Purveyors of fine cycling goods, ENVE has long been a benchmark for carbon components, with nearly everything except groupsets available from the American brand. Most of what they make is high-quality and high-priced, and the G Series Gravel In-Route Handlebars are no exception.
(Image credit: Andy Jones)
These handlebars came fitted to the ENVE MOG gravel bike used in the Gravel v All-road article, so thankfully, I didn’t have to thread any cables or hoses through them.
Construction
The G Series Gravel In-Route Handlebars are, of course, made from carbon, with a lay-up that ENVE says has been specifically designed to reduce the vibrations and discomfort of off-road riding.
The most noticeable feature of the bars is the flare, with an extra 12cm from the centre of the hoods to the centre of the drops. Much like the road-going version, the flare is front-to-back as well as side-to-side, so the widest point of the whole bar is at the end of the drops.
Either side of the stem, there are a few centimetres of round bar for mounting lights, a computer, and any other gadgets before the bar flattens a little. This section is less about aero gains than comfort, with the slightly ovalised tubing extending around the corner towards the hoods. The drops have a straightened area near the brake levers before continuing backwards and outwards to the bar end plugs.
Space for computer and lights to be mounted before comfy oval section
(Image credit: Andy Jones)
In pure figures, the reach is 80mm, the drop is 120mm, and the claimed weight is 261g for the 44cm test bars.
They are available in 42cm, 44cm, 46cm and 48cm (at the hoods) widths, giving 54cm, 56cm, 58cm and a whopping 60cm width on the drops. I’ve owned mountain bikes with narrower bars than that!
The ride
As the bars arrived ready, set up and taped, I can’t comment on the weight or ease of fitting unfortunately, but that did mean that I could head straight out the door and onto my local trails.
Simply put, I loved the tops and hoods, but was less impressed with the drops. The…