OneUp Components launched their V2 carbon handlebar earlier in the year and they might just be the bars that all others are measured against.
OneUp’s V2 carbon bar arrived with us earlier in the ear and claimed to offer just as much compliance in its 760mm width as the big 800s do, but crucially, offering 13 and 33% more vertical compliance than the outgoing bar. The V1 was a firm favourite, so the V2s had a lot to live up to.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Width: 800mm (minimum width 740mm), 760mm (minimum width 720mm)
- Rise Options: 20mm, 35mm, (In 760 and 800mm) and 50mm (in 800mm)
- Backsweep: 8°
- Upsweep: 5°
- Diameter: 35mm
- DH and Ebike rated
- 220g-265g
- £149.99 RRP
- UK.OneUpComponents
Key to the latest iteration of their carbon bar, OneUp has focused on compliance without being sloppy. The V1s were the go-to bars for many of my test bikes and remain so to date. As a lighter rider (~60kg), I find a lot of 35mm bars, and especially carbon ones to be far too stiff and cause a lot of hand fatigue.
The OneUp carbon bars are the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the likes of the Raceface Era, Hope and Renthal, which almost immediately get swapped out for a set of OneUp numbers as no amount of tweaking other parts of the bike can make up for the stiffness and related fatigue.
This is not the case with the V1s. The V2s use the patented oval section construction to increase vertical compliance between 13 and 33% depending on width and rise. Narrower bars are, by their nature, stiffer than wider bars, so OneUp made two widths, 800 and 760mm that both offer similar ride feel. Upsweep is constant at 5 degrees, with backsweep set at 8 degrees. Clamp diameter is 35mm only. The 800s come in 20, 35 and 50mm rises; the 760s are available in 20 and 35mm rise.
The new bars tested in excess of the Category-5 Gravity EFBE Tri-Test certification and are rated for downhill and ebike use too. At £149.99, they’re in the ballpark as well, but if these are any bit as good as the V1s, then they might just be the best bars going. Weight sits between 220g-265g depending on width and rise.
At first, OneUp sent me a set of 800mm bars that I had to cut down to 750mm to fit and struggled to tell the difference between the V2s and V1s at that point. Not at all surprising really as the figures for compliance would likely be identical. Shortly after that, a set of the 760s arrived and I opted to leave them a touch wider, and crucially, uncut. The difference was noticeable immediately and the V2s quickly became the bar against which all others will be judged.
The V2s went onto my Saracen Ariel 60 Elite as I headed to the Alps for Enduro2 in Meribel. With in excess of ten kilometers of descent ahead, I needed all the help I could get, especially with the new Fox forks I had on test were misfiring.
That week kicked the living daylights out of me, but my hands seemed to be faring well. I can only put this down to the excellent damping qualities of the OneUp V2 bars. Everything from bike park braking bumps, to high speed rock gardens, I could keep on keeping on.
You can check out the OneUpComponents V2 Carbon Bar over on their website here.
