All Arround MTB

At 800mm wide with a 15mm rise and seven-degree backsweep (or a 30mm rise and nine-degree sweep, if you prefer) and 35mm clamping diameter, this is right in the big-bar sweet spot. Indented cut marks make trimming easy, and the firm but not numbing ride will appeal to high-control fans who like to know exactly what’s happening at the front wheel. The 248g weight and the fact that the distinctive design, with its hexagonal centre and bulged ‘shoulders’, has been unchanged for several years point to reassuring strength that nothing made us doubt during testing. The shape does make fitting lights or other accessories a pain, though. Price $187

This new gearset from Box Components has been in development for a while (it started appearing at trade shows three years ago) but now we’ve finally had a chance to put some trail miles in on it – 330 miles, to be precise. Is it time for SRAM and Shimano to be worried or have the BMX-based company got some more work to do? When the Box system first appeared it was 10-speed, but with both industry leaders releasing 11-speed transmissions, they had a refresh and added another click into the mix. They’ve also designed their own 11-46t cassette, but that wasn’t available at the time of testing. A big difference with Box’s system is that there’s only one shift lever, which operates both up and downshifts. Push the dimpled alloy trigger forward and you can go down as many as four gears in a single sweep if a climb suddenly steepens. Click the forward tab of the lever – or the sharp end of the shifter if you’ve got tough thumbs – inwards into the shifter and you’ll drop into harder gea...

We’ve seen a ton of carbon handlebars hit the markets over the years. over time, they have grown wider, stronger and stiffer but most maintain the same basic tubular shape from one end to the other. The new Box X Bars appear to have broken out of that mould with a unique crosssectional shape that is both fashion and function.