Easton

EC70 XC Wide Handlebar

29er riders know the truth: A bigger wheel yields a longer footprint, and that gives the tire a lesser angle of attack to roll through trail chop rather than stall out between obstacles. But that bigger wheel size makes the front end of the bike taller, too, so it's tough to get downward leverage on the nose, especially during steep climbs. So Easton now offers the EC70 Wide Flat Handlebar. At 685mm it's the widest offering in Easton's non-gravity suite of bars, and you probably already know that width is a major advantage with a taller wheel, again because you need it to create leverage for both keeping the wheel on the ground during steep ascents, and to maintain truer tracking during cornering.

Width alone doesn't cut it though; You also want as flat a bar as possible, because a riser bar only moves you farther back in the cockpit, just the opposite of where you want to be parked to maintain control. Obviously then, just as the name would indicate, the Easton EC70 Wide Flat Handlebar is truly flat, but features a very gentle, 9° backsweep, to bring the bar slightly toward you.

For strength, the EC70 Wide Flat Handlebar is constructed using Easton's TaperWall technology. The company computer-maps a layup routine and automates the actual construction, so that every layer of carbon is precisely applied and is completely smooth, thereby eliminating any voids that can create flaws and weaknesses in the structure. This is especially critical in a handlebar, where the best layup is one that takes advantage of carbon's innate lightness and vibration damping, but is still reinforced heavily at the stem clamp since, in an especially wide bar like this one, the stem area would see even more stress than usual.

By the way, while wide, this Easton tiller isn't heavy -- it's merely 40g more than Easton's very lightest bar, the EC90.

The EC70 Wide Flat Handlebar is made of Easton's uni-directional carbon. It's 685mm long and comes in a black, carbon finish. It has a 9 degree backsweep and is only available with an oversized 31.8mm clamp diameter.

Application: XC/Trail