Handlebars

Handlebar Width Matters

When I got my new C. S. Hirose, I was excited to have a bike with wide tires for the gravel roads of the Cascade Mountains. I love my other Hirose, and so I asked the builder to make the new one as similar as possible. Some parts we brought...

Why Contact Points Matter: Handlebars

Riding long distances – especially on rough roads – puts different demands on your body and your bike than short and fast-paced races. The contact points with the bike become more important the longer you ride. These days, you don't hear much about them, especially the saddle and handlebars. If you...

BikeRadar Reviews the Compass Handlebars

At Compass, we design our components over thousands of miles on the (often rough) roads we ride, so we have full confidence that others will enjoy them as much as we do. Still, we were pleasantly surprised when the world's biggest cycling web site, BikeRadar, tested our handlebars and awarded...

Why Handlebar Shapes Are Important

Riders are realizing the importance of handlebar shapes again. In recent decades, makers tried to make ergonomic shapes by flattening the bars where the most useful hand positions are located. But human anatomies vary a lot, and locking riders into a few 'anatomic' hand position rarely results in the promised comfort. In fact, rather...

Compass 31.8 mm Randonneur Handlebars

We are glad to offer our Compass Randonneur handlebars with a clamp diameter of 31.8 mm (for modern stems), in addition to the 25.4 mm model we introduced last year. These handlebars have been very popular, and for good reasons. They support the rider's hands much better than conventional handlebars. Having ridden them...

Carbon and Leather

The Bicycle Quarterly's Specialized Diverge test bike came out of the box all black. Specialized's photo (below) makes it look like a shadow, but when I saw the actual bike, I found quite unappealing. Everything looked like it was made from plastic. I dreaded taking the bike to the photo studio, where it's our job to...

Compass Randonneur Handlebars

Handlebars are one of the most important parts of your bike. As one of the three "contact points", the handlebar shape determines whether you are comfortable on the bike or not. After every Paris-Brest-Paris, numerous cyclists complain about numb hands. Some riders take weeks until their hands feel and work...

Handlebar Width

A few people have asked about handlebar width in our handlebar discussion. Compass handlebars come in widths between 40 and 46 cm, which may appear narrow by some standards. Many riders, even very tall ones, prefer relatively narrow handlebars. Above is my friend Ryan, who is 6' 4", riding on 41...

Avoiding Numb Hands

Hand numbness can spoil the most wonderful long distance ride. A cyclist's hands can get numb from vibration and pressure. The first step is to eliminate as much vibration as possible near the source (road surface). Supple, wide tires, run at moderate pressures, are key. Flexible fork blades and suspension are...

Carbon Fiber Handlebar 911

Emergency Roadside Repair in 3 Easy Steps Materials required: • wooden stick • steel strap • big rock • 5 mm Allen wrench (optional) Time required: 25 minutes. On a spring-time ride in the Cascades, we took a side road from Sultan to Gold Bar in the Skykomish River Valley. Our destination was Index, and we were...