Specialized Expert Hover handlebars: Thoughts

alan_sherman

I see the Venge had some, and now these alloy bars on the homepage.

My first thought was that they are a way for achieving that slammed stem look whilst still having bars high enough to get over lack of flexibility! Anyone use them? I guess sit makes fitting things to the bars (lights etc) more difficult due to less available unbent bar.

buckmulligan

Yeah, to be honest they look pretty dumb. The only thing they look good for is to get an upright position on a frame geometry that's not designed for it.

I had presumed those riser bars on the Venge VIAS were used because that frame-stem-bar combo was a marginal frontal area and drag improvement compared to a traditional longer head/steerer tube; innovations and quirks like that are perhaps to be expected on a top-of-the-range bike but that doesn't really apply here given that they're using round-tubing and would likely be a retrofit (i.e. marginal gains are the least of their concerns right now).

In mountain biking, riser bars are typically used for the 'sweep' backwards that they provide as much as the rise, they help get the wrists into a comfortable position (i.e. not dead perpendicular to the direction of travel), but that doesn't apply to road risers at all.

I'd be interested if someone could actually point out a genuine use-case, other than for people who are riding the wrong bike and/or cut their steerer tube too short!

Edited to add: just noticed that they go down to a 36cm width, which is unusually narrow; any reason why that might be?

bmxboy10

Fitted them to my Tarmac a few months back. They are amazing bars and the design suits me perfectly and I like the aesthetics. I now have a road bike that fits really well and the bars are very comfortable due to the ergonomics (not noticeable in the images but obvious when riding).

I now have no numbness and would recommend them to anyone wanting a good quality comfortable bar that also provides a good alternative solution to a less aggressive position without compromising the stem set up/position.

fat daddy

they do look better than a bunch of spacers under the bars IMO

styxd

BuckMulligan wrote:

Yeah, to be honest they look pretty dumb. The only thing they look good for is to get an upright position on a frame geometry that's not designed for it.

I'd be interested if someone could actually point out a genuine use-case, other than for people who are riding the wrong bike and/or cut their steerer tube too short!

This. Racing bikes have short head tubes because the bars are supposed to be lower.

If you want an upright position, get a hybrid bike with flat bars as that's what they're designed for.

buckmulligan

To be fair, the slammed-front-end-with-riser-bars look has worked well in the past:



P.S. I didn't mean to sound like an asshole in my post above, but I am genuinely interested as to if there's a reason for the design that I'm not seeing. The narrow widths makes me think "track" but still not sure why risers would be beneficial over a higher front-end.

bmxboy10

BuckMulligan wrote:

To be fair, the slammed-front-end-with-riser-bars look has worked well in the past:



P.S. I didn't mean to sound like an asshole in my post above, but I am genuinely interested as to if there's a reason for the design that I'm not seeing. The narrow widths makes me think "track" but still not sure why risers would be beneficial over a higher front-end.

I don't know the technical reason behind the development of the bars all I know is I took a punt and they work for me and made my bike fit better - comments from the likes of styxd are utter rubbish. A bike is what you make it, its a personal thing.

luv2ride

I quite the look of them and would be tempted to get a pair for my gravelly single speed, but they'd need some flare between the hoods and ends for me. The website doesn't mention flare I assume there is none?

iPete

I'm going to be getting some for a track frame I'm building up. I've owned the frame for years, the steerer isn't slammed, I could do with being more flexible for my age(!) and it's aesthetically nicer than running an upward stem. They look quite good on some of the builds I've seen, although I don't think these are the Hover bars.. (edit: these are S-Works Aerofly)

Luv2ride wrote:

I quite the look of them and would be tempted to get a pair for my gravelly single speed, but they'd need some flare between the hoods and ends for me. The website doesn't mention flare I assume there is none?

The new Sequoia has riser bars with flare, they are called the "Adventure Gear Hover" but can't see them for sale anywhere yet.

luv2ride

Those Adventure Gear Hover bars are the babies I'm after 8) Will keep my eyes out for a pair....

thepeginator

alan sherman wrote:

I see the Venge had some, and now these alloy bars on the homepage.

I believe The Venge Vias is only available with a -17 degree stem because according to specialized it's better in the wind tunnel that way.

As many people have speculated, I think the bars were designed to negate some of the bar drop from the aggressive stem angle. Presumably they decided it was more aerodynamic / more aesthetically pleasing (or both) to have the stem that way, with the odd bar shape than either to have a normal -6/8 degree stem or to have a bunch of spacers under it or a combination of both.

iPete

BuckMulligan wrote:

I'd be interested if someone could actually point out a genuine use-case, other than for people who are riding the wrong bike and/or cut their steerer tube too short!

The drop is relatively shallow (12.3cm), combine that with the 1.5cm rise and you have drops that may be better suited to some riders and for anyone who wants to spend more time on the drops. It's probably why Spesh use them when racing Red Hook, they'll spend the entire race on the drops (but most importantly looks better on Instagram).