At £250 for this Deity Components bar, stem and grip combo, this colour-coded cockpit setup from Deity certainly isn’t cheap.
Ben has been riding the combination of the new Deity Components Skywire bar, Copperhead stem and Knuckleduster grips all winter to find out if the price tag is reflected by its on-trail performance.
Photos by Dave Price.
Deity Skywire 35mm Carbon Bars
Key features:
- 25mm rise
- 35mm diameter
- 800mm width
- Designed for Trail & Enduro
- 226 grams
- £134.99 RRP
Deity Copperhead 35mm Stem
Key features:
- 35mm clamp
- 35mm length
- Available in 8 Colours
- 135 grams
- £89.99 RRP
Deity Knuckleduster Grips
Key features:
- Single clamp design
- Durable Deity TRC rubber compound
- Available in 12 colours
- Ribs, waffles and chevrons for grip and comfort
- 101 grams per pair
- £18.99 RRP
When you first bolt these parts on to your bike you immediately feel a bit more, ‘Factory.’ The sleek carbon design, colour-coded decals and anodised stem combine to give your bike a bit more of a pro look to it. Deity seem to have a strong brand image and everywhere I rode, people seemed stoked on the Deity set up.
This winter I have mostly been riding a Santa Cruz Hightower (review coming soon) complete with Santa Cruz’s own brand carbon bars which I have found very comfortable. They retail for £150 and with a 20mm rise, 800mm width (cut to 770mm) and 240 gram weight they seemed like the perfect comparison for the Deity Skywire.
Installation was a breeze with cut marks on the bars and textured sections to create more friction for the stem and grips to grab onto. The stem bolts were solid and never felt like they might round off or cross thread.
Once bolted on the Hightower, the Deity cockpit felt immediately familiar and on the first few runs I struggled to tell them apart from the Santa Cruz kit. Despite the 35mm clamp the system was generally solid feeling without being overly stiff or harsh. Only after a few runs did I start to appreciate that the Deity kit seemed a bit stiffer and less forgiving than the Santa Cruz kit.
I liked the feel of the Knuckleduster grips both with and without gloves and they are not showing any signs of wear, despite a good few crashes and plenty of gritty winter miles. It is always hard to review a stem as it should basically be invisible when you ride, so all I will say is that it is well made, a decent weight and looks good on my bike.
Bar comparison
Last year I reviewed the £170 Enve M6 bar with 31.8mm clamp and found it to be the most comfy bar I have ever used. If I were to put these three bars in order, the M6 is has the most flex and comfort, with the Santa Cruz second and Deity being the stiffest.
What do we think?
Overall this is a great cockpit setup and with loads of colours to choose from you can really get your bike looking sharp. Whilst the bars are stiffer than the others mentioned, I still found the Skywires to be comfortable and for heavier riders they would probably be ideal.
We love
- The design and looks.
- Grips are great without gloves.
Could do Better
- Stem is very expensive.
- Bar may be too stiff for lighter riders.
