We had a behind-closed-doors sneak peek at these at Sea Otter, and now they’re official. Answer’s new ProTaper Carbon SL join the Hayes’ product family’s SL lineup as their top models for cockpit parts, with an entirely new carbon construction process and a reentry into the seatpost game.
The handlebars use an internal bladder that’s infused with EPS foam. During heat curing, the EPS provides additional expansion to further compress the carbon layers and squeeze out all excess resin. The result is thinner walled, lighter carbon bars that are just as strong as the non-SL versions. Weights on these came in at or under their claims and are inline with other brand’s XC-to-trail bar weights…except that they’re a full 720mm wide!
Pics and more below…
There’s one flat bar and two riser bars (12.7mm and 25.4mm rise). All have a 4º upsweep and 8º backsweep.
Yes, you really can cut them down to 500mm.
Weights for the bars are: 171g (flat), 183g (low rise) and 186g (high rise). A quick search shows these weights are at or just under competing bars coming in around the same width, give or take 10mm.
Laout = Layup
The seatpost is all carbon save for the bolts. The cradle for the saddle rails has an extended lower piece for better support, which should give you a few extra millimeters of safe fore/aft adjustment.
This one didn’t have the diameter stamped on it, but it’s girth suggested it’s the 31.6. Weight, as you can see, is not the (erroneous) 2000+ grams from the spec sheet.
All items should be available in August with retail prices from $180 to $230.
