I'm in the market for new handlebars and have been shopping around. I want it them to have internal routing, a round (not ergo-style) bend, and be compact. Additionally, like everybody else, I want to spend the least amount possible for good bars. Suggestions? I've looked at K-wings but 1. they are too expensive and 2. i hear they are flexy

Additionally: is there a difference between "internal cable routing" and "integrated cable routing"?

On a final note: does anybody have any experience with Chinese unbranded bars? I am extremely skeptical of them but may consider them if convinced.

Answered this one on my own via livechat with the store: yes, the "integrated" cable routing goes along the outside and isn't really...integrated. Kind of stupid to advertise it as such.

If I understand right, "integrated" means there is a groove on the outside to allow the cable housing to sink into the bar and not stick out so much. "internal" obviously means there's a hole to route them completely inside.

internal - i have the K-Wing compacts. it's not like "totally internal" - there is a groove on the underside of the shoulders of the bars that leads to a channel on the underside of the top of the bars. no problem routing two cables through them. i didn't think they were flexy until i got on them on a trainer, and now they seem very flexy. i got them after it got cold out, so i don't have a frame of reference for real road riding yet.

unbranded chinese - i got these and tried them. felt plenty stiff, no clear problems. ended up selling them to another forum member because i didn't like the bend. he posted many times that he liked them. for $30 or $50, you should try em.


integrated = grooves. on my last build, i did a layer of electrical tape along the whole bar instead of just one or two spots. made the cables feel very stable.