Potentially dumb question but why are there 6 cables coming from the bar?

I would have thought a bar specifically developed by SRAM for etap would allow internal routing of the shifter cables to the blip box. I just don't get the point of wireless when it actually means adding to wires to your cockpit?

Nice looking bars, and great to hide the box.....but those WIRES!! Is it really that hard to figure out how to hide them. You are literally the same company. There is no reason to have them sticking out from both the box below and the extensions.

Maybe this is not the intended installation.

4 blip wires: 1 on each extension and 1 by each brake lever
2 brake hoses

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Alex Arman

Strava

Yes but my question wasn't what are the 6 wires but why are there 6 wires. Surely the better solution for the blips was to internally route them and keep them hidden. I just don't see why they need to run externally. So what am I missing? Is there a good mechanical or practical reason you do not want to full integrate the electronics into the bars?

Can’t find any reference to whether that new hardware from the base bar up will work with the previous Zipp Vuka Aero and Vuka Stealth bars. It appears like it would. Same question for the center cap for the older Zipp Vuka Aero.

Hoping Ben Waite will jump in here and clarify!

Hi SummitAK, and Slowtwitch,

Nathan from Zipp here. I am the product manager for Zipp bar, stem, and seatpost. Happy to answer questions for you. The Center Cap is compatible, there is a finish difference, but it will fit.

The Extension towers are not backwards compatible. The old VUka Aero/Vuka Stealth was built around a ±3° tilt. The new Vuka Aero is designed for +10° the mating surfaces are no longer compatible, sorry.

Best

Nathan

Holy cow. This looks pretty messy for halo products in 2019. That nose cone is slick, but appears to have a bit of frontal area. Cool how it places nicely with normal stems though.


Alpha X + di2 is a few years old and it's easy to hide everything except ~4 inches of one wire and the rear brake line in a single shrink wrapped piece.

Edit: It appears there's a much better way to route the etap shifter wires (below), but the Aerodorks didn't get the instructions or ignored them.

I would like to know if that nose cone will work with the older cone?

there is even two whacking great slots at the front of the bar which i'm sure could have had a tweak to allow cable passage into the nosecone?

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'to give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift'...Pre

Here is a diagram showing the internal routing for Blips and clics.

Much better!

The Center cap will fit older Vuka Aero Bars.

Great work! I especially like that you guys are including arm pad angled wedges.

Just to check my math:

10 degree extension tilt + a 110mm rise extension = hella praying mantis hands.
10 degree extension tilt + 15 degree arm pad wedge = 25 degrees of supported elbows/forearms

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Alex Arman

Strava

Alex your math is the same as my math.

The fit section in the manual is great. I haven't examined it exhaustively yet but it looks like I may not need to pester you for further details...
Is the curve of the tilt mechanism the same as the older bars?

Nice looking bar overall, good to have another fit focused option.

Thank you for following up with detailed info Nathan. I've built up several bikes with Vukas and they are great bars. The limitations have generally been the pad rotation/stack change variables (plus extension bolt access in narrow config!) and the minimal extension tilt. So it is a bummer about the lack of backwards compatibility.

If I understand you correctly the compatibility issue is due to the mating surface tilt area profile in the top of the previous basebar not matching the profile of the new extension risers. Zipp came through in the past on the Vuka Low-Stack extension clamp option. Assuming the extension riser bolt centers are the same, and because the tilt functionality moves to the top of the extension riser stack, maybe consideration could be given for providing an aluminum 5 or 10mm extension riser adapter with the bottom machined to match the older bars and the new tilt profile at the top to match the new extension clamps and risers? But maybe I'm looking at the incompatibility wrong?

Very slick. The fit flexibility with the tilt looks nice as well

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Matt

Any idea if the di2 junction would work?

Hi SummitAK,

We could build that 5 or 10mm riser to allow use of the new towers, but you still would be limited to the ±3° tilt, as the bolt mating faces are different to allow the higher level of tilt. There is no way we can adapt that.

Nathan

How is the armrest stack compared to the old vuka aero. Im looking for a lower solution now

I put this cockpit on my new Ventum build with 11-spd eTap. It is super stiff and aero and was very adjustable for my fitter to set me up on (I have particularly broad shoulders and also wanted an upward tilt of the pads and extensions).

And even though I was informed that it would effectively trash my warranties, I was able to get my 11-speed eTap blip box to fit inside of the nosecone. I got my dremel out and hollowed out the webbing in the nosecone that allows the AXS blip box to fit perfectly inside. Then I cut off the Garmin mount from the back of my 11-speed blip box and belt sanded the plastic down. It's a super clean build after that (and all of the wires are hidden from the wind, but also easily accessible - best of both worlds). Clearly it will be better with the AXS, but it definitely will work with the 11-speed blip box if you're handy (and brave).

Is it? The base bar looks really thick

clean! i wrote that bar up on our front page the day you posted this.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

and where the heck are the sram brake levers with integrated shift buttons already??? etap has been out for years at this point and the only solution is still the blips?

Does shimano have a patent getting in the way or what?