AASQ Callout Reminder: Ritchey Logic to answer all your gravel bar questions

Written by Jessie-May Morgan Oct 26, 2020 2:42 p.m. ET

ask ritchey logic anything about gravel bike and gravel bar cockpit setup

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Got any burning questions about gravel bike set up? Want to know more about the different gravel bar options? Trying to figure out the right cockpit set up for your own gravel or adventure bike? Now is your chance to ask the industry experts at Ritchey Logic.

new ergonomic alloy Ritchey WCS Streem drop road bike handlebar for road and gravel bikes — How does a gravel bar differ from a tradition road drop bar?

Ask Ritchey Anything!

How flared is too flared? Do those ergonomic drops sacrifice grip and control? Will an alloy bar ever be as comfortable as carbon?

Don’t be afraid to get specific with this one! Let us know what bike you’re riding, your local terrain, and any problems you have with your current set up. Great advice from the guys at Ritchey is coming this Friday. Submit your questions here and we’ll report back with the answers.

RitcheyLogic.com

Jessie-May Morgan

1,362 articles

Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor. She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing, and all its weird and wonderful technology for 4 years. Prior to that, she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland, and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley.

Based in Innerleithen, Scotland, Jessie-May can often be seen riding the Glentress Trail Center, and its neighboring Enduro and Downhill Tracks. She regularly competes in Enduro at a national level, and has recently competed on the World Stage at a handful of Enduro World Series events.

For Bikerumor, Jessie-May is testing the latest mountain bikes, equipment and kit, letting readers know what’s hot and what’s not.

For context, she weighs 60kg and stands at 5ft 4″ tall (163cm).

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John

3 years ago

I get why the drops are flared, but not why the hoods have to be splayed at 30-45° which is unridable for me due to wrist strain?

Why can’t you make a flared drop bar that only angles out below where the brifters clamp, similar to the 3T Superghiaia, Enve SES AR or Zipp XPLR?

Chris White

3 years ago

Can you please explain the point of flared drop bars. I can see that wider bars give more control, but a lot of people ride on the hoods in technical terrain because they feel that the higher position gives more control. Such people should therefore use drop bars that are wider at the hoods, not just the drops. The drops should be used in situations where aerodynamics are more important, so I don’t know why anyone would want the drops to be any wider than the hoods. For me, gravel bars should just be a wider version of standard road bars. Personally, I use 40cm wide Ritchey EvoCurve bars on my road bike and the same bar in the 42cm width on my gravel bike and I can’t see any need to go wider, but if I did then I would still want the hoods to be as wide as the drops. Are flared bars just a way to make things look different and make people think that they need to buy something that they don’t need? I hope you can solve this mystery for me, thanks.

Chris White

3 years ago

This is more of a request than a question: In the specifications of your bars, you already state which bars are clip-on aerobar compatible, but it would be very useful to know the width of the area in the center of the bars that has a round, 31.8 mm diameter for mounting the clip-ons and other accessories. Using different stem, bar and other accessories means that a certain setup might work on one bar but not on another, but this information is never listed in the specifications.

Huffagnolo SuperMagna

3 years ago

Not a question per se but would love to see a Ritchey option for multiple position alt bars like Surly Moloko, Velo Orange Crazy Bars and Koga Denham. Maybe something in the carbon fibers and luminum for different options. The Koyote is neat but a little too much sweep and no forward/aero bar esque position