Best road bike handlebars 2022 — fine tune your ride position for comfort and performance

We've spent thousands of hours testing almost 100 handlebars. Here are our recommendations for the best road bike handlebars you can buy.

• Best all-round road bar: Pro PLT Carbon — buy now for £132 | Find out more
• Best aero road bar: Prime Primavera Aero Carbon — buy now for £149.95 | Find out more
• Best for gravel riding: PNW Components Coast Handlebar — buy now for £69.99 | Find out more
• Best under £100: Bontrager Elite Aero VR-CF — buy now for £61.55 | Find out more
• Best under £50: Genetic Driser-16 — buy now for £44.99 | Find out more
• Best under £30: Genetic STV Road handlebar — buy now for £26.99 | Find out more
• Most innovative: Coefficient Cycling Wave Handlebar — buy now for £379.00 | Find out more
• Money-no-object: Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO — buy now for €495 — Find out more

The 10 best drop handlebars

The best-scoring of the handlebars we've tested over the years that you can still buy, plus our favourite budget picks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything you need to know about drop handlebars

• All current handlebars are made from either aluminium or carbon fibre, but there's a huge range of weights and shapes in both materials

• Handlebar width comes down to fit — they should be as wide as your shoulders — and to an extent to taste; if you're used to a mountain bike bar a 40cm drop may feel narrow even if it fits

• High-end bars tend to have provision for Di2 cabling, but even cheaper units give you lots of options in reach, drop and details of shape

• Bars with flat top sections are claimed to offer better aerodynamics; we're quite fond of them as a place to rest your hands when cruising along

• After vanishing for many years bars with a flare that provides a wider stance in the drops are making a comeback for gravel riding

Here we're going to explain the key variables you need to consider when choosing a new bar.

Width

Width is usually measured between the two ends of the bar (but see Flare, below). Beware, though, that some brands – such as FSA – measure between the centre of the ends while others – such as Deda – measure from the outside of one end to the outside of the other.

Drop handlebar widths usually increase in 2cm/20mm increments.

Broad shouldered riders will get more stability and breathing capacity from wider bars, but go too wide and you could end up with aches in your neck and shoulders.

A rule of thumb is to match your handlebar width to your shoulder width, but we'd advise a professional bike fit to make sure you get it right.

Reach

This is the horizontal distance that the handlebar extends forwards from the stem clamp area. A longer reach pulls you further forward.

Ritchey's WCS Streem handlebar has a reach of 73mm across all sizes, for example, while the majority of FSA handlebars have an 80mm reach.

How to choose the right stem length

Drop

Drop is the vertical distance from the stem clamp area to the end of the bar. FSA's K-Force New Ergo handlebar, for instance, has a drop of 150mm while the K-Force Compact has a 125mm drop.

Compact handlebars have become common over recent years. Some people use a compact bar as a means of avoiding an extreme riding position that's hard on their back and neck when they move from the hoods to the drops.

Flip the thinking, though, and some racers use a compact bar to ensure they don't come too far out of their most aero position when they shift from the drops to the hoods.

Flare

Flare is the amount that the drop section of the handlebar slopes outwards from the vertical, measured in degrees.

Most road handlebars have just a small flare or none at all. On the other hand, gravel and adventure handlebars have a large flare to provide extra stability and control when you're using the drops. The Pro Discover Medium handlebar, for instance, has a 12° flare.

In cases like this the brand will often quote the handlebar width as the distance between the shifter clamping points (measured centre-to-centre) rather than the distance between the ends of the bar.

Bend

Constant-curved drops are traditional but many brands offer different types of bends that are designed to be more comfortable.

The Genetic Drove (above), for example, is an anatomic shape with a tight radius at the top of the bend, a flatter section where your hand can rest just behind the lever, and a gentle curve towards the end.

Tops

The tops of most handlebars are circular in cross section but some are shaped for comfort or aerodynamics.

Ritchey, for instance, says that the tops of its Comp Ergomax gravel/adventure handlebar (above) are ovalised for comfort – your weight is distributed over a larger area so pressure is reduced – while the Prime Primavera carbon handlebar (below) has flattened tops that are designed to reduce frontal area and drag.

Bear in mind that it can be difficult to fit some lights, computer mounts and so on to the non-round sections of bars, although it's usually possible right next to the clamping area.

Sweep – tops

The tops of most handlebars head out at right angles to the stem but others sweep forwards or backwards. The Vision Metron 5D (below) has a 10° forward bend, for instance. Vision says that this results in "a more ergonomic climbing position and easier breathing".

In contrast, the tops of the Ritchey Comp Ergomax handlebar sweep 5° backwards. Ritchey says that this, combined with the ovalised tops, more evenly distributes the weight of the rider's hands and wrists and puts them in a more natural position.

Rise

The tops of most drop bars sit level with the stem clamp but riser drop bars do exist. The bars slope upwards on either side of the stem clamp area before levelling out.

Most bars of this type are designed to increase the height of the front end for gravel use, doing a similar job to a taller head tube, a higher rise stem, or a stack of headset spacers. The Genetic Driser–16 handlebar that we reviewed, for instance, has a 20mm rise to provide a more upright riding position.

Specialized's S-Works Aerofly Carbon Handlebar isn't designed for gravel riding, though. Specialized says that "a 25mm rise [will] allow you to achieve a more powerful position, or lower you stem stack to become more slippery in the wind".

Outward bend

The outward bend, or outsweep, is the degree to which the ends of the bar are angled relative to a line going down the centre of the stem. Most Pro bars, for example, have no outward bend, the ends of the bar pointing directly backwards. Zipp's SL-70 Aero has an outward bend of 4°, the same as most FSA bars.

Cable routing​

Brake cables/hoses and gear cables are usually positioned on the outside of the handlebar, underneath the tape. Some bars, like the Easton EC70 SL Di2 (above) we reviewed, have recessed channels to accept them.

Other handlebars allow cables and wires to run internally. The Vision Metron 5D handlebar (above), for instance, has holes in the tops where cables/wires can enter and exit.

Internal cable routing does make swapping to a new handlebar more complicated.

Material

Handlebars are almost always made of either an aluminium alloy or carbon fibre. Carbon is lightweight and can be shaped more easily into aerodynamic or ergonomic profiles, but many racers still prefer aluminium for its ability to withstand the odd crash or drop. It's also more obvious when an aluminium bar has failed following an accident.

Clip compatibility

You can't fix clip-on triathlon aerobars to all drop handlebars. Some bars are the wrong shape and others simply aren't designed to handle the forces. It's always best to check the manufacturer's specs before fitting any.

Diameter

The vast majority of drop handlebars on modern bikes have a 31.8mm clamping area diameter, but when buying a new bar always double-check that you're replacing like with like. Smaller bars, usually found on older bikes or some very cheap models, may be 25.4mm (Japanese and British bars), 26.0mm (most old Italian bars) or 26.4mm (old Cinelli bars).

A few years ago Deda introduced bars and stems with 35mm clamp sections. That idea wasn't a big success for road bikes, but there are quite a few mountain bike bars and stems now in 35mm, where the greater strength and stiffness makes sense along with super-wide modern mountain bike bars.

Explore the complete archive of reviews of handlebars on road.cc