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Ritchey Comp ErgoMax handlebar

8
£52.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Loads of hand positions and a quality piece of kit for your adventure bike
Weight: 
313g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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This new Ritchey Comp Ergomax handlebar is a great upgrade for your gravel or adventure bike, offering plenty of width at the drops thanks to a large flare for aiding stability when travelling across loose terrain. It's a decent weight, too, and all for not a bad price.

  • Pros: Loads of hand positions, plenty of stiffness without being overly harsh
  • Cons: Limited clamping space either side of the stem for lights and suchlike

We've seen quite a few of the latest gravel bikes coming with flared handlebars and I find it makes a lot of difference to the handling when you are really motoring across varying surfaces.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The Ergomax is available in four widths, the 42cm option we have here, plus 40cm, 44cm and 46cm. This is measured from centre to centre at the top of the drops, but the Ritcheys have a 12-degree drop flare top to bottom each side, plus the drops flare out at an angle of 3 degrees sideways, which increases their size (to 50.3cm on the 42cm) outer to outer at the bottom of the drops. You can see the full dimensions and shape here.

Ritchey Comp ErgoMax handlebar - front.jpg

This gives you quite a wide stance which seems to make the steering more stable when the ground is moving around underneath you, while keeping the lively feel of a narrower bar when sat up on the hoods.

From the 31.8mm diameter clamping area there is a 10mm rise up to the tops, which gives you a slightly more relaxed, upright position; if you don't want to go any higher you could always whip out a 10mm spacer from beneath your stem – after all, fewer spacers means better stiffness.

Ritchey Comp ErgoMax handlebar - detail 1.jpg

The clamping part of the bar is only 80mm wide, and once you've taken into account the width of a stem that doesn't leave you much room for fitting light brackets or computers, which could be an issue.

The tops have a flat aero section to them which gives you a great platform to rest your hands on, and they also sweep back by 5 degrees, giving you shorter reach to the bar.

The drop shape is curved rather than having any flat sections, but the radii change continuously to create quite a shallow drop of 128mm and a reach of 73mm. This makes them more usable, even if you aren't that flexible to spend a lot of time crouched over.

Ritchey Comp ErgoMax handlebar - detail 2.jpg

Comfort-wise things are pretty good. You want a little bit of give for when you are rattling across bumping surfaces and that's what you get from the 6061 aluminium alloy tubing used here. It just takes the edge off but still feels plenty stiff enough when you're out of the saddle or riding along on the road.

With Shimano now offering a bar end plug control box for Di2, Ritchey has future-proofed this bar by drilling a hole in the bottom of the drop to allow the wires to come out and pass beneath your bar tape.

The Ergomax is a well made bar and a pretty decent weight too. This 42cm came in at 313g on our scales, which is 7g lighter than Ritchey claims.

> Customising your bike to maximise your performance

It costs £52, which is good value for money when taking into account the quality and everything else. A look around the internet shows that the Deda Gravel 100 bar is lighter than the Comp Ergomax – 260g claimed – but costs £94.99. That matches very well against Ritchey's lighter, more expensive WCS Ergomax, weighing 270g at £94. We tested the WCS Venturemax road bar a couple of years back, and that's now £89, while the Comp Venturemax is £47.

On the whole, I really like the Comp Ergomax. It offers a good all-round package for your gravel bike or any other where you want a bit of width added to the handlebar.

Verdict

Loads of hand positions and a quality piece of kit for your adventure bike

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Ritchey Comp ErgoMax handlebar

Size tested: 42cm

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Ritchey says, "The evolution of Ritchey handlebars continues with the Comp ErgoMax. This new bar enjoys a rich history of handlebar design and development, and combines it with the modern demands of discerning riders who enjoy riding varying surfaces.

"Designed to enhance control and comfort when riding along loose surfaces, the ErgoMax is ideal for a gravel bike since it places the hands in a wider, more stable position while in the drops. The ErgoMax is just as perfectly situated on road bikes that are built for endurance, its ergonomics delivering unparalleled comfort.

"The bar tops employ a 10mm rise at the clamping area, which offers a slightly more upright riding position. They are then ovalized and have a slight 4-degree rearward sweep to more evenly distribute the weight of the rider's hands and wrists, also putting them in a more natural position.

"Continuing with an eye towards ergonomics, the ErgoMax also features drops with a nice 12-degree flare to keep the rider's hands in a comfortable and confident position, while also adding a bit more unobstructed stability when turning or sprinting.

"The new Ritchey ErgoMax bar delivers more control, welcome comfort and increased confidence when riding gravel, setting out on multi-day adventures or rolling along those long miles of tarmac."

The design is great for using on or off-road.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Ritchey lists:

Alloy 6061

40, 42, 44 and 46mm widths

Di2 Cable Routing

Drop: 128mm

Reach: 73mm

Drop Flare: 12-degrees

Flare out: 3-degrees

Sweep: 4-degrees

OD: 31.8mm

Di2 compatible

Color: BB Black

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)
 
7/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It has an excellent shape for use off-road.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Wide hand position when in the drops.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Limited clamping space for accessories.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

For a quality aluminium alloy handlebar it is right in the ball park.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

The Comp Ergomax bar is well made and offers a decent balance of stiffness and weight.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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1 comments

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littlemig | 5 years ago
1 like

I recently fitted these bars. Impressed with comfort of the hand positions. I think the flare in drops is quite modest when compared to other so called adventure bars and the shifters sit at a similar angle to road bars. Impressed so far.

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