New PRO Vibe SL handlebar designed to be lightest fully cable integrated handlebar on the market.
In the planning for PRO’s latest product line up its product developers set themselves a goal: to create the lightest brake and shift cable integrated handlebar with its Innegra Inside safety feature. Not only that, the handlebar had to pass PRO’s stringent safety standards, which build on the ISO 4210/JIS benchmark.
Creating a light and stiff handlebar is a delicate process. Different areas of the handlebars are subject to different forces, such as torsional, tensional (fatigue) and compression (impact) forces, so they need different strength properties, which comes from using the right amount of high modulus or high strength carbon in the correct places. But adding integrated Di2 or mechanical shift cables, and mechanical or hydraulic brake cables means that entry and exit ports are needed in the handlebar’s structure, which can be points where stress can build up. As well as that, PRO’s Vibe range uses an Innegra layer, which is a safety feature that helps carbon retain its structure in the event of an impact. Managing these competing demands takes expertise, experience and a lot of testing with PRO’s professional athletes.
However, by using a new method of combining high modulus M4075 carbon fibre with high strength T800 fibres PRO’s developers were able to use less resin to create a handlebar that was not only 15% lighter but also stiffer than the current cable integrated Vibe handlebar. This new model will be introduced to the market as the VIBE SL range.
This new fully cable integrated VIBE SL comes in two styles, either a Compact or Aero design. The Compact bar comes in widths of 38cm, 40cm and 42cm and weighs just 184g. The Aero bar with its wind-cheating flatter top section and narrower drops weighs 209g and comes in 38cm and 40cm widths.
The Vibe SL models will be launched at Eurobike 2018 and will be available in stores from October 2018.
Source: Shimano Europe
