I want to buy a Cervelo Soloist Carbon frame for road usage. Fast group rides, long training rides and cyclosportives (La Marmotte). But I can’t decide for which stem and handlebar I should go. I read somewhere that cervelo give advice to dealers and customers about which parts to choose.
What is an aero, reliable and not too heavy stem/handlebar combination? (I don’t want a one piece stem/handlebar)
I’ve always been very happy with Deda stuff… pick up a Newton stem and a 215 or Newton shallow drop bar and you’re set.
The most important parts of the front-end for road usage are (1) does it put you into a proper position (2) is it comfortable on your hands and wrists and (3) is it reasonably stiff and reasonably comfortable in terms of vibration. No drop bar is significantly more or less aero than any other.
Agree with the above poster - it is hard to go wrong with Deda. I run a Thomson X2 stem with a Easton EA 70 bar on my road bike. It is a light and stiff combo and not too expensive. You can go weight weenie and put carbon bars on there, but most will agree that it isnt worth the money/hassle.
I currently have FSA stem bar combo on my Soloist Team and it’s great for road work and fairly inexpensive.
I’m going to be putting on a Zipp SLC2 bar because the clamp area is big enough (wide enough and reinforced) for clip ons because my Soloist is pulling double duty this year.
Lots of good possibilities. Stay away from carbon stems/bars - costs more, no light, bling only.
Cervelo “specs” the FSA stuff (OS 115 and RD 250, etc.) and it works great (CSC uses it).
Deda (Newton) is the old gold std and works great (old team Postal and discovery). Lots of bar options for bends.
Ritchey WCS bar and new 4-axis stem is a great (and reasonably cheap) combo as well.
Another vote for Deda Newton bar. I also have the the FSA 100 stem which is fine (for a stem) but I had a hell of a time getting it to stay tight on the steerer. It kept slipping up the steerer when sprinting, resulting in continuously loosening headset and pulling the glued-in wedge out of my Alpha Q fork. Tried roughing up the steerer a bit, hairspray, and massive overtightening too no avail. The constant loosening resulted in the headset wearing a slight line in the steerer = junked expensive Alpha Q fork (scared of thinwall carbon steerer failure - See rroof’s Wolf SL failure).
I use Ritchey Carbon WCS bar and a WCS 4-axis stem, solid and feels great
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