Just like when we looked at World Cup DH
cockpits every rider has their unique setups for their race cockpit. We have looked back through our collection of bike checks from EWS races to find some of the bar and stem combos that are being run by some of the world's top riders.
Cecile Ravanel:Renthal provides an all-aluminum cockpit for Cecile with a 760mm wide and 30mm rise bar. She also runs a 40mm stem with 10mm of spacers below.
Remi Gauvin:For the Pietra Ligure round of the short 2020 EWS season Remi Gauvin opted for a 760mm, 35mm rise bars with a 40mm stem.
Iago Garay:Iago Garay ran a complete Burgtec setup on his Santa Cruz with an alloy 22mm rise bar that has been cut down to 760mm. For his stem, Iago opts for the Mk3 enduro stem in 50mm.
Isabeau Courdurier:Isabeau runs a full Renthal cockpit, her bars are cut at 760mm and are anchored to a 33 stem.
Adrien Dailly:Adrien runs 780mm wide Tag Metals Carbon bars in 35mm diameter and a 20mm rise, they are clamped onto a 35mm T1 stem.
Florian Nicolai:The Bontrager bars are 785mm in width with a 27.5mm rise, they are attached to a 35mm stem which he usually runs 20mm of spacers below. Florian prefers running alloy bars so there is no carbon to be seen here.
Jesse Melamed:RaceFace NextR 35mm rise and 740mm wide bars bolted to a RaceFace TurbineR 32mm stem for Jesse in 2020.
Maxime Chapuis:Maxime Chapuis is another rider running a Renthal cockpit with 780mm wide bars and a 33mm stem.
Romain Paulhan:Romain Paulhan chooses Burgtec's DH bar cut to 760mm with their 35mm Mk2 stem.
Matt Walker:At the start of 2020 in Rotorua Matt Walker was running a Renthal Fatbar cut at 760mm and a 50mm Apex stem.
Greg Callaghan:Greg Callaghan chooses the shortest Race Face Turbine stem at 35mm which he pairs with a 770mm Next bar.
In 2019 Greg is still running the Next bar at 770mm but he is using a short 30mm stem. Although at the time he mentioned this was a recent switch from 50mm.
Back in 2015 at EWS Ireland Greg opted for 760mm Syntace bars that are mounted to a 40mm stem. He is also running quite a tall stack of spacers which he says is to get the bars at his preferred height.
Joe Barnes:A 750mm, 35mm rise OneUp Carbon bar and a 50mm OneUp EDC stem for Joe Barnes on his Orange.
Five years earlier Joe was running a narrower 740mm Renthal Fatbar Light carbon bar that was mounted to a 50mm Renthal stem.
Mark Scott:Mark Scott is another racer with a Burgtec setup as he runs a 20mm rise Burgtec carbon enduro bar that is cut to 750mm. For the stem, he has the 35mm Burgtec Enduro Mk2.
Killian Callaghan:Killian Callaghan picks Renthal 35mm bars with a 40mm rise and cut to 780mm wide for Rotorua 2019. He runs this with a 50mm Renthal stem.
Ines Thoma: Ines chooses a 40mm stem and 760mm bars in 2019 which is down from 770mm the previous year.
Martin Maes:Martin Maes' 2019 cockpit sports a 50mm stem with 780mm bars.
Maes' previous setup at the Finale round in 2018 saw a 55mm Race Face stem in combo with a 780mm wide bar.
Dimitri Tordo: Dimitri choses a 40mm stem and 740mm bars in 2019.
Zakarias Johansen:Zakarias Johansen runs just one spacer underneath his 40mm Race Stem stem which he bolts a 760mm bar. For his cockpit setup, he will keeps this the same throughout the year even if a course is steeper than others.
Christian Textor: A 50mm Gravity stem and 770mm bars with 25mm rise for Christian Textor on his Bulls race bike.
Katy Winton:Katy Winton runs 750mm bars and a 50mm stem. For Finale in 2019, she opted for a spacer underneath although she normally runs without.
Theo Galy:Theo Galy equips his race bike with 20mm rise bars cut to 750mm which he combines with a 50mm stem for Madiera in 2017.
Damien Oton:Also in Madeira during the 2017 season Theo Galy's teammate Damien Oton also runs 750mm, 20mm rise bars but he prefers a 40mm stem.
After running 770mm bars for the Whistler EWS round, Damien swaps this out for a 750mm bar for the tighter Finale trails.
Jerome Clementz:For Finale Jerome Clementz runs a 750mm wide handlebar, but he does switch between a 30mm and 40mm stem.
Yoann Barelli:A Renthal Apex 35mm stem and Fatbar handlebar cut to 760mm for Yoann Barelli on his Commencal.
Miranda Miller:Miranda Miller was running a 760mm Joystick bar with 28mm of rise mounted to a 50mm stem in Finale.
Richie Rude:A surprisingly narrow 740mm Renthal FatBar Lite Carbon with a 30mm rise for Richie which he pairs with a longer 60mm stem
Are all cockpit set ups showing the riders in the same or similar position (eg seated riding is arms at X degrees, torso angle at Y degrees etc)?
Cockpit set up is all down to the individual and based in their comfort and performance requirements. If the individual set up all leads to a similar position? Then those positions, angles etc are more important than bar height? Width etc.
Also keep in mind that reach grows as the bike is angled down, so adding spacers and losing some reach makes sense on bikes that are primarily built to be pointed downhill.
You also have to consider sweep which can shorten the cockpit, and then there are bars like the Nukeproof Horizon V2 that offset the bar forward to negate this loss of reach.
Tons of factors at play with cockpit setup- much more than I think most people realize.
Rabbit hole. |
V
What stem length?
if in doubt...760mm and 40mm combo...Seems to be where it's at I take from this.
Job done, go ride your bike.
I mean, how much are custom headcaps anyway.
My legs are not that strong so they can only manage 170mm... By the spring I hope they'll be strong enough to run 165mm
I've been mountain biking since the early 90s and have had all sorts of metal bars, cheap ones, expensive ones, over tightened bolts etc etc and I have never ever ever had one fail ever! Cannot say that about carbon ones can we?
Also, when a pro is relying on their bar not only to finish a race but also to avoid serious injury I would suggest that it shows a degree of confidence in the product...
If people want carbon bars, why not?
Its a status, you dont ride carbon BRO? You not even like biker BRO!
Its a trend, pumped by manufacturers, and will hopefully go away.
I think it is simply that people are obsessed with the weight of their bikes, and that climbing is not as fun as descending - it's easier to throw money at the issue than training time. To me the marketing about carbon is firstly about weight, then they sell the strength as it is 'despite' the lower weight...
What im trying to say is that I personally rather go with more weight (we talking grams here!!!) then paying more for the same part which is much likely to fail sooner, so you can pay even more for newer “better” model.
I think there's a place in the market for both, and choice is a good thing. I would say that there doesn't seem to be many issues with carbon handlebars to my knowledge, compared to cranks for instance... If the price was right I'd have no issue with carbon handlebars but, as you say, I imagine the weight difference is actually pretty negligible (particularly when you consider I'm on a bike that is on the heavier side of the spectrum)...
I will use ENVE as a classic example. 2k for a set of wheels and until very recently every review done of these they have snapped them! Yet it's never the fault of the carbon..always excuses as to why it failed.
But thats not the case with bikes, which are constantly hit by sharp objects (rocks) or taking fall hitting surface in unpredictable angles when carbon can be easily damaged. Sure if you are pro XC racer and fall means you done race anyways, and you can get your bike replaced after race sure. But for anyone who does use their bike on regular basis,... the risk is just too big.
Here are some examples for why metal is stronger. Raceface always had lifetime warranties on their metal cranks. When they brought out their carbon crank claiming it was 'lighter, stiffer, stronger, better'. They only put a 3 year warranty on it!!! Why??
Enve wheels.... Paul Aston broke these wheels under test/review.... 2k wheels!! Enve just would not accept the fact they broke was because they were made of carbon, it was exuse after excuse.
Carbon has never ever been stronger than metal components its a load of bollox. Yes in a lab you can prove its stronger but not in the real world
I could argue that this engineering fixation also applies to aluminium frames - look at the recent episode where the Pole Stamina broke. Does that mean aluminium is a poor material to build a bike, or that the engineering behind that bike was poor?