Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO handlebar

The Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO is an astonishingly light carbon fibre handlebar that offers a good level of stiffness although, as you'd probably guess, it doesn't come cheap.

• Pros: Superlight, good balance of stiffness and comfort, great shape
• Cons: Well, there's the price tag

We're forever saying that weight is far from everything when it comes to bikes and components, but there's a big focus on the scales here so we'll start out by telling you that our TLO handlebar came in at 147g. That's for a 44cm model (measured outer to outer) too.

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To put that in some sort of context, the excellent Pro PLT Carbon handlebar (38cm) that we reviewed recently was 235g, the £149.99 Prime Primavera Carbon bar (40cm) – admittedly with deep, aero-section tops – was 238g and the FSA K-Force Compact (42cm) was 218g. The Deda Superleggera RS bar (£269.99) is 180g. In other words, at 147g the Schmolke bar is stunningly light.

Schmolke is a German brand that has supplied bars for the likes of Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel in the past. All of its products are made in Germany. The TLO – it stands for 'The Lightest One', by the way – is made from T1000 carbon fibre and it comes with a reach (the horizontal distance from the centre of the stem clamping area to the centre of the tube at its furthest forward) of 76mm and a shallow drop (the vertical distance from the stem clamping area to the end of the drop) of 126mm.

The top section of the bar is slightly squashed in profile, fitting beautifully into your palm when you're climbing, and it's easy to arrange things so that you get a flat or just slightly angled platform from the shoulders to the hoods of your levers.

The drop bends smoothly with a generous amount of rearward extension at the end, allowing you to shift your hands backwards if the road ahead is clear and you don't need immediate access to the controls. You can shorten the ends by up to 10mm if you're really careful.

One thing we're often pointing out is that dropping the weight of components is easy; you just use less material. The only problem is, you then run the risk of affecting things like stiffness, durability and safety.

> How to trim bike weight on the cheap

I've used stiffer bars than the Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO. The Pro Vibe Carbon handlebar that I took off my bike in order to fit this one was a little more rigid, for instance, but the difference was only noticeable when sprinting eyeballs out. However, the Schmolke is a long, long way from a swimming noodle of a bar! It's not one of those bars that turns the front end into a wobbly jelly the instant you turn the power up to 11. Rather, it's about mid-table for a high-end bar in terms of stiffness, offering plenty of confidence when you're out of the saddle or cornering hard while, on the other hand, also helping to damp vibration over rougher road surfaces. It's a decent balance.

> 9 ways to make your bike more comfortable

The walls of the handlebar are thin – obviously – so make sure you buy the right model for your bodyweight (up to 75kg; 76-95kg; 96-110kg). If you want to use clip-on aero bars or Di2 internal wiring for a bar-end junction box, models are available with the necessary strengthening (which adds 8g of weight in each case). Whichever version you go for, make sure you apply the fitting paste that Schmolke provides at both the stem and lever clamping points in order to minimise the bolt torque required. Don't be tempted to wing it without a torque wrench; the stakes are way too high!

As long as you follow those simple instructions, the Evo TLO should prove perfectly durable, and Schmolke provides a three-year warranty.

We can already hear the comments: "£450? You could buy a bike for that!" (It's actually €495 so the price will vary slightly according to the exchange rate). There's no getting away from the fact that the Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO is an expensive bit of kit. The Pro PLT Carbon handlebar I mentioned up top is £179.99, the Prime Primavera Carbon bar is £149.99 and the FSA K-Force Compact is £249.99. On the flip side, the Schmolke is about a third lighter than any of those three bars, and you're paying for small scale production in Germany. It essentially comes down to whether or not you're willing to pay a lot more money for that.

The Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO is incredibly light and offers a good balance between stiffness and comfort. The price, though, is one that's going to send all but the most dedicated weight-savers diving for cover.

Verdict

Incredibly light carbon fibre handlebar with a good balance of stiffness and comfort... and then there's the price tag