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Sorry - this product is no longer available
This Oval R900 Carbon Road Handlebars is no longer available although you may find similar or newer versions below:
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Cinelli Neo Morphe XL Carbon Road Handlebar
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3T ErgoNova Team Carbon Road Handlebar
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Cinelli Ram 3 Carbon Road Handlebar
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FSA K-Wing Compact Road Handlebar
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Oval R900 Carbon Road Handlebars
| Carbon | 26.0mm 40cm | Discontinued - no longer available | ||||
| Carbon | 26.0mm 42cm | Discontinued - no longer available | ||||
| Carbon | 26.0mm 44cm | Discontinued - no longer available | ||||
| Carbon | 31.8mm 42cm | Discontinued - no longer available | ||||
| Carbon | 31.8mm 44cm | Discontinued - no longer available | ||||
Road cyclists around the world understand that the most critical requirement for optimum performance is proper positioning on the bike. Handlebars are one of the three contact points between you and your bike, a new set can make a major difference to your riding.
Proper positioning allows you to optimise your comfort, power and aero dynamics. The handlebar, stem and seat post are the key tools for properly positioning the rider on the bike. Many companies compromise your ability to properly positioned. By limiting the lengths and angles of stems, widths and drops of bars and proper setback and height adjustment on the seat post. Oval Concepts will not compromise in these areas.
Road bars are curved to offer a multitude of positions to suit the terrain. When climbing in the saddle you will often ride on the tops which are the part of the bar either side of the stems clamping point. When out of the saddle on climbs or accelerating you will often ride on the lever hoods mounted at the front of the bars curved section. For higher speeds you will find yourself on the drops, which offer a lower more aerodynamic position. Road bars come in a variety of widths, from 36cm wide up to 44cm, a good guide for bar width is your shoulder width, a bar should not be narrower than your shoulders as this can close up your chest, but they should not be so wide that you are creating a large frontal area. Road handlebars come in two clamp sizes, 31.8mm which is oversized and 26/25.8mm which is standard, it is essential that you get the correct clamp size for your stem as a poor fit will slip round. Road bars also come in different shapes and depths, with various bends for ergonomic reasons, some will also feature grooves in the material for your brake and gear cables to slot into, this helps to keep the bar round once tape is applied. Then there is the all-in-one bar and stem systems from brands such as Cinelli's Ram 2 and the Pro Stealth which offer clean lines and look great with their exposed carbon finish.
You can’t beat the Swiss for efficiency and precision. In their relentless quest for perfection, the Swiss have embraced new materials and technologies like titanium cases and quartz movements, but only where appropriate. Rolex does not switch to carbon fibre production if it doesn’t make sense. These are the qualities Oval Concepts brings to the market, from their headquarters in the Swiss Alps.
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As soon as we deflection tested the R900 we knew it was a good quality bar.
It has enough "give" at lower loading to enable it to damp out a lot of the road buzz, but deflects less at higher loading so it feels like a good stiff bar.
Grooves front and rear help with cable routing under the tape, and the shape of the drops is a nice, slightly flattened, traditional curve.
Alloy inserts at stem and brake mountings and a Kevlar layer to prevent catastrophic failure in the event of the bar breaking round off a pretty impressive bar.
Top-quality carbon bars for top-quality alloy bar money
These snazzy R900 carbon bars from Oval are an ideal upgrade for your Sunday best bike or a nice bit of lightweight bling if you're building up from scratch. Of course, if you're like me then you'll fit them to a single-speed commuter hack made from pig iron. No, it's not exactly a match made in bike heaven, but the roads round here are rougher than Simon Cowell's tongue with a few cheeky hills thrown in for good measure. If that doesn't show up a handlebar's weaknesses then I don't know what will.
Oval say that this is an all carbon bar, but it also has a kevlar layer to eliminate "catastrophic failure" and inserts around the stem and lever areas to reduce stress. Not that you're likely to need them, because this is a very strong bar, despite the very low weight (about 220g for the 42cm that I tested). We don't have fancy deflection testing kit at Road.CC Towers, but you can tell that these narrow gauge bars are extremely stiff. Even honking up some sharp hills didn't induce any flex. Consequently you don't get much of the vibration absorption that carbon is famed for and on poor road surfaces the shock goes right up your arm. It isn't so bad if you ride on the drops, being the part with the most give, but if you spend a lot of time on the hoods or tops, you might want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, sprinters and burly riders will find the lack of flex a great help.
These are fairly conventional looking bars with a semi-anatomic bend. The lever clamp area is generous and nicely roughed up for you so you won't have any problems with levers slipping and sliding around, as is the case with some other carbon bars. The one gripe that I did have was with the total lack of guide markers in the centre. The only help you get is the Oval logo, which is not hugely useful. In the end I lined them up by eye. Not terribly hard, but some crosshairs or graduated lines would have been nice.
I ran these bars with the matching R900 stem and while that setup totally outclassed my 4130 CroMo test rig it would make a very smart (and stiff) front end on a top notch carbon frame. Incidentally, Oval claim that these are the "only carbon road bar recommended for use with clip-on aero bars" which is worth bearing in mind if you're thinking about giving time-trialling or triathlon a go.
Rate the product for quality of construction: 8/10
Rate the product for performance: 8/10
Rate the product for durability: 8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable: 8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable: 6/10
Rate the product for value: 8/10
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Only if I had a bike that really deserved them
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, ditto above
Good lightweight, stiff carbon bars. Excellent value but not the most comfortable
The finish oozes quality...we found the oval bar supremely stiff when hammering out of the saddle...unusual degree of comfort makes these a definate favourite at cycling plus
Quality, stiffness and comfort and competitively priced for carbon
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