I’m looking to replace the stock handlebar on my road bike. My present bar is a 44 and since I’m a big guy, I’m looking for a bar that comes in a 46 and is stiff. I’ve seen some of those bars with flat tops and I’m intrigued, even though I spend 90% of my time riding the hoods. Open to carbon or aluminum. Any handlebars you would recommend? Thanks!
Avoid carbon bars. Deda Newton 31.6, shallow bend. Not terribly expensive nor cheap, light (but Deda stuff ALWAYS weights more than they advertise), and very stiff. Very well proven track record. Oh, and nice graphics on the new versions too if that matters 
Why should carbon bars be avoided? Is it because they’re not as strong? Thanks.
Ah - something like that
Let’s see: cost twice as much, weighs the same (or even MORE if Kevlar reinforced like the Kestrel ones), don’t “dampen” road vibration any (b.s. marketing), can’t clamp on clip-ons on most (yet you can just inch away in a “reinforced” center part of the stem you can?, failures are catastrophic if a small crack/stress riser if you over tighten a stem, bike falls over, etc.
There just really isn’t any reason (other than bling which I agree can be a reason I guess). Same (even more so) goes for carbon stems.
Okay, I’m checking out the Deda bars and they seem to be very highly recommended. The Deda Newton Supernatural is 31.7. Can I use my existing 31.8 stem or will I need a new Deda stem, too? Thanks again.
No - you can use your existing OS stem. Make sure you get the newer model Deda Newton (red graphics, triple butted). Nothing really wrong with the older version(s) (blue graphics), but if you are buying new … Also, pay close attention to the bend that you want: Deep (Belgian), shallow (Italian classic) or anatomic (yuk). Lastly, Deda for some reason measures outside to outside NOT center to center like everyone else.
Okay, please make me smart on the different bends: deep, shallow, and anatomical, and why the yuck for the anatomical? Do these different bends refer to your hand position in the drops only?
Finally, what’s the difference between outside to outside and center to center? Sorry, I don’t understand…
Thanks again for all of your help!
Most bars are measure from the center of the bar to the center (just bisect the bar). Deda measures bar width from the outside edge of the bar (so you need to “add” about 2cm to most other bar makers measurements).
The bar bends can make a big difference in comfort, but it depends upon how you ride and what you do (crits, road racing, stay on the hoods mostly, etc.) I’m sure you can find photos of the different bends online (or even Deda’s website), but many find the shallow bends best if you actually race in the drops or have short hands and find shifting/braking a reach. But, this puts the hoods a little lower. The beep bends have a nice, round bend with high hood position. The anatomic bends have a straight section where you put your hands in the drops, but than don’t work well if you rotate the bars up for higher hoods. Many also “claim” that the straight section puts more pressure on your palms causing issues.
Okay, so, an Easton 46 would be different than a Deda 46, right? Which one would be actually wider? The Easton 46, right?
FWIW, I recently switched out my Easton EC70’s for a set of BBB FiberRace bars. The eastons were Anatomic and the BBB’s are classic drop. Sorry, rroof they are both carbon…
The anatomic put my hands at an uncomfortable angle unless I rotated the bars down, which made the flat tops inclined too far forward. The classic shape provides more options for hand position in the drops and makes it easier to reach the brake/shift levers.
The hood transition is a bit nicer as well.
My advice is to buy bars from a shop that will let you swap them out if you decide you don’t like them…it took me a few rides to really get a feel for mine.
Okay, so, an Easton 46 would be different than a Deda 46, right? Which one would be actually wider? The Easton 46, right?
That would be correct, Deda’s 46cm bar is really closer to 44cm. I don’t believe that Easton makes their aluminium bars in 46cm (Carbon yes) but Salsa makes a couple bars that are 46cm.
“Sorry, rroof they are both carbon …”
No sweat off my back (as long as you aren’t riding in a peloton with me) 
And as I mentioned, the Deda Newtons still weigh LESS than the BBB FiberRace bar. You are correct in the horrible arrangement of anatomic bars. You either have a comfortable hood position or drop position, but you really can’t have both!
now my feelings are hurt. 
At least I woudn’t show up with my tri bike.
What should I look for in hood transition?
“I spend 90% of my time riding the hoods.”
As they would say on Mythbusters, “Well, THERE’S your problem.” Since you spend a lot of time on the hoods I would go for a shallow drop. This will make it easier to get into the drops and hopefully you will spend some more time in them. And I have some shallow drop Ritchey anatomicals that I love, so it really is personal preference. Then again, I don’t do the whole rotate the bars up so I can get to the hoods easier thing because I don’t ride on the hoods that much.
What are you hoping to get out of replacing your stock bars? Are they so narrow they constrict your breathing? Or do you think the flat tops are cool and are just looking for a change? If you are riding almost completely on the hoods the shape of the drops you get is almost immaterial, unless your goal is to get bars where you can spend more time in the drops.
I’m clearly biased here, but the Zipp SLC bar has the widest 31.8 top section on the market which makes it unbelievably stiff, comes in 3 drop shapes and in 4 widths up to 46cm. It passes the EFBe Top Performance fatigue test 3 times over, and is the only bar they have ever tested to pass the full 100,000 fatigue cycles and then had clip-on bars installed and run for another 100,000 cycles without issue and only weighs 190 grams.
What should I look for in hood transition?
This really is a personal preference, but what I look for is a nice flat transition from bar top to hood, allowing for a large area for me to rest the palm and heel of my hand when I’m riding on the hoods. Some of this is determined by the bar and how it fits with the shifter you are using…campy, shimano, sram have slightly different hood shapes.
I’ll put in a plug for the 3T Forma SL… reasonably light and inexpensive (roughly $40 for 250g, way better bang/buck ratio than anything carbon), and I prefer the shallow anatomic drop for hammering. I have them on 2 different bikes, and a non-SL (same design, only heavier/cheaper alloy) on a 3rd. I’m willing to shell out (and have) for $3K+ carbon bikes, so it’s not that I’m overly cheap, I just don’t think there’s any bar out there that’s clearly superior.
Josh,
Do the Zipp bars have a wider 31.8 section than the PRO Vibe Carbon?
I have a set of FSA Wing Pro’s. Not light, but nice flat tops. Fairly inexpensive, too. I ride these on my daily driver. The prior recommendation about finding a shallow drop is good. So far, I haven’t been able to find a shallow drop that doesn’t shorten the reach as well, and that’s a problem for me.
I would disagree with rroof about carbon bars. I have yet to have aluminum bars that are lighter. Some heavier aluminum bars are harder to flex. The real issue with carbon bars is survivability. They probably shouldn’t be ridden after a crash. Stress risers that aren’t detectable to the naked eye could lead to catastophic failure later.
I’ve had 4 sets of carbon bars. 2 Zipps, 1 Easton, and 1 Kestrel. All were plenty strong. Unfortunately, I crashed the Eastons, but the didn’t break. Crashed the first set of Zipps, too. They didn’t break, either. I chose to play it safe and wen the replacement route. Zipp did a nice crash replacement, allowing me to get the SLCs. Mine are 46 o-o or 44 c-c, I don’t remember which, but only weigh 165 gms. I’m selling the Kestrels - EMS Pro SLs, same measurements as the Zipps and 190 gms. I just didn’t like the feel of the Kestrels.
hth