Category Archives: Handlebars

At Compass, we design our components over thousands of miles on the (often rough) roads we ride, so we have full confidence that others will enjoy them as much as we do. Still, we were pleasantly surprised when the world’s … Continue reading →

Riders are realizing the importance of handlebar shapes again. In recent decades, makers tried to make ergonomic shapes by flattening the bars where the most useful hand positions are located. But human anatomies vary a lot, and locking riders into a few ‘anatomic’ hand … Continue reading →

We are glad to offer our Compass Randonneur handlebars with a clamp diameter of 31.8 mm (for modern stems), in addition to the 25.4 mm model we introduced last year. These handlebars have been very popular, and for good reasons. They support … Continue reading →

The Bicycle Quarterly‘s Specialized Diverge test bike came out of the box all black. Specialized’s photo (below) makes it look like a shadow, but when I saw the actual bike, I found quite unappealing. Everything looked like it was made from plastic. I dreaded taking … Continue reading →

Handlebars are one of the most important parts of your bike. As one of the three “contact points”, the handlebar shape determines whether you are comfortable on the bike or not. After every Paris-Brest-Paris, numerous cyclists complain about numb hands. … Continue reading →

One of the all-time favorite handlebar shapes is the Philippe Professionel. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, you found them on the bikes of professional racers (below), randonneurs, cyclotourists, even track bikes. Their flat ramps provide plenty of hand positions, … Continue reading →