Our first major success at Chromag was the design and production of progressive, relevant handlebars and in 2005, we were arguably the most contemporary handlebar producer with some of the widest, strongest bars on the market. As a result, we carved out our niche as a component brand. We continued to earn our place in the bike industry as a handlebar authority, with a focus on quality, and up-to-date geometry.
As riders go bigger and do more dynamic things, we’ve continued to refine our handlebar lineup. Lift-access bike parks allow us to put ten times the mileage we used to do, in one day. The demand on handlebars continues to expand. There are more competitors on the market than ever and as a result, we’ve increased our efforts to push development further to be best in class, with the most innovative, high-performance products on the market.
Our current OSX series marks the fruition of several new features and advancements resulting from new design ideas, new technologies in fabrication, and expanded capabilities of our manufacturing facilities.
The term heat treatment gets thrown around a lot, but most of the time the word consistency doesn’t come along with it. Depending on the batch an individual bar might be subjected to vastly different temperatures during the process. HTX ditches the disparity and provides uniform, quality heat treatment on every single bar.
A longer, more progressive taper between diameters reduces stress risers through the dimensional transitions. By increasing the tapered sections and using a larger radius we have inherently built more strength into the shape of the OSX.
We use aerospace grade aluminum to achieve our required properties of strength and toughness, with added resistance to stress and corrosion.
Variable butted wall thickness optimises strength in areas where needed, while maintaining flex for a great overall feel and optimised weight.
The diagram below shows just how much attention to detail we go into with the wall thickness.
Over the past 15 years, the OSX has seen several updates and significant improvements in feel, strength-to-weight and overall performance.
We’ve retained the essence of OSX geometry with a 25mm rise, a 5° upsweep and an 8° backsweep; however the length has increased to 800mm.
By refining the shape, and utilising variable butting, high grade alloys and advanced heat treatment techniques, we have increased the fatigue life by over 50%. So much so, that we’ve seen fatigue test results reach over 1 million cycles.
- The original standard-setting Chromag bar, refined…now in its 8th iteration!
- 31.8mm clamp
- 800mm wide, 5° upsweep, 8° backsweep
- 25mm rise
- 7000 series alloy with variable butted wall profile featuring advanced heat treatment
Our burliest alloy bar has improved again with construction and material updates plus the addition of a 35mm rise option. The new OSX35 features a variable butted profile increasing strength where needed, through the bends, while adding compliance for a better feel and fatigue life several times the current accepted standard. It’s the bar of choice for riders at high performance levels who are fitting to a 35mm interface and need the highest quality and performance from an alloy bar.
- 35mm clamp version of our OSX layout
- 800mm wide, 5° upsweep, 8° backsweep
- Available in 25mm and 35mm rise
- 7000 series alloy with variable butted wall profile featuring advanced heat treatment
The FU40 has seen multiple improvements in outside shape, with longer, more progressive tapers, our new Variable Butting Technology, and improved Advanced Heat Treatment process.
With more height up front the FU40 offers a position many riders are looking for today. Our new forming methods, material and heat treatment technologies make the FU40 one of the strongest, most reliable handlebars on the market today without sacrificing feel or being over weight. In short the FU40 packs in all the same tech as the OSX, but with more rise.
We've also introduced the FU50 after repeated requests for even more rise.
- 31.8mm clamp
- 800mm wide, 5° upsweep, 8° backsweep
- 40mm & 50mm rise
- 7000 series alloy with variable butted wall profile featuring advanced heat treatment
