Syntace Racelite Carbon Review

James Raison

A review of Syntace’s Racelite Carbon Handlebars.

When I was planning to build an endurance bike, I wanted some nice endurance friendly bars. After some research and glowing praise from a mate, I chose the Syntace Racelite Carbon, boy! I’m glad I did. These bars are excellent.

The Syntace Racelite Carbon handlebars are designed for making long rides over less than perfect roads, bearable

ABOUT

The Racelite Carbons are designed to maximise comfort on long rides. They have a short reach of 78 mm and drop of 129 mm. They sweep back 6 degrees on the flats, and 2 degrees at the end of the drops.

Syntace have focused on strength too. They’ve done some wizardry with fibre types and arrangements of the fibre layers to beef up the bars in case of a crash. There’s a strip of Ti mesh placed where the stem clamps for even more reinforcement. It both protects the bar from high clamping forces and prevents twisting. As an added bonus, it gives aero bars something to grip. This is all very re-assuring given the flogging these bars will get.

THE RIDE

I was happy from the first time I laid my hands on the bars. The shape and the angles mean there are multiple comfortable points to hold on to. Such a short reach and shallow drop means your body position doesn’t change dramatically when you want to grab onto the drops. My normal bars are flat on the tops, but I had no problems going back to a rounded bar. They feel satisfyingly fat in your hands.

When the road gets rough you notice the bars tune out a lot of bumps and vibrations. Again, they are fitted to an endurance bike so I’m appreciative for every bit of compliance I can get. I noticed the bars flexed under high loads while I was climbing out of the saddle. Don’t be put off by the idea of flexy bars, it’s highly unlikely that you are Peter Sagan and need something completely rigid. Most of the time they just feel fantastically smooth.

The short drops and reach are perfect for riders with smaller hands

The shapes and smoothness made them great for descending too. You can grab the drops firmly and throw your body around with confidence. All the while, the bars will dutifully reduce the effects of de-stabilising bumps.

At $398 AUD, these bars are in a high price bracket but their outstanding design and functionality makes them a front-runner for anyone wanting bars for an endurance build. I dropped my hard-earned cash on these bars and I don’t regret it.

Overall

The Syntace Racelite Carbons are a premium product with a premium price tag. They’re for people who value outstanding comfort and performance. Their ruggedness will undoubtedly come in handy because I plan to put these bars through the wringer. It’s reassuring to know how much work has been done to make these both strong and comfortable.

Syntace

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