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First Look – Answer ProTaper Carbon SL Handlebar

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I’ve been working on a new, custom, Rohloff-equipped, Schlick Tatanka fat-bike and as luck would have it a friend from the Hayes Group here in Wisconsin offered to help with the build so we could get a chance to look at, work with and ride a couple of new products from their Answer line.

First up is Answer ProTaper Carbon SL Handlebar. As the name implies these carbon handlebars from Answer are intended to be Super Light! Pretty much a given that carbon has become a part of the fat-bike fabric for some folks and part of my motivation for using carbon on this on particular build is to see how we can mange the weight of a Rohloff-equipped bike. The last one I rode weighted in at about 38 pounds! So, at about 120 grams lighter than the aluminum bars I typically use, over a 1/4 pound savings just in the bar is a good start!

I went with the 750mm with 25.4mm or 1” rise and, on my Park Digital Shop Scale weighs exactly 200g (see below for all the possible configurations this bar comes in. Plenty of options mean most anyone should be able to find a bar that will work for them).

My first impressions, besides the obvious light weight, is that this is a quality, well though out bar with the right combination of rise and sweep for my riding style.

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There is molded in Knurling to help secure your bars to the stem as well as controls and grips to the bar. Everything went fine as ace mechanic Jim Huber helped with the build installing the Magura MT4s, Thomson stem, Rohloff shifter and Ergon grips. His advice? Don’t over torque! Everything grips fine!

I’ve had a few rides on the bike now and ended up trimming the bars down to 720mm to better suit my preferred riding position; a task made easy by graduated cut line on the Carbon SL.

Here is a complete list of the available configurations for the Answer ProTaper Carbon SL Handlebars

  • Weight – 660mm (115g), 720mm (179g), 750mm (210g), 780mm (215g)
  • Rise – 660mm – flat – 720mm – Flat, ½, 1” – 750mm – ½, 1” 780mm – ½, 1”
  • Up Sweep – 660mm – 0°, 720mm, 750mm and 780mm – 4°
  • Back Sweep – 660mm, 720mm, 750mm and 780mm – 8°

More info down the road as I get more time on this and the other components I used on this build as well as a complete report on the finished bike!

You can check out this bar, and all the other Answer Products on their website.

While the fine folks at the Hayes Group did give these handlebars to us gratas that fact will not impact the honesty of this review. No matter how we get our gear we strive to offer thoughtful and forthright impressions.

2 Responses to First Look – Answer ProTaper Carbon SL Handlebar

  1. Elvota January 2, 2014 at 10:55 am #

    Be sure to also check out the Answer Enduro 20/20 carbon bar as well. I think the additional sweep is really comfortable for longer rides, but this particular bar is still wide enough to let you be aggressive in the corners and tech sections when needed.

    • DogG January 3, 2014 at 8:33 am #

      I’m running this bar – I agree, it’s excellent. Very easy on the palms.

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