Originally Posted by
sprince
Those look nice. The reported 395gm weight is fairly heavy for any bar, maybe more than some steel bars. Will have to compare those in size and weight to some of the ancient ones in my parts bin.
Could be that the VO bars are thicker tubing, or it could be the extra length you need to make such a long-reach bar that makes it so heavy.
I am curious about the reasoning behind the compact bar trend. A reach of 115mm isn't exactly radical. Modern 31mm bars seem to all be in the 70-90mm range, which is less than the width of my palms. Is this because of UCI regulations (no more than 5cm beyond axle), weight savings or something else?
I doubt the UCI has anything to do with it. The trend is for people to ride on the hoods nearly all the time, with the drops as an afterthought. The reach and drop have been made shorter so the other positions aren't so far away.