New member here and fairly new gravel cyclist. I recently bought a Giant TCX Advanced SX for gravel riding. I really like the bike but the bars are too wide and more reach than I like. It came with 44cm flared bars and I ride 40 on my road bike. The Giant bars also have much more reach than I am used to.
My road bike has Ritchey Curve bars. Compact bars with short reach and drop. I really like them and feel totally comfortable in all positions.
My question - should I order the same 40cm Ritchey Curve bars for the gravel bike? Or, I am also looking at the Ritchey Evomax bar which is designed more for gravel with some sweep back on top and also a 12 degree flare. I've also seen some people suggest slightly wider bars for gravel - should I consider 42cm?
My $.02: Personal choice and preference. I too prefer narrower road bars with a shallow drop. But, I ride mostly on maintained dirt and gravel roads; and tend to favor traditional road or CX equipment. If your plans include rougher terrain and even single track, you may prefer a wider flared bar. Some folks even prefer flat mtn. bike bars for the rough stuff - especially descending tricky single track and such. I'm currently riding 3T 40 cm Alloy bars with a flattened top section and shallow drop. I find the flattened top section very comfortable- especially when the road gets rough and bumpy. I also ride a lot in the shallow drops when descending and cornering for better control and braking. The shallow drops are friendly to my 74 year old lower back.
Thanks. I'm leaning toward the Evomax bar at 40 cm. It has a sweep back on top for more ergo hand position and the flare would be effectively a 42cm bar in the drops. Seems like it will give me the low reach compact design I want with the benefits of the sweep and flare. found it on sale to boot.
texag wrote:Thanks. I'm leaning toward the Evomax bar at 40 cm. It has a sweep back on top for more ergo hand position and the flare would be effectively a 42cm bar in the drops. Seems like it will give me the low reach compact design I want with the benefits of the sweep and flare. found it on sale to boot.
The flare definitely helps avoid a crowded cockpit with narrower bars. I'm going to check it out. Might be a good choice for me as well.
texag wrote:Well, fyi if you click the Ritchey add right above the forum that Ritchey cross bike happens to have this bar on it.
I bought the frame set -- didn't pay too much attention to the Ritchey bike build. Not surprised that his build includes stuff I would like -- over the years I've never been disappointed with anything with a Ritchey Logic label. I never met him; but we both came out of the same NY/NJ melting pot. I'm a few years older, though.
Funny you mentioned Giant standard bars vs Ritchey.
I remember test riding a Defy maybe four years ago. Nice bike, but the reach was too long for me. Looked up the bar specs and noticed they did have a long reach (90?)
The bike I ended up with had the Ritchey Comp Curve bars. Much better for my needs.
Anyhoo, I'm putting together a gravel bike build, but aren't planning on doing any too-hardcore riding. Thought I'd look around for some carbon bars (a first for me) and ended up with Satori X-Race Aero carbon. They do have a slight flare which is what I was looking for. They look and feel great in the hand.
Took a few measurements:- - reach from centre-to-centre is around 56mm. - drop from bottom-to-centre is around 127mm. - 420mm-wide centre-to-centre at the front of the hooks - 444mm-wide centre-to-centre at the bar end/bottom of the drops
