In recent years, brands such as RaceFace, Easton, Chromag, Kore, Syncros and Fouriers have adopted a 35mm diameter clamping area on some their handlebars. Most brands have stuck with 31.8mm but even this is an upsize from the 25.4mm diameter bars that everyone used in the ’90s. So where’s it going; are we all going to be running 35mm handlebars in a year or two? We’ve been testing a 35mm bar and stem combo from RaceFace to see if we can pick up on any advantages.
This trend towards fatter bars has paralleled the increases in width. When I started mountain biking in the ’80s, handlebars were 25.4mm in diameter and around 560mm wide (although the ‘cool kids’ would cut them down to 500 or 540mm). In the last couple of years many trail riders have moved on to bars in the 720-780mm range. With such a radical increase in width, it makes sense that handlebars should also grow in girth to cope with the added leverage. But is the more common 31.8mm diameter enough and do we need to jump up to 35mm? After all, most DH bars are 800mm wide and used a regular 31.8mm clamp diameter, and it’s not like bar-snapping is a common occurrence in gravity racing these days.
RaceFace states that the 35mm centre section allowed them to go wider without sacrificing strength or stiffness. This seems to ring true if you look at the specs; their 35mm NEXT riser bar is only 5g heavier than the 31.8mm version, yet it’s 35mm wider (760mm versus 725mm for the skinnier one). Compared to other handlebars, the NEXT 35 certainly offers an impressive width-to-weight ratio. Most full-width carbon handlebars are in the 200-240g range, so a sub-200g offering is pretty impressive.
For this review I swapped from a 31.8mm carbon bar that weighed 220g and was 740mm wide. Moving to a wider bar that was actually lighter than my old one raised a few concerns initially, so I was quietly relieved when the review sample came in at 195g. This is still lighter than the majority of comparably wide 31.8mm handlebars but the extra 15g gave me some peace of mind.
RaceFace offers the NEXT 35 bar in two rise options (10 or 20mm) and if the 760mm width isn’t enough, you can step up to the SixC which comes in at 800mm wide (210g claimed). Both of these options are listed as having an eight-degree rearward and five-degree rearward sweep. I’ve encountered bars that are ‘straighter’ as well as some that sweep back more but overall the NEXT bars felt natural and ‘right’.
They come in a nice matte black finish with markings at the ends that serve as a guide if you want to cut them down (they can be trimmed back to 710mm if you prefer). Ours came with plain grey logos but they’re also offered in blue, red, green and turquoise.
Wide yet Light
RaceFace makes the point that the 35mm bars aren’t designed to be stiffer. The fatter diameter simply allows them to retain similar levels of stiffness whilst keeping the weight down for a handlebar of this width. In use they didn’t feel different to other high-end carbon handlebars. They seemed sufficiently stiff with an element of give that helps to damp trail vibrations a bit better than most aluminium offerings.
If you’re currently on a 31.8mm setup and like the beefy looks of the 35mm bars, you’ll also need to purchase a new stem. We complemented our bars with a RaceFace Turbine 35 stem; they’re offered in 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90mm lengths with a six-degree rise (or drop). Our 60mm long sample came in at 150g, which is bang on the claimed weight.
The NEXT 35 bars may have saved around 30g when compared to my previous handlebar but the Turbine 35 stem added 20g, so between the two the savings are minimal. That said, the NEXT 35 bars were 20mm wider whilst retaining a solid and bombproof feel. Visually I also liked the proportions of the 35mm setup—they just look ‘right’ when combined with a wider bar. The only obvious downside is that your existing lights and other handlebar mounted accessories mightn’t fit.
Selling for around $200, the pricing on the NEXT 35 bar is in line with most other high-end carbon handlebars and the Turbine stem is in the vicinity of $129. While it’s not an out and out revolutionary change when compared with a 31.8 system, these bars do offer an impressive combination of width, weight and strength that left me with no complaints.
Groupe Sportif (03) 88781000 www.groupesportif.com
