-70 Aero 38/70/128 -
https://www.zipp.com/bars/sl-70-aero/
2) Specialized Aerofly II 38/75/125 -
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/s-...ebars/p/157854
5) 3T Superergo 38/77(89)/119 -
https://www.3t.bike/en/products/drop...rergo-559.html
4) Dixie Flyer Hellyer 36/80/120 -
Hellyer Track Bar ? Dixie Flyer Bicycles
3) PRO Vibe Aero 38/80/130 -
https://www.pro-bikegear.com/global/...RO_HA_VIBEAERO
Images of the handlebars are under links. I didn't want to mess on the board more than this spam anyway
As you see all of them are on different dimensions to have some options while fitting however, my question is if this would be good choices for the declared dimensions?
The 3T (3) has pretty nice shape for sphinx position however I am afraid it's too shallow or at least it looks weird. I like Zipp (1) as I use the SL-70 Ergo on my road bike (however it's alloy). Hellyer (4) looks like a good choice and is the narrowest one, I'm just not sure about reach as it's a bit longer (which probably is good for sphinx position) and the drop is almost as shallow as for the 3T!
I'm not that experience in gears to know exactly what shape would suit me the best. All I know is that I lack a good grip for sphinx position in my Scatto bars that I currently own. Other than that I love them and I'm considering to keep them for sprint oriented races even if I'm mainly doing it in lack of my favs ;-)
Any thoughts? It would be appreciated!
OK, I did a testing of all the handlebars listed above plus some more except of the Hellyer. I got plenty of information. Not sure if valuable to you but who knows ;-)
My favourite (from tested) bars due to sphinx position are: Specialized Aerofly II, Pro Vibe Carbon Aero, 3T Superergo Ltd, Zipp Service Course SL-80 Ergo. All of them are super comfortable however some of them put your hands a bit different but still good. Maybe a Zipp is a bit worse for resting on the top tube compared the others but keep in mind it's only alloy handlebar. This means a lot of cheaper.
The next group (nice but not like designed for) includes 3T Superergo Pro (alloy version of the Ltd from the first group) and only this.
The others that were simply not comfortable: Zipp Service Course SL-70, Zipp SL-70 Aero Carbon. I was hoping for the Aero version but math is math and 70 reach is no way for this kind of position.
So I got 4 super comfy handlebars to choose + Hellyer in a backup + a "cheap" version of 3T. The 3T Pro was dropped immediately. Comfort was worse and the handlebars only come in 42cm size.
What else I checked then?
General look: Spec Aerofly II
Stiffness: PRO Vibe Carbon Aero
Drops: 3T Superergo Ltd
Well, it's hard to talk about personal preferences, so lets skip the first point ;-) About second it was only checking "in-hands" and I would definitely say the PRO felt super stiff like Scatto to me. The others felt stiff but somehow not that stiff, however not flex. In my case however, everything came to drops shape. Drops in PRO has some design issues to me as bars change diameters in a place where I put my hands. No go for me unfortunately. Spec drops were not comfortable for me and as I checked I don't like this kind of shape much. This means the winner was 3T SuperErgo Ltd Stealth even if it's super ugly and I need to get a confidence of their stiffness. They were only one that I immediately locked in my hands in all race positions and felt super natural and comfy.
The only problem is that they are 38 cm. And as I currently use Scatto 35, I would live to keep my hands narrower. Hellyer are no go as they have exactly a shape of drops that I don't like. However, maybe someone can recommend narrow (36cm max) dropbars with quite long reach and drops in shape like on the Superergo? I guess compact shape with more classic diameters would fit perfectly to me.
