Ritchey announce two new shallow drop handlebars for this autumn

We like a nice bar in these parts, so there was a certain amount of excitment when Ritchey whizzed us over news of not one, but two new offerings: the WCS Curve and the WCS Evo Curve.

Both of them are tasty looking bits of kit, the Curve is made from carbon while the Evo Curve is triple butted 7005 aluminium, both come with the flavour of the moment shallow drop for a more back friendly, long day in the saddle ride position – ideal for sportives. As the name suggests the WCS Evo Curve combines the top bit of Ritchey's highly successful Evo bar with a shallow drop. Oh, and it's also available in a purest white finish "Wet White" even. Bluff old traditionalists will be pleased to know it also comes in "Wet Black" too – neither requires extra absorbent bar tape.

Finish on the Curve is carbon, and being carbon the Curve is the higher end of the two bars, weighing in at a claimed 210g, no UK prices as yet, but on the continent it'll set you back £224.99 whereas the Evo Curve which weighs 40g will cost you the significantly smaller amount of £73.99 in Black or £86.99 in white - not sure why white paint should be so much more expensive, but there you are.

Ritchey describe the geometry on both bars as "relaxed yet aggressive" (passive aggressive maybe?) which puts us in mind of a Jeremy Irons/Alan Rickman type villain in Die Hard… but maybe that's just us, anyway we know what they mean - these bars are designed to be both comfy while letting you get in there and punch out the effort in a sprint.

The Curve is the shallower of the two with a forward reach of 73mm and a drop of 128mm while the Evo Curve has a reach of 81mm and a drop of 131mm, both look to have enough length in the bottom hook to ensure there's none of that annoying knocking your wrists against the top section when down on the drops. The Evo Curve also has an oval bar diameter and 4° of sweep on the tops for a more comfortable hand/arm position while riding on the tops. Sounds good.

Both the Curve and Evo Curve will be available in a choice of 40, 42 and 44cm widths. We've got our test request in already.

Both should be in the shops over here for September,