You can choose from red or black colour options. Three widths (40, 42 and 44cm) are available, measured centre-to-centre, all with a 31.8mm centre clamp diameter. If you want a light handlebar the K-Force delivers, but if you fancy a compact handlebar, there are less expensive options. Fortunately, FSA offers the same compact shape in the SL-K guise which is a more affordable carbon sibling, and then there is the Omega Compact handlebar which is just £35, with the same shape. You're paying for that lack of weight remember. Yes it's an expensive handlebar, but most carbon handlebars share the same criticism. The only real downside, and it's a big one, is the massive price. Here is a handlebar that you can comfortably ride in the drops for long durations, without suffering the sore back that deeper and shorter reach handlebars are more likely to induce. The K-Force Compact handlebars proved as stiff as any handlebars from 3T, PRO or Thomson, though perhaps displaying a hit more flex when really pushed hard, especially during out of the saddle sprints.īest of all is the comfort the shape provides. It's clearly there to provide a flush fitting bar tape with the central bulge, but it looks unsightly if you prefer to finish your bar tape with a nice straight line. The only detail that niggles with me is the angled lip along the tops. The key clamp areas are reinforced and with a textured material to prevent slippage. There are cable grooves underneath the bar for the gear and brake cables to be routed, which provides a neat bar tape wrap. There's an extended wide section either side of the handlebar providing enough space for mounting a computer, out-front Garmin mount, lights or even clip-on aero bars.įitting the bars was easy. The K-Force Compact handlebar achieves its low weight thanks to a unidirectional carbon fibre construction, with Kevlar reinforcing. I use the drops plenty when I'm riding, and almost exclusively when racing, especially crits, and I do much prefer the compacts as they offer enough aero advantage without challenging my lack of flexibiltiy to the same extent some deeper handlebars do. Whereas a bar like the FSA Wing Pro has a 145mm drop making it very difficult for a rider with small hands to reach the brake levers while in the drops, the 123mm Ergonova drop is much closer to what one would find in a shallow, classic shape bar, giving greater ease of access to the levers and other controls. The shape of the handlebar makes it really useable, and we bet more people would make better use of the drops if they had a compact handlebar on their bike. So as well as the shallow drop, the reach has been reduced, so you don't have to stretch quite so far.įSA have also given the drops a slight outward flare (4 degrees) that delivers good clearance between the wrist and top corner of the handlebar, so that you never bounce into the tops when you're riding in the drops. The reach (80mm) is also short with a good rearward extension of the drop. What that means is the transfer from the hoods to the drops is less extreme, and that makes it ideal for people who want who don't have the flexibility to ride in the deep drops of some handlebars. However for the Ergonova the drops flair outwards, so the bar is nominally 20mm narrower at the hoods - this means a 42cm Ergonova measures 40cm at the hoods.The FSA K-Force Compact, as the name suggests, has a shallower drop (125mm) than a lot of handlebars, including FSA's own Ergo bar. Please note: 3T measure their handlebars center-to-center, with the bar dimension taken at the bar ends or hoods. Weight: 198g (42cm - Manufacturer claimed).
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