I am building up a new winter bike after selling my last one. The new winter bike will be the exact same frame as my WW bike but will be a few pounds heavier. I finally found a 1" Easton EC90 SL straight fork for the bike which has the same rake as my 1" Easton EC90SL bend forks. So at this time the frame and forks will be exactly the same.

My problem is today in very un-WW fashion, I could not justify buying a pair of Kestrel EMS PRO handlebars. Weight on these bar are 205g (reported) and I currently have a pair of Profile Lava drops that weigh 245g. I will be putting a pair of Oval A910 clip-ons on the bike so I need either a carbon bar for use with aerobars or a nice aluminum bar. In you honest opinion, do you think it is worth dropping money to go 40g lights.

The forks were a no brainer as they should be 323g when cut and the original forks were 535g. I paid a $1 a gram to which I feel is worth it.

Since you said it's a winter bike and you have another ww bike, i dont see any reason to drop more for that.

That is not a question... welcome to WW!

_________________
Scott CR1 - 5,5 kg - done
Santa Cruz Blur Carbon - 8,9 kg - and tuning...
Body - 60 kg and tuning...

WW is a disorder that I have a hard time with. A WW winter bike? Life is so full of tough choices!

It's a tough choice ona component like bars. To be honest, I think that 150 USD for 40g is excessive, as theres better ways of trimming that weight cheeply - eg. Bolt tuning, changing drink bottle holders, going for cloth bar tape, but if the bars suit you better than your old ones, and you'll be more comfortable, it'd probably be worth it. What about something like the Zipp Sl2's, which I believe can have clip on aerobars, which have been popping up new/barely used on ebay for arround 100-115 USD, which may seem like a better way to drop some weight.

My rule of thumb is that a gram is worth $1.25 and that is only on WW bikes. Winter bikes get whatever is on the shelf.

_________________
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

Second that, if I had a winter bike that is. Move to Australia and ride your good bike year-round...

_________________
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
-- Frank Zappa

Having a heavier winter bike makes the summer seem even better when it comes. I spend all the money on my first bike in the attempt to achieve perfection. Last year I actually deliberatley made my winter bike heavier to make training more affective and climbing on my first bike in the spring made me laugh out loud I know I know!

bman88, well first you are having faith that the claimed weight is correct. I had a set of the standard Kestrel EMS Pro's in 26.0mm and 42 centimeters center to center and they weighed 220 grams. I currently have a set of the same bars in the oversized version and it weighs 240 grams. I think that Easton EC90's will get you down to or under 200 grams and allow aerobar use.

A real weight weenie would never question the cost of the quest for less!

_________________
-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

It is the aerobar part of the equation that is stoping me from going with another pair of Easton EC90 Equipe's. I can only use Easton's aerobars which are too heavy. I have a pair of Oval A910's on the way and a pair of HED fliglite Carbon S-bends here already so the bar has to accomodate these aerobars. I might pick up a pair of the 199's in aluminum but I do like carbon.

If I can use Easton aerobars on an Easton EC90 then what is the difference between the Easton aerobar clamping mechanism, Hed aerobar clamping mechanism and the Oval aerobar clamping mechanism. Is this the reason or is it the way that they aerobars distribute the weight?

Without going totally overboard and buying a carbon bar and aerobar from Schmolke what other options is there.

I personally think the claim to use only a two bolt stem and only Easton aerobars is Easton propoganda. A team mate has been using Syntace aerobars on his EC90's for over a year and no problems. I think even more important is the correct torque value to avoid failure.

_________________
-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

I have been thinking about this for a long time especially with the HED fliplite's. I use them on the Easton Delta force carbon base bar with no problems and could never really figure out why i could not use them on the EC90's. I actually emailed Easton directly and asked why I could not use someone else aerobar other than Profile but never got an answer back. Their website only singles out Profile but Hed and Oval have a different clamping system to that of Profile and the weight distribution of a Syntace bar, Easton, Hed can be set up the exact same way. As for the Oval the pads have to go directly over the bar but they are pretty nice and clamp much better in my opinion than the Easton aerobars.

I am using my Syntace F99 with my Easton EC90 bars. I think that I will try my aerobars out on my other pair of EC90 equipe's on the trainer for a while and see how they workout and of course use my torque wrench to put them on to the specified torque.

No doubt !

Now I just need to find an Easton EC90 Equipe bar for a great price.