“The products don’t make you faster,” says Zipp product manager Nate Schickel. “Setting the fit makes you faster.”
Being properly fit makes you comfortable, which lets you stay in a fast position, so you waste less energy moving around. That’s the premise behind the new Zipp SL70 Ergo carbon handlebar, which updates the angles and curves across the entire bar, from tops to drops.
The SL70 falls into their 70mm short/low sizing, made for the rider who reaches into the drops, not down to it. The others, for 80 and 88, are for riders who prefer a higher or more traditional position, respectively.
The drops are redesigned to have a variable radius drop, giving them a bit more of a flat section at the 3-6 o’clock position, and the reach is shorter to make it easier to get your hands onto that spot. Yet it’s designed to still transition smoothly onto the brake hoods.
Ergonomic top is flatter now and gets a 3º backsweep. It has a 70mm reach, 128mm drop
10º ramp angle, and 4º outsweep (it measures about 1cm wider at the drops, but claimed measurement is at the hoods, center to center)
They’re now being made in SRAM’s higher end factory that’s making their ultra-stiff SL Sprint stems and Exogram crank designs. Price is $275 / €302 / £259, available November 2017. Claimed weight is 205g (42cm), 40 and 44 also available.
