First Impressions/Product Launch
OneUp: Aluminum Handlebar and DH Stem
New OneUp Aluminum Handlebar
The vibration damping of the OneUp Components Carbon Handlebar is now available in aluminum. OneUp claims carbon performance at an aluminum price. The new Aluminum Handlebar applies the same patented oval shape as their Carbon bar, aimed at delivering increased vertical compliance without sacrificing steering precision.
A good looking handlebar, with an oval section that is thinner vertically, and thicker horizontally. The intent is allow more flex in the vertical direction than the forwards / backwards direction on the bike.
OneUp Aluminum Handlebar Specs and Pricing
800mm Wide / 35mm and *20mm Rise / 35mm Diameter / 8° Backsweep / 5° Upsweep
Weight: 337g
Material: 7050-T76 Aluminum
Intended Use: Trail, Enduro and DH
Max Clamp Width: 80mm
Strength: DH (ASTM Cat. 5 Downhill) and EFBE TRI-TEST® GR
Finish: Fine shot peen with polished black Alu logos
Colour: Black
Decal Kits: Red, Green, Blue, Orange, Gold, Matte Bronze, Black, Purple, Oil Slick and White
MSRP: 119 CAD / 89 USD / 79 GBP / 89 EUR
*20 mm rise Aluminum Handlebar available in August 2023
Tasteful graphics applied.
Tasteful graphics applied.
New OneUp Direct Mount Stem
From OneUp: The Direct Mount Stem was developed specifically for the needs of our World Cup DH athletes. It’s a clean, simple design with a 0mm rise and 60mm bar clamp width. The spacer kit gives you an additional 5mm or 10mm of adjustment.
I like the simple industrial design of OneUp's new DH stem.
Direct Mount Stem Specs and Pricing
Clamp Diameter: 35mm
Length: 45mm
Rise: 0mm (5mm and 10mm available with the optional Spacer Kit*)
Weight: 155g
Material: 6061-T6 Aluminum
Finish: Fine shot peen
Colour: Black
MSRP: 129 CAD / 99 USD / 89 GBP / 114 EUR
DH Stem spacer kits (2x 5mm spacers) will be available from OneUp in August 2023.
The DH Stem uses the standard No Gap at the top strategy to secure the bar.
I do wish the angle graduations on the handlebar lined up with a feature or graphic on the stem at an intended zero point for bar roll.
Ride Impressions
I've had the new OneUp Aluminum Handlebar and Stem on my downhill bike for a few weeks now. Since then I've put in 5 days at the Whistler bike and about 18,000 m of descending. It took a bit of time to get comfortable on this bar and stem as the 45 mm stem is 5 mm shorter than most downhill stems, and the 35 mm rise bar is taller than my previous bar. After moving some stem spacers around I got comfortable with the cockpit.
I like the sweep angles in the handlebar, and for my setup I liked the slightly shorter reach of the stem. While I had to lower my stem a bit to accommodate the higher rise bar, I do like the higher rise on my bike; it seems to give a greater variation in hand placement for a small change in the rotation of the bar in the stem.
Not a bad looking bar and stem combo.
I have soft office worker hands, so hand fatigue and arm pump is usually my biggest battle on a bike. The oval OneUp bar is one of the more compliant aluminum handlebars I've tried and it did seem to help with reducing hand fatigue. I thought I might not like the additional flex in the bars, but even with some hard landings and high load compressions I never noticed the bar flex in a negative way. Steering precision seemed unaffected, which is good! I ride carbon bars on my trail bike, and these do feel more like carbon bars than other stiffer aluminum bars I've tried before. Stem-wise, after 5 big days of riding the stem bolts have retained their torque perfectly. I haven't had these too long or crashed heavily with this combo yet, so I can't comment on durability.
Testing OneUp's claims of reduced hand fatigue in the Whistler Bike Park.
So far I've enjoyed my time on the OneUp aluminum bar and DH stem. I think the combination looks fantastic, I like the bar angles, the bar made a difference in reducing hand fatigue, and they're reasonably priced. All in all I think the Oval Aluminum handlebar and downhill stem are great products from OneUp.
Age: 41
Height: 183 cm / 6'
Weight: 87 kg / 192 lbs
Ape Index: 1.055 / +10 cm
Inseam: 81 cm / 32"
Preferred Riding: Gravity Mountain Bike
Bar Width: 800 mm
Preferred Reach: 500 - 520 mm (but this is stack and head angle dependent)
Comments
doodersonmcbroseph
9 months, 4 weeks ago
31.8mm handlebars are cool too, I don't understand 35mm.
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Shinook
9 months, 4 weeks ago
A lot of OE builds are coming with 35mm stems and have for years, so this allows people with 35mm stems from factory builds to get a more compliant bar (in theory) using their existing stem. So yea, 31.8 in 35mm form more or less, but it's good for people that already have 35mm stems and is cheaper than buying a 31.8 and replacing your stem.
but yea, I don't get the 35mm thing as a whole either. Seems like it's more aesthetically oriented to me, I've never had a flex problem with 31.8 even being on the heavier side.
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Joseph Crabtree
9 months, 4 weeks ago
You can get a shim to use a 31.8 bar in a 35mm stem.
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Zero-cool
9 months, 3 weeks ago
Wouldn’t it be easier to just get a 31.8mm stem?
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taprider
9 months, 4 weeks ago
So Big Bike said buy our 35mm bars, they are better because they are stiffer
Now they say buy our new Oval bars because the "old" 35mm bars are too stiff
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Cooper Quinn
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Weight.
I'm going to massively simplify this, but tube stiffness/rigidity and strength vary as a function of diameter and wall thickness. if you increase diameter, you can have thinner walls and the same strength.
There's limits to all this and other tradeoffs, but that's the meat of it.
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Tjaard Breeuwer
9 months, 4 weeks ago
That of course is true, if we were only trying to make the lightest, stiffest, structure (like a downtube).
But as this bar shows, in handle bars, we actually don’t want them too stiff, and we need a certain wall thickness for clamping stems, controls and grips, as well as impact resistance.
By the time you factor that in, I have not seen a big difference in weights for 35 vs 31.8 mm bars.
As a bike fitter, I really dislike 35 mm. For the first few years, there were no options for stems, now there are some, but still NOWHERE near the variety in angle, reach, and stack height of 31.8.
Add to that that bikes have gotten longer, so I am more often looking for the shortest possible cockpit for clients.
31.8 stems can be shorter than 35 mm ones.
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Andy Eunson
9 months, 4 weeks ago
This comment has been removed.
Tjaard Breeuwer
9 months, 4 weeks ago
This comment has been removed.
ohio
9 months, 3 weeks ago
If you are only a handlebar MFG, this is true to the tune of about 20g or less. But a 35mm stem will be heavier than a 31.8mm stem... to the tune of about 20g or less.
Renthal Carbon Fatbar 35mm x 20mm rise = 225g
Renthal Carbon Fatbar 31.8mm x 20mm rise = 225g (no difference)
Renthal Apex Stem 35mm x 40mm 122g
Renthal Apex Stem 31.8mm x 40mm = 118g (4g lighter)
There truly is no net benefit to 35mm, and a significant comfort detriment. Good on zee German companies like Syntace and SQLab for refusing to adopt such nonsense.
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handsomedan
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Soooo many backsweep options - finally! Oh never mind, just the standard 8 degrees that someone somewhere when bars were super narrow decided would work for everyone.
Surely if companies can offer options for diameter, width and rise they can offer options for sweep…
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cheapondirt
9 months, 4 weeks ago
You beat me to it while I was typing haha. Fully agree
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fartymarty
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Most moto bars are 10-15 degrees (Bar Bend Assistance tab on https://www.fasstco.com/collections/motorcycle/products/flexx-handlebar). I don't get why most mtb bars are <10 degrees...
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Cr4w
9 months, 4 weeks ago
No. In this respect we are all exactly the same.
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cheapondirt
9 months, 4 weeks ago
It's been said many times and many ways, but I sure would like comfort-oriented bars to have more backsweep, at least as an option. I personally have found a lot of relief from wrist discomfort at 12°.
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Andy Eunson
9 months, 4 weeks ago
It is kind of weird that bars are predominantly the same or very close. Road bars on the other hand come on numerous widths, drops, reaches, curve shapes and material. Makes no sense.
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Jerry Willows
9 months, 4 weeks ago
We need a back to back test from the carbon to Al versions....
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Andy Eunson
9 months, 4 weeks ago
I watched a test on Vital of bar deflection shall we say. They had fixed one end of the bar, the middle and put weight on the free end and measured deflection. My thoughts were, the weight should try and replicate average rider weight, divided in two because we have two arms. Then divided again because we usually have most of our weight on our feet. The we’d have to account for suspension, tires and what we absorb with our arms. Then one has to account for the "marketing factor" that comes from being told it’s better compounded by how much the person has spent the bar. The more one spends the better the thing works.
Yeah I’m sceptical and cynical.
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Agleck7
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Fwiw on my Spur ive ridden the oneUp carbon bar and 31.8 alloy Spank Vibracore 50mm rise and I find the Spank bar more comfy on my hands. Also run it on my Spire and it’s very comfy
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gregster77
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Have a oneup carbon on my DH bike. Also keyboard hands. Upgraded from an atlas aluminum bar and felt a noticeable improvement.
Kind of curious there's noticeable improvement going from their aluminum to their carbon version or if it's really carbon like at aluminum price.
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Dhc7
9 months, 3 weeks ago
I switched from 35mm to 31.8 on my bike and it made a very noticeable diference.
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Zero-cool
9 months, 3 weeks ago
I’ll stick with my 31.8mm Renthal bars and stem which have a lovely amount of compliance without needing fancy oval bits.
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