Building a Specialized S-Works Amira and need recommendations on carbon handle bars.
Can you provide more info on what you’re looking for or your riding style?
If you want well-made quality bling, check out ENVE, PRO, and Zipp.
Bike will be all SRAM RED 22. I want to do some road racing and have a usable vanity bike.
Do you know what kind of reach and drop you’d like?
What kind of stem and seatpost are you using(do you want to match all 3?)
Just to get things started a really nice alloy bar that’s pretty common is the ritchey wcs evo curve, the drop is shallower than traditional and reach is middle of the road and it would have a nice flat area to align with the red shifters. It’s alloy so it should be stiff but it’s about 50 grams heavier than a carbon bar.
Oval Concepts R910.
http://www.bikewagon.com/r910-aergo-carbon-26-0-420l
If you’re doing road racing, I HIGHLY recommend you do NOT use carbon handlebars.
When you road race, and road race HARD there is almost an inevitability you are going to crash at some point. that’s the plain truth. it might be your first race. it might be a season down the road. but at some point, you will.
handlebars are one of the places most likely to receive damage to in a crash. Now carbon is not any weaker than aluminium- in fact in some cases it can be stronger. but from a practicality standpoint, you can spot damage to aluminium much more easily than to carbon. Also, when it comes to replacing a handlebar, it’s much less painful to replace a $60 alloy handlebar than a $300 carbon bar. If you road race extensively, the costs add up. I’ve had to change 2 bars from 3 seasons of road racing. the costs add up. if you’re a sponsored pro with a mechanic to do all your wrenching for you and free replacement parts, by all means, get a carbon bar. but even pros train on alloy bars.
Hang around Cat1/2s and look at their equipment choices. reliability is what counts if you’re road racing seriously. especially since you already have a useable vanity bike. there are other better places to save that measly 50 grams you save from a carbon bar. Besides that 50 grams, there are next to no benefits of carbon over alloy bars. there are very,very nice alloy bars out there that aren’t too heavy. the new ‘aero’ offerings, like the bontrager race lite aero, 3T aeronova (alloy version) , are nice. maybe take a look at those. But I’d recommend you choose a bar based on your bike fitter’s recommendations, paying attention to drop adn reach characteristics. a bar with nice drop for you will be a pleasure to spend time in the drops in, one with too deep a drop can be a pain. likewise one with too long a reach can throw your fit off, leaving you too stretched out .