Easton

My bike came with bars that just quite didn't work for me so I decided to swap over to some 42's and am thoroughly pleased with the quality and bar shape. The flare and reach are very usable with my large mitts

Easton has nailed the perfect reach, hook and drop shapes for me. The reach is horizontal and allows for a flat run of the bar to the hoods. The hook is an egg-shaped, so it is useable and comfortable even when you are deep in the drops. And the bars have a long extension at the bottom allowing for many comfortable spots when you want to be that low but don't want to be all the way into the hooks. Add that this bar comes in 38cm, has a shallow drop, is super light and has a great feel whether on pavement or gravel. My perfect drop handlebar porridge.

I had never bought a carbon bar because the weight savings per dollar was relatively small and a legitimate concern on breakage vs bending in case of crash. Well, listing to Dave Rome on the Placeholders podcast and his information on reduced hand fatigue with a carbon bar had me try it. My hands would always go numb and I�d have to shake them out. No more with this bar. The vibration reduction on the road is huge. When installing them, I used Park fiber gripper paste under the clamps and just enough torque to secure it so that it doesn�t shift. Huge huge improvement.

Purchased this stem and matching EC 90 SLX bar for a new build on a Specialized S-works Aethos frame. Emphasis was on light weight. The graphics are understated but classy and match the bar. The weight listed in the description is 138 g which is incorrect. My 90 mm stem weighs 114 grams which is super light for an alloy stem (or even a carbon stem). This SL stem is priced $60 more than the non SL version, but the surprise is that the SL stem includes the Easton faceplate Garmin mount which normally sells for $20 separately and is a nice integrated mount (Garmin only). This added bonus plus lighter weight offers great value over comparable lightweight stems.