Thank you for the idea! Oneup claims that their 35 mm bar has an oval shape making it confortable like an old 31 mm. Probably it worths the investment; a failure in the handlebar could be an hospital trip.
There are three "levels" of handlebars:
- generic chinese aliexpress, the cheapest but no warranty at all
- chinese reputable brands (og-evkin,ican, lightcarbon); middle price and mostly good reviews
- brand names: most expensive, still made in china but probably with a different quality control that makes a world of difference.
Said that if you search over the web you will find photos of failures of any kind of handlebars (even alluminium ones). For sure they suffer fatigue, after many small hits they get weaker; carbon ones maybe even aging from UV etc.
Probably better to go with 30-35 mm rise and limit the stem spacers, this is my idea what do you think?
That will be exactly how I do it for nothing more than because my steerer is already cut for the same length head tube
I agree though, but the disclaimer is to leave your steerer a little longer so you can play with it if you don't like it.
I replaced a 20mm rise AL bar with the Oneup 35mm rise and it feels pretty good. I prefer a more aggressive position when the saddle is up but it hasn't seemed to cause a negative effect. This frame will have better geometry so I expect it to get better, some of the Hightowers come with 30 or 35mm rise bars so how bad can it be?
Agree on all counts about bar reliability. I have had aluminum handlebars fail due to my own negligence, get torque wrenches people, and I have been very particular about it ever since. If I see EWS riders using it I feel comfortable with it. On the other side, I will buy the well known Chinese brand components for road and gravel since I don't full gorilla those bikes as often.
