Speeco breaks the mould with radical handlebar concept
Aero Breakaway Bar provides a typical hood placement, with altogether different hand positions
Dutch custom components manufacturer, Speeco Tech, is making headlines today after launching a radical new handlebar concept that it calls the ABB (Aero Breakaway Bar).
Working with BEAT Cycling's Jan Willem van Schip, Speeco has sought to develop a handlebar that allows a more aerodynamic position while simultaneously aiding control and safety.
Speeco looked at Van Schip's position on the bike during breakaways and posed the question: "why are our stems so long, and our handlebars so short?" The position they found is one that will be familiar to any fan of pro cycling viewership; with hands positioned near the hoods, contact between Van Schip and the handlebars is limited to his wrists.
As a one-piece handlebar-stem system, the ABB tries to solve this problem by reducing stem length and increasing handlebar reach.
It uses a short 70mm stem with a minus 17-degree angle, and the majority of the effective length comes from the reach section of the handlebar itself. By shaping this tube section into a slightly concave form, Speeco says this enables a large contact area with your forearm, to not only increase comfort but also control of the bike in the aerodynamic, pseudo-time-trial position. Other aero considerations include the more normal feature that is cable integration, as well as an integrated aero mount for your Wahoo Elemnt Bolt.
In the images shown the bars look incredibly narrow but the finished product would be fully customised to your dimensions. Speeco says that the shifter position remains unchanged from a traditional setup and, that as a result, the handling of the bike would remain unchanged.
Should you find yourself enamoured with the radical new design, they can be yours for a cool €1,500.00.
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And if the name Jan Willem Van Schip sounds familiar, that's because it is. In Spring of 2018, the 26-year-old entered the limelight when he found himself in the day's breakaway at Scheldeprijs, aboard his Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij team issue Isaac bike. The eye-catching and headline-grabbing feature of the 194cm Dutchman's bike was his handlebars, which were a Japanese track handlebar that measured just 32cm wide. This cockpit showed a commitment to the narrow is aero mentality, so it's perhaps unsurprising to see that Van Schip is in the headlines once again with Speeco.
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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too.
On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.