Long-Term Durability
The handlebars in this test have generally all held up. DH riding is inherently abusive to all parts, handlebars included—drops to flat, overshooting jumps, crashing—and all bars were exposed to this sort of use. The Spike 777 Evo bars, however, did wind up bent. The iodine 11 carbon bars didn’t end up having an issue, but after a season of use, they do feel less stiff than they did at the front end of their life, so I have retired them. Something is going on there for sure, and I have no desire to find out where in their life they will fail. The Atlas and ENVE bars are both as good as new.
- ENVE / Atlas (tie)
- iodine 11
- Spike 777 Evo
Bottom Line
I was able to draw some pretty clear conclusions from this test. Again, while all are high-end bars with good reputations, you can save a little bit of weight with the Spike 777 Evo bars compared to the Atlas bars, but you wind up giving up a tangible amount of durability and performance.
You can save a little bit of money by going with the iodine 11 bars compared to the ENVE bars, but you give up performance and durability. (To be entirely fair, the iodine 11 is not really marketed as a downhill bar, and it is ill suited to be used as one.)
In my mind, the Atlas and the ENVE bars are the clear leaders in this test. The ENVE bars have a few small incremental improvements and a 100g+ weight savings over the ATLAS bars, with the associated costs to match. These two bars really are, in my opinion, best in class.
Great write up. Given the significant performance differences between the ENVE and the CB bars, I would love to see this revisited to touch on more carbon bar options. Unlike aluminum bars, there aren’t a ton of carbon options so an expanded review shouldn’t be too exhaustive.
What I’m trying to say is, I’m looking for a cheaper carbon option for my old arthritic wrists that doesn’t suck! :P