one piece bars and stem

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stu1903

Über Member
Location
Scotland
I've got the FSA Plasma Carbon Bars. Bit on the pricey side tho.

http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/181/Plasma-Integrated-Compact-Handlebar
 
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Mr Haematocrit

Mr Haematocrit

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I was looking at them and the weight put me off a little, Im building a bike which I hope to get the weight really low and thought that by running a one-piece stem and bar I would save weight, but this does not seem to be the case from what I have learnt so far.
What are the bars like to live with, are they stiff and do they dampen road vibration well?
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
You need to be careful in choosing one of these one piece systems, because they either fit perfect or they don't. If they don't there is nothing you can do. You need to get the right combination of stem length, rise, handlebar width, drop shape and bar rotation.

Also they will tend to be heavier than most "lightweight" stem and bar combo's because they have a lot of extra material.
 

Zakalwe

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I don't think I've seen any that are significantly lighter than individual parts either, usually a fraction heavier f anything. I'd rather have seperates personally, so I can rotate the bar angle to how I like it. The main benefit I would imagine is the stiffness rather than weight savings.
 

Zakalwe

Well-Known Member
Have you thought about something like the Ritchey C260? Pretty light, very stiff with the bar mount. Bit of hassle to change bars around once taped.
 

amaferanga

Veteran
Location
Bolton
How much do you weigh and how strong a cyclist are you? Is the stiffness of a stem/bars actually an issue for you or has all the marketing crap from manufacturer's just convinced you that you need to spend hundreds of pounds on a stiff stem/bar combo?
 
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Mr Haematocrit

Mr Haematocrit

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im 60.5kg and an ok cyclist, don't know if im strong or not really. On my Venge I run a really short stem of 80mm and found that some bars gave horrible feedback with it, the only way I can discribe this sensation is that the bars felt like they had a bit of flex and seemed to feel like they were resonating. it could have been in my head or something totally different. I ended up using a Zipp stem and Zipp bars and no longer get the same sensation, even though the bars are the same width as before, the same goes for the stem... Now im building a new bike I need to decide what bars im getting, but do not wish to get the sensation I have previously.
 
that's probably more to do with the Venge frame being rock-solid, as opposed to any issue with the bar/stem. I'm just using ITM alutech stuff on my SL3 which seems to do the job...
 

stu1903

Über Member
Location
Scotland
I love the bars but agree that you have to ensure that the setup will be right for you.

Very stiff and dampens vibrations well.
 
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