Dropper specialist BikeYoke lastly expands deep into MTB cockpits with the long-awaited Barmate Carbon mountain bike handlebars that we’ve been sneaking peeks at for years. They characteristic built-in vertical flex for enhanced rider consolation & lowered fatigue, but are nonetheless gravity-ready. Then, BikeYoke additionally has some powerful alloy Barmate bars for mountain bikers on extra of a finances.
Plus, in traditional BikeYoke vogue, they geek out on the small print and suggest a extra logical strategy to describe MTB bar dimensions so riders can extra precisely get their palms the place they need with a brand new bar and stem setup. We’ll delve into that in a bit, too.
However earlier than I get techy, I simply need to tease that I’ve been using the brand new BikeYoke Barmate Carbon bar for just a few months, and I really feel prefer it’s the one 35mm bar I need to journey anymore…
BikeYoke BarMate Carbon mountain bike handlebars
BikeYoke says they’ve been engaged on the Barmate handlebar mission since 2020. The primary time they allow us to tease one among these bars was again in 2023. And already then, I used to be drawn in by the mix of the outsized 35mm clamping space which rapidly tapered to the flattened part on the fringe of its rise. It appeared nearly apparent as somebody who seems like spherical 35mm bars are merely unnecessarily stiff & uncomfortable.
This distinctive carbon bar flattening permits the BikeYoke Barmate Carbon bar to be stiff laterally & torsionally within the instructions that make dealing with exact. However vertically, the carbon bar can flex to damp path chatter & vibration, lowering rider fatigue and even lowering arm pump on lengthy descents.
Bike Yoke says their aim with the bar was “nothing lower than making probably the most compliant and comfy 35mm carbon handlebar” available on the market. That’s what took them so lengthy to refine the bar’s layup and titanium reinforcement, delivering compliance whereas nonetheless making a bar robust sufficient to get the best EFBE Tri-Take a look at MTB-Gravity class 5 certification.
MTB Handlebar Stack & Attain sizing vs. Rise
Not solely does BikeYoke intention to carry rider consolation again to outsized 35m bars, additionally they need us all to rethink how we speak about handlebar dimensions in a extra constant manner. The reason being easy, handlebar measurement is often ambiguously described by ‘Rise’ – the peak a bar rises because it tapers up from the clamping space.
However the size of the taper varies from one producer (and even totally different supplies) to the following. And since most (however not all) bars now have upsweep, they proceed to ‘rise’ as you progress away from the taper in direction of the hand place. And let’s not get too deep into the truth that rotating your bar just a few levels ahead or again modifications how a lot they ‘rise’ as a result of bars additionally differ in backsweep. (BikeYoke’s ‘Handlebar geometry defined.pdf‘ pdf quantifies these impacts, too.)
What all of it quantities to is that no two bars with the identical Rise are prone to put your palms in precisely the identical place.
So BikeYoke proposes to explain handlebars by their goal bar Stack & bar Attain, identical to bike makers have adopted with body sizing over the past decade or so. Then, you may mix that bar dimension with stem Stack & Attain and body Stack & Attain, and make sure the place your new cockpit setup will find yourself.
Learn extra about it right here if you wish to geek out on handlebar & cockpit geometry measurement and variation with BikeYoke.
Carbon Barmate Tech Particulars
- 35mm clamp carbon mountain bike handlebar
- 6° upsweep & 9° backsweep
- 800mm broad, could be reduce all the way down to a minimal 760mm width
- embedded titanium mesh reinforcement on the stem & controls to distribute peak clamping strain with out carbon injury
- max 65mm stem clamping width
- max 6Nm stem clamping, max 3Nm controls clamping
- EFBE Tri-Take a look at MTB-Gravity Cat 5 examined
- no rider weight restrict
- 50mm & 65mm Bar Stack sizes obtainable (akin to ~20mm & 35mm rise)
- -35mm Bar Attain
- claimed weight 260g (50) & 265g (65)
- uncooked carbon with matte clearcoat
BikeYoke Barmate aluminum mountain bike handlebars, too
Now whereas the uniquely tapered carbon bars was all about bringing consolation & compliance again to 35mm, the Barmate Aluminum handlebar is simply meant to be a troublesome no-nonsense handlebar you may placed on something out of your path bike to your DH bike. Powerful however gentle and reasonably priced, in customized heat-treated 7050 alloy.
It’s made to suit any trendy 35mm clamp mountain bike stem. And meant to make you bike look good – both in traditional brushed and anodized black or a singular silver AND black end. The 2-tone bars silver to the left of the stem, black to the fitting. BikeYoke first brushes the bars by hand, then anodizes them silver, then masks off the left facet and anodizes the remainder once more in black, earlier than laser etching logos and alignment marks. The result’s a very cool look that’s simply as sturdy as single coloration ano bar.
Aluminum Barmate Tech Particulars
- 35mm clamp, heat-treated 7050 aluminum mountain bike handlebar
- 6° upsweep & 9° backsweep
- 800mm broad, could be reduce all the way down to a minimal 750mm width
- max 85mm stem clamping width to work with broad Direct Mount stems on dual-crown forks
- max 6Nm stem clamping, max 4Nm controls clamping
- EFBE Tri-Take a look at MTB-Gravity Cat 5 examined
- no rider weight restrict
- 50mm & 65mm Stack sizes obtainable (akin to ~20mm & 35mm rise)
- -35mm Bar Attain
- claimed weight 325g (50) & 325g (65)
- obtainable in all-black or distinctive half-black/half-silver anodized finishes
Using the brand new Barmate Carbon 50 bar
I’ve been using the mid-rise Barmate Carbon bar on an all-mountain bike because the final days of 2024. And whereas it’s solely been up to now month that I’ve been using on drier trails not coated in ice and snow, I’m fairly assured that I’ve come to a conclusion about this bar. And I’m undecided I can return.
I feel this can be the primary 35mm bar I’ve ridden that feels prefer it hits that candy spot of delivering exact bike management with out feeling overly stiff.
I’m no gentle rider at 86kg (190lb), and I journey among the most technical and bodily demanding mountain bike trails in Europe. I is probably not tremendous quick, however get pleasure from using the steepest and rockiest tracks that I can discover. And but nearly each carbon or aluminum 35mm bar I’ve ridden has felt prefer it was stiffer than want be. I used to be completely pleased with most 31.8mm bars, and would by no means have gone greater, besides that nearly each new path/all-mountain/enduro/freeride bike I examined for the final couple of years got here fitted with a 35mm diameter bar clamp.
In the very best instances, they weren’t so unhealthy and I handled it. However on a few bikes – each alloy & carbon 35mm bars – I observed that my palms, arms or shoulders have been particularly sore after a few lengthy days on the bike with loads of descending. It was particularly noticeable when shuttling high-speed enduro tracks or spending repeated days in bikeparks.
Lastly a compliant 35mm bar!
I’ve but to repeat that with the brand new BikeYoke Barmate Carbon bar. However I can already discover how the refined vertical flex of the bar barely mutes a little bit of the uneven really feel out of brake bumps and uneven, rocky & rooty trails. But, I don’t really really feel it flexing sufficient whereas using to vary my sense of stability or management. Standing nonetheless, you may actually push up & down on the bar and see it flex vertically although, identical to you may see your tire flex or watch the suspension go up & down.
With just a few months of winter path using on the brand new carbon bar, it feels a bit presumptuous to say, however that is probably the very best 35mm bar I’ve ever ridden. And I feel I need to put one on each of my private mountain bikes. I get the sensation that is going to be my new benchmark to check how different mountain bike bars really feel and carry out, curiously in the identical manner {that a} BikeYoke Revive is the put up that I evaluate all different droppers to.
BikeYoke Barmate handlebars – Pricing, choices & availability
The entire new Barmate bars can be found no immediately from BikeYoke. All are available in both 50 or 65mm Rise, and are appropriate with 35mm stem clamps solely.
The BikeYoke Barmate Carbon handlebars promote for $270 / 270€.
The 2-tone silver & black Barmate Aluminum bars promote for $99 /99€, and the easy black aluminum bars for simply $89 / 89€.