Here are my thoughts, some pics and a short video of it. Love em. I need a pair.





http://badig.com/...morf-tech-prototype/

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Badig| Strava

Useful review.

In the 'road' position it's not quite as sleek as it could be (see below), though I suspect it will still test faster in 'aero', especially with a rider. On the other hand, the construction looks robust.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Great review!

Question, in the video you posted, you were pausing between the aero and bull horn position. During those pauses, were you locking the bars in place, or just holding them there?

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Strava

I would like to see the pads lower if possible the stack looks high.

Unless it's a different version than I rode, he was just holding them there. The only place you can lock them is all the way back in the base bar position. The bars don't actually lock in the aero position (at least mine didn't). This doesn't compromise stability at all IMO.

Every time I see this thread it makes me want my bars more and reminds me how archaic a traditional aero setup is.

After watching your video... admit it... the first time you go to aero takes a bit of faith, doesn't it? :)

Frank mentioned to me that will be adjustable via traditional spacers. Functionally, there's no reason you couldn't directly mount the arm cups/pads directly on the bar IIRC.

I haven't talked to Frank in while about things, mostly because I made a decision that I wouldn't ride them this year. That decision had to do mostly with not knowing for sure if they will STAY legal and the possibility that a rider could move from an aerobar to a basebar, not lock it out, and have some sort of handling issue on a descent, turn etc.

This response is not necessarily just for you, but for anyone else that has ridden the bars. I love the innovation but I guess like when it comes down the Ventum, I am not sure I personally want to be the guinea pig on CRITICAL new bike gear. Now that the Ventum has more ride hours, my confidence has grown. I am sure my confidence will grow with Morf as well if it makes it into production and we get lots of ride hours on them.

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I've been thinking about that as well. What occurred to me is that, in a worse case scenario, my hands are still on the brakes thus allowing me to scrub speed. Let's say I'm coming down a hill going into a turn and I can't lock the bars back for some reason. I can still scrub most (if not all) of my speed. I might topple but I won't be going very fast.

I've also weighed, in my mind, the potential safety aspects of his bar vs the safety of a regular bar. Things are a bit different for me than for you in a race. My age group often goes off in the middle of the race and, at larger races, I'll pass hundreds of people on the bike course. IMO, in that scenario, the safety benefit of an extra second of reaction time afforded by the MORF bar outweighs the safety detriment of a potential mechanical failure. Also, very few of my races have any significant elevation change. For me, the safety math favors the MORF bar. For you, I could see how that might not be the case until it is more proven.

That said, I'd hope Frank has put a lot of thought into this aspect of the design. He did mention to me the pins are redundant: e.g. if one pin fails to lock but the other pin does lock then the entire bar will be locked back. Perhaps at some point he can come on here and talk about failure points and how he dealt with them.

No locking. The only locked position is all the way back at bullhorn position.The movement is tight enough though that you really don't need it. The bars stay put where ever you move them to. For me, it really was an Ah-Ha moment when I started riding in all the various positions inbetween full aero and bull horn. That was one of the great things about the original Scott bars (although there's likely just a few people left on this site that rode those), all the hand positions it afforded.

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Badig| Strava

Great write up TJ, THANK YOU!

Great feedback by all, I'll try to answer everyone's questions best I can.

Arm pad spacers - you are correct, there will be a much shorter spacer under the pad support. There are several spacers that can be installed to adjust height. The ones seen there are about 12mm, standard will be 5mm. I agree, it looks pretty tall as the unit sits right now.

Safety - I completely understand this concern and appreciate the feedback here. This has always been my number one concern and number one priority. The second prototype that I put 2500 miles on was in no way even close to a refined product. I had the lock mechanism attached to outer portion of the bar where the hands make contact. This meant that the load of locking was taken through the cables which is not ideal. So I moved the lock in to the center pivot point for each bar end and energized it with a stiff spring. All loads from the locks are now centralized into as few components as possible reducing failure points. As Greenplease noted, there are two locks, one for each arm. Each arm is mechanically linked and one cannot move without the other. Both locks must be disengaged in order to move the bars, i.e. Redundancy. That said, what happens if the bars aren't pulled back far enough and aren't locked at all. On the first prototype, there were times during my training (on that not very refined prototype, not these bars) that the locking mechanism wasn't working at all. I could still manage it because the load applied is down and forward, not just forward. Tom, I think as you put it, we just need more miles on the product to get some folks more comfortable with it which is totally understandable.

Lock location - The bars are designed for a single lock position in the fully upright or retracted condition. The original prototype had a ratchet that locked in multiple locations but I found people struggled keeping the trigger released to allow it to go all the way to the aero position. With the single lock position, the lock is much simpler, more robust and reliable.

Again, thanks everyone for the feedback!!! I love the support. Stay tuned, presale is going to happen very soon!!

Thanks!
Frank
http://www.morf-tech.com

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Thanks,
Frank

http://www.morf-tech.com

I can appreciate someone hesitant about new innovation. Especially one that has moving parts that previously didn't. Like what was previously mentioned though, your hands are still on the brakes at all times, and if the lock out failed, you still have full access to brakes and shifters. You also have arm strength, meaning holding a bar position in place wouldn't require much effort at all. In close quarter riding like age group and draft legal, these bars have the upper hand all day long.

I also look at this type of innovation much different than the likes of the Ventum frame. This to me is akin to clipless pedals, aerobars, or the gripshift. Changes the way you ride as well as creating change elsewhere on your bike because of change.

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Badig| Strava

Frank - do you have a range of price points you are looking at?

Looks pretty sleek, but without wind tunnel data can anyone really make a decision? Also cost will be a big factor. What do they consider a "mid ranged cockpit" cost to be? The cockpit that came on my leftover b10 seems pretty winged and aero. Even without wind tunnel data I don't see see myself gaining any real speed from dropping a ton of money. Also I worry a little bit about fast reaction handling. It's one thing on a pretty controlled environment but when you get cut off can you react quickly?

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I'll probably be the first person to have 3rd party wind tunnel data and that will be sometime in early March. I'll be comparing the bar against an Alpha X. Regarding reaction times and safety, I'm 100% convinced on this aspect of the bar. Personally I'm more skeptical about the aero advantages but, as I've said before in this thread, even with no aero gain I'd still race with this bar for the safety aspect and the potential time savings through turns. YMMV.

Agree. And for me, to have many different positions during long rides or group rides is an enormous plus.

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Badig| Strava

Hello GreenPlease and All,




I like the Morf bar concept because I can use my tri bike in a group ride (in the base bar position), it will be easy to ship without much disassembly, ...... and the number one reason I can use aero or die bars until the aero data arrives ........

....... by relying on a Tom A. comment as data ....

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=2967996#p2967996

In Reply To:
Assuming the optimal position can be achieved, which bars are the fastest? UCI is not a concern.


"No base bar...i.e. "Aero or Die". Seriously."


=================

(Which agrees with my preconceived notions ...... )

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

These set up with a cool Di2 or eTap set up would be great. Also I think when we get feedback the overall bar is not that aero but when you are riding in the aero position and do not have a basebar sticking out in the wind, I bet these test very fast. I love the concept and with a bit of refinement these could be the fastest available.

Edit: I wonder if you could have the brake levers twist inward to actuate the locking mechanism so that you could get away with the other levers and just have the brake lever do double duty.

Hello BMANX and All,

Good idea .... but com'on ... gotta leave some improvements for future evolution ....

Carbon fiber ..... graphene ..... maybe gyroscopic stabilization ..... no stinkin' handlbars ..... just body weight shift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwphWoAez4

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Presale price panning to be $499 plus tax & shipping.

As for tunnel data, we have seen approximately a 5-7 Watt gain but I am not happy with the tests and I don't want to publish anything until we have run more scientific tests. We need a bit more time to finalize some changes to the design, then we'll head to the tunnel.

Thanks!
Frank

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Thanks,
Frank

http://www.morf-tech.com

Coffee out the nose!! hilarious.

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Thanks,
Frank

http://www.morf-tech.com

Not a specific reply, but in case you missed the email, the pre-sale is open on the Morf website!

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Strava

I'm very, very tempted.

However, I've two concerns standing in my way:

1. What if I'm not allowed to race with these? They are WTC and USAT approved, but I'll be doing local triathlons and duathlons too. I've no idea if local race officials will allow them or if they're likely to say "What's that? I've never seen those before and they look dangerous. You can't use that bike."
2. It's normally my policy to hold off on expensive or safety related stuff until it's been well used by others and has a track record. The price is reasonable but still a significant chunk of money and it's certainly safety related. On the other hand, I'm pretty confident Frank has done competent design work here and the risk is low.

I've little doubt this is the way to go for Tri bikes in the future. The question is whether to jump now! I'd certainly like to.

What is the reach on that setup? (middle of pad to end of extension)

My only concern on these is fit for smaller riders, but looks like they would be fine unless your under 5' 5" or so.

I'm considering a pair, even though I do UCI sanctioned TT's. I don't see any rules that specifically excludes them, nor do I think a commissaire would pay much attention to them.

I believe they are adjustable by changing out the extension tips or just cutting them down.

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Strava