bar & stems; what’s cool?

as above, new bike in the works, what should I be looking at in the 800mm x 40mm range?

Previous bikes have had Thomson, Spank and Renthal. Tempted to go for Renthal again but I’d like to see what else is looking good.

I am in favour of matching bar and stem by the way, though if you feel different please recommend away.

Thanks!

They only go to 35mm rise, but the OneUp bars are what I’d go for

I like my Deity bars and stem

I love coolman super bars, they are super niche and stuff but flexy, they align my trail vision with my inner trail warrior.

Or gayden superwides are as stiff as anything I have ever felt

Very happy with my OneUp bars and stem, I also liked my previous Burgtec set up.

Recommend what you have…

Thomson stems have been faultless for me, wouldn’t go anywhere else, same with seatposts. For bars, the race bike gets Mt Zoom, the lightest bar I’d actually trust, Thomson on the trail bikes and Renthal on the big bikes. Actually, have two carbon Thomsons and two Renthals one carbon and one alloy, all bought secondhand. I find them all comfy and all have proved very reliable

So if you’re looking at Thomson and Renthal already I don’t think you can go far wrong with those.

I use alloy Renthal bars because I like the shape – 7 deg backsweep is straighter than most. I’d rather have a stem where there’s no gap on two of the face plate bolts because they’re easier to fit, I don’t want it to creak and don’t want it to be bendy.

The One-Up stuff seems well thought out with the ovalised bits for compliance.

Revgrip stem & Rust bars ere

i run one up & renthal bars and would echo everything said above, both great but the one up are very good and would be what id recommend.

also nice and subtle styling.

Previously I’ve always run Easton carbon bars and then RaceFace when they merged. Thomson stems back in the day, then switched to RaceFace Turbine.

Last build earlier this year I was curious to try the OneUp bars and I’ve very pleased with them. I don’t see me spending anything else for the foreseeable.

Stem wise, I thought I’d give the BikeYoke Barkeeper a try and again, I’m very happy with it lighter due to the two bolt clamp and smoother lines that suit modern bikes. With the two bolt bar clamp, it almost looks like a one piece set up at a glance.

And yes, the 35mm rise bars passed through the 2 bolt clamp with ease.

I still very much have a soft spot for the Raceface Turbine R stems; something about their aesthetic just feels right.

The ones I’ve had since Raceface were still Easton still look just the same as they ever have.

I just bought a Unite stem because it’s short, clean, non descript with no ugly features and they still make 31.8 clamps.

Bar is a Fatbar V2 in 800×40. It’s what was on my old bike when it was nicked and I really wanted another one.

All black, looks and feels good to me.

Boy Components El Toro stem and 50mm DMR Odub Bars

Maybe not so cool, but very chilled :-)

RedShift Top Shelf

Boy Components El Toro stem

Was going to say sounds like Aliexpress tat, but actually worse it’s Russian

Hope for me, Renthal are a favourite too. Used to like Thompson but thought their longer stems were better than the stubbies.

Totally agree about the Thomson stems. I’ve got a 70mm X4 on the gravel bike but their short stems were gopping.

Asking what’s cool is the opposite of cool

I was always a Renthal Fatbar fanboy and then when I built a bike up in 2020 I went with DMR Defy stem and Wing Bars, they were lovely, really recommend them. Very nice sweep and good stiff bars with a little compliance, very reassuring to ride with. Also nice and simple, plain black with some nice logos – as long as you avoid the camo crap.

What I can say is that I’m not a fan of is the squared off, chunky, sharp edges aesthetic of so many stems. It just seems to clash with the round and smooth bar mounted in there.

I like Chromag stuff, looks cool but it’s expensive. The Fubars are 8×5 sweep and it feels just right to me.

One up carbon bars and Enve alloy stems for the MTBs. Envy and Industry 9 are two of the least gopping short stems.

Bontrager XXX/RSL on the road and gravel bikes.