PRO PLT Carbon handlebar

PRO's PLT Carbon Handlebar offers good stiffness and excellent comfort and is reasonably lightweight, at a price that is lower than most other carbon options. The compact drop offers a powerful sprinting position and the round tops with internal cable routing mean the tops are a super-comfy place to spend time on the climbs and flats.

• Pros: Very well made, looks great, comfortable, stiff, reasonably light
• Cons: Not a huge weight saving over aluminium

Carbon upgrades are great, but not everything carbon is about saving weight. Carbon wheels, for example, are generally more aerodynamic than stock aluminium wheels and it's that aero gain rather than the weight saving that makes you go faster. Similarly, the best benefit to buying carbon handlebars like Pro's PLT isn't about the weight saving. Compare this to my Zipp Service Course SL88 aluminium bar and the saving is an unnoticeable 30g.

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The noticeable difference comes in the form of a brilliant combination of stiffness and comfort gained. First things first, the PLT Carbon bar is constructed using UD T700 carbon, with a 130mm drop that is identical to my Zipp and a comfortable 80mm reach. The drops flare out by 2 degrees, giving a hand position in the drops that is 1cm wider than at the hoods. It's all very comfortable for a relatively aggressive position.

On the subject of comfort, carbon is rather good at absorbing road buzz when the layup is correct. Here the PLT bar really shines. The front of my Cannondale feels much smoother compared with when it had the Zipp bar installed. Whether this improves physical performance at all, I'm not sure, but it's much nicer now that the majority of the local roads are surface dressed!

Having just finished reviewing Prime's Primavera carbon bar, I'd say that this is slightly more comfortable. It's probably because of the Prime's aero top section. I'd imagine that this has to be beefed up to achieve the stiffness it gives. The round top section here might not be as fast, but I still prefer the simplicity.

While we're on that top section, one benefit of the round shape is much easier bar wrapping. Combined with the small section of internal routing and it's very easy to get a nice clean finish, where quite a bit more effort was required with the Prime bar.

That small bit of internal routing runs for about 3 inches. It might seem a bit silly, but it gives a very clean finish and because the section is straight and short, it's incredibly easy to feed cables through. In fact, setting the bar up from start to finish would have taken less than 10 minutes, had it not been for the internal routing of my rear brake. That's Cannondale's fault though, not PRO's.

Out on the road, there is no rattling from the internal cables and I've not heard any weird creaks or clicks from the contact with the stem. To test the stiffness, I headed up some of the steeper Mendip hills. Wrenching on the bar brings no front end movement, or if there is it's tiny and likely to be an issue for only the largest riders. For those of us with cyclist's arms, this is brilliant.

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Other bars like this tend to come in north of £200 so I'd say that the PRO PLT Carbon offers pretty good value. Deda's Superleggera bar is £249, while the ITM X-One is a close contender at £189.99. Personally, I'd highly recommend the PRO PLT Carbon bar. It looks really smart, performs well and comes in at a very attractive price. That said, we're still talking about £179.99 for a handlebar, so I'd wager that you're not overly concerned by penny-pinching if you're considering this. The biggest rival though comes from Prime. Its Primavera bar is cheaper at £149.99, equally as comfortable, offers similar internal cable routing and an aero top section. Personally, I prefer a more traditional round bar, so I'd pay the extra for the PRO PLT, but the Primavera is certainly worth considering, especially if the budget is limited.

If I was considering an upgrade to a carbon bar then I'd find it very difficult to look past the PRO PLT Carbon. It does everything perfectly, offering very good stiffness and comfort with some internal routing, a respectable weight and smart, clean looks.

Verdict

Great all-round package of stiffness, weight and comfort