Oh, how we love innovation! OneUp Components new carbon handlebar and EDC stem bring about several design upgrades that could make your mountain bike more comfortable and easier to setup. They also have an updated chain guide, longer (the longest, yet shortest) dropper post, a new dropper remote lever for Shimano iSpec, and new lock-on grips.
Let’s start at the bar…
The OneUp carbon handlebar starts with a 35mm clamp diameter in the center, then ovalizes to get to the 22.2mm bar. But it ovalizes at different rates:
On the horizontal plane, it keeps the 35mm sizing farther out from center. On the vertical plane, it tries to keep the 22.2mm diameter further inboard. The result is a flattened section that allows the bar to flex. They claim about 21% more compliance vertically, but about 28% more stiffness in steering response.
Solving problems with stems
When OneUp debuted the EDC tool that fit into a steerer tube, it had to solve for tightening the steering assembly down without a star nut and top cap. The solution was to tap and thread the steerer, which probably voided your fork’s warranty and only worked for alloy steerers. Cool tool, but less than ideal implementation. Now they’ve solved for that with the new EDC compatible stem.
The design integrates a compression ring system into the bottom of the stem, so you can remove the star nut altogether and put anything you want into the steerer tube. And it will work on carbon, alloy or steel steerers.
The trick is the adjustable compression ring nestled into the bottom of the stem. That’s what it looks like, here’s how it works:
The conical collar (A) sits flush on top of the headset cap or spacer under it. The matching collar (B shown loose, C shown inside the stem…you’ll only have one in actual use, both are shown here to illustrate how it works) matches the taper. You set it up by lining up the stem and wheel to get the steering straight then pushing everything down as firm as you can and tightening the normal stem bolts to fix the position. Then you tighten the top collar’s (D) bolt, which squeezes it (B/C) to tighten the taper. Doing so pushes down on the bottom collar (A) to compress the steering column, preload the headset bearing, and remove any play. That serves the same purpose as if you were tightening down the top cap into a star nut. Retail for just the stem is $85, and the whole package with stem and compression system is $115.
Also worth noting is that the inside is notched at the top to fit their spacers, which snug into the notches to securely sit in place. Which begged the question, why use a top cap spacer if you no longer need a star nut and traditional top cap? Because some riders, maybe you, want to keep the fork’s steerer just a little longer in case they decide to sell it later.
But I wanted video!
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No problem, here’s a quick walk through of the new products, with their guy explaining the EDC stem at the end.
OneUp’s adjustable travel dropper posts go long
OneUp introduced their dropper posts last year, and now they have two more travel options. Front to back are 120mm, 150mm, 180mm and 210mm versions, giving you the longest travel post on the market, save for anything super boutique that’s not applicable on most bikes.
What’s cool is that you can reduce travel in 10mm increments, up to 20mm total reduction, and that change will change the actual height of the post. They also use one of the shortest shaft lengths per travel, so if you’ve struggled to get a longer dropper on your small or medium bike, these are worth a look.
Gripping! What else?
Their new lock-on grips have small paddles on the bottom to add better grip on the rough stuff. Or just something to fiddle with to keep your mind off the long, hard climb in front of you.
A file-tread grip up top and a little extra rubber at the outer edge keep it simple and help keep your hand from sliding to the outside.
Lastly, they’ve updated their chain guide/bash guard. The upper chain guide bit now slides open without a tool, making chainring swaps or other maintenance a bit quicker and easier. It’s still one-bolt height and angle adjustable, and a chain plate imprint makes it visually easy to position properly.
