I’m interested in throwing more money away, but I want to hear some unvarnished confirmation bias first. Anyone running these, and notice any magic?
Any Of You Have WAO Handlebar/Stem combo?
- Thread starter rideit
- Start date
Seems like a cool way to combine carbon bar and stem in a lighter package (and if not, at least it will weld together over time). I have the Syncros enduro bar on my XC race bike, which is lighter than my previous XC setup, but way way stronger. The problem I have with it is that it's crazy stiff, like over the top stiff.. The integrated carbon stem makes sense for weight savings, but IDK if I'd do it again, vs something like that We Are One What? seems like a good way to do it and not end up with an insanely stiff ride. I remember fretting about the stem length on the Hixon though, over and over. In the end, I nailed it correctly, but that can potentially go wrong.
buddy has them (on his arrival; bastard). no special juju reported. sweep feels fine, and they look really pretty? decently light, never heard of a failure, supports good canadian kids. about all you can ask for really.
I do and in all honesty it feels pretty similar to OneUp 35mm bar and RF Turbine stem, which is also pretty comfy.
The stem is nice and light, but it somewhat odd looking. And although you can't get the bar by itself, the sleeve just makes it 35mm so you can run it with any 35 stem. It's not married to the stem so you are not stuck with just 35 or 45 stem length.
The toughest thing for me was getting the bar right. How they do the rise/sweep is odd, not the numbers themselves but where on the bar they start it. I ended up running it what looks like rolled way forward to get it how I like it.
The stem is nice and light, but it somewhat odd looking. And although you can't get the bar by itself, the sleeve just makes it 35mm so you can run it with any 35 stem. It's not married to the stem so you are not stuck with just 35 or 45 stem length.
The toughest thing for me was getting the bar right. How they do the rise/sweep is odd, not the numbers themselves but where on the bar they start it. I ended up running it what looks like rolled way forward to get it how I like it.
I picked a set up from a dude in Squamish who got an Arrival but didn't like 'em. I got a killer deal as a result. Not sure I'd drop full retail.
The finish is very nice, and I've been happy with the feel of the bars. As with all things, I cannot tell if what I feel is my fork, running a DD front tire, different PSI in it, trail conditions, etc... They sure hold my grips well and change the direction of my wheel with great effect.
Mainly, it looks far better than my OEM Norco stem, and it gave me a reason to buy some anti-seize for the Ti bolts.
The finish is very nice, and I've been happy with the feel of the bars. As with all things, I cannot tell if what I feel is my fork, running a DD front tire, different PSI in it, trail conditions, etc... They sure hold my grips well and change the direction of my wheel with great effect.
Mainly, it looks far better than my OEM Norco stem, and it gave me a reason to buy some anti-seize for the Ti bolts.
so much cnc and still heavier than a newmen stem
But...but...35 mm!
I can't speak for the bar/stem but these wheels look real purty. I need to get some rubber mounted and throw em in the Mullet. (I bought a set of WAO Unions laced to Hadleys... mullet sized of course.)
Y U no unidirectional layup?
You can see the UD on the edges, looks like they added a cosmetic strip in the channel. He may have opted for the cosmetic weave pattern or maybe that's just what they do. All CF rims are UD, just the top layer is weave if they decided to do it that way (buyer request or whatever).
I got em (35mm rise bars, 45mm long stem). Yeah, to echo the previous comments it's good, seems similar to the oneup bar to me. I actually really like the 45mm length stem. I had been playing with stem lengths for a bit (35/40/50 before the WAO stem) and found the 45mm to feel the best (I have a 44mm offset fork for reference).
I didn't get them straight from WAO. It was a deal I couldn't refuse...
This seems marketed as more of a set than most bars and stems from the same company. At first I expected it to be a one-piece. They look like a normal bar and stem. Is there something I'm missing or is it just marketing?
It has a shim. Which is new technology somehow?
And if you go to a Beast Components bar you could save more grams.
Bar, Stem, and sleeve to run the bar with the stem (Bar is actually 33mm, not 35mm). Ti hardware on the stem.. <marketing_pitch>If 31.8mm is too flexy and 35mm is too stiff this seems to be the happy medium?</ marketing_pitch>
HIT N RUN is doing his stems all 35mm and sells a shim so peeps can run a 31.8 bar in the 35mm stem. Its cool but once the shim is on the bar and everything is in the stem - theres no way to adjust rake or move the bars at all.
Interesting... the WAO bars have a nub that the sleeve fits on and it doesn't seem to move when adjusting rake
That'd be cool. Those H n R stems are top load... so badass. I've got an older 31.8 version that I run. I can't get down with 35mm bars and those new stems with their shims... ugh. Whenever I see a bike product that requires shims I start rolling me eyes.
Bearings are just rotating shims.
Change my mind.
Change my mind.
