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Easton EC70 Aero Handlebar

8
£229.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Pricey, but a great blend of stiffness and comfort plus great aesthetics
Roomy internal routing
Comfortable hand positions
It's about £1 per gram…
No Di2 routing hole
Weight: 
225g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The Easton EC70 Aero Handlebar is light, stiff and offers plenty of comfortable hand positions. Internal cable routing keeps things looking clean, and it's easy to set up too. It doesn't come cheap, though.

The EC70 is a good looking handlebar, with its flat top section having a more rounded profile to it than most, which gets rid of any 'edges' where your palms and fingers sit; this greatly improves comfort, similar to that of a traditional rounded bar.

I ride on the tops a lot, and while that flat section is primarily there for aerodynamic marginal gains, it does give a supportive place to rest your hands.

In fact, it's relatively comfortable overall for such a stiff bar.

Its carbon fibre construction means there is barely any flex when climbing hard out of the saddle or sprinting, but there is just enough damping effect to take out any of the harshness and vibration associated with UK road surfaces.

Three widths are available: 40cm, 42cm and 44cm, measured from centre to centre, with all of them having a reach of 80mm and a drop of 125mm – both slightly larger measurements than Easton's top-of-the-range EC90 Aero.

Easton says that the shape provides more comfort during long days in the saddle, and I found it worked for me, allowing full use of all sections of the handlebar without causing too extreme a riding position.

2022 Easton EC70 AERO Handlebar 3.jpg

The central section is the now-standard 31.8mm in diameter and it comes with just enough width before the flat sections that you can fit an out-front computer mount, though you'd struggle to fit a light – the majority of 'see with' lights, anyway, as the clamp would likely be too wide.

2022 Easton EC70 AERO Handlebar 6.jpg

Cable routing is simple as the entry and exit holes at the top of the hoods and the central section are wide enough to easily accommodate a brake cable/hose and a mechanical gear cable too.

2022 Easton EC70 AERO Handlebar 7.jpg
2022 Easton EC70 AERO Handlebar 5.jpg

Some handlebars don't have the cable holes in the right position or are too small, which can make threading the cables through a chore, but I had no such issues here. A little bit of jiggling the outers about to get everything lined up, but no swearing required.

There is no hole for a Di2 bar-end junction box, though.

Value

The EC70 costs £229.99, which isn't cheap by a long shot, but it's still not as extreme as something like the Deda Vinci bar, up to £311.99 for the new DCR model (Matt tested the previous version last year, and that was £294.99), or the £459.95 Vision Metron Aero, up from £351 since we tested it in 2020.

> Buyer’s Guide: 10 of the best drop handlebars

Prime offers a more affordable option with its Primavera Aero, which Liam was very impressed with. It's only a gram heavier than the 42cm Easton in a 38cm width, but costs £149.99.

Conclusion

The EC70 Aero bar is a great upgrade in terms of comfort, looks and stiffness, with the only thing possibly counting against it being the price. It's not the most expensive bar out there, though, and the stiffness and the quality of the ride feel are worth the outlay if you have the budget.

Verdict

Pricey, but a great blend of stiffness and comfort plus great aesthetics

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Easton EC70 Aero Handlebar

Size tested: 42cm

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Easton says, "With the EC70 Aero, you can simultaneously stay comfortable and reduce drag. Thanks to the ergonomic profile and a less radically shaped bend, this handlebar provides more comfort during long days in the saddle. And with Easton's proven Composite TaperWall™ and monocoque construction, the EC70 Aero is nice and light at just 235 grams."

It's a comfortable handlebar, which also offers loads of stiffness.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Easton lists:

Finish - Matte UD Carbon, Water Transfer Decals.

Clamp Diameter - 31.8mm.

Width (cm) - 40, 42, 44.

Reach - 80mm.

Drop - 125mm.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Great stiffness levels for riding hard out of the saddle.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Comfortable top section.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

No hole to work with Di2 junction bar end box.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Looking back at the most recent carbon aero handlebars we've tested, it sits somewhere in the middle ground, as shown by the competition mentioned in the main review.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

It's a very good bar: well made and easy to set up in terms of cable routing, with an impressive level of comfort for such a stiff unit. It's not cheap, but it's by no means the most expensive out there.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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4 comments

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galibiervelo | 1 year ago
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Riders who use these aerobars and the one piece bar and stem getting more popular; the wider, flat shape of the top of the bars mean, when you are riding on the tops, the hand can't grip around with thumb on the back, so the palms rest , with five fingers facing front.

Watched a guy last week hit a pothole and he did a superman. Are they designed for riding on the hoods and the drops only?

 

Avatar
mark1a replied to galibiervelo | 1 year ago
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Oh, I don't think they're all as bad, I have S-Works Aerofly II on one of my bikes and have no difficulty getting my (average sized) hand around the tops. Advice would be to try before buying I suppose. 

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to galibiervelo | 1 year ago
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Never seen anyone riding like that with aerobars, ever! Sounds madly uncomfortable. Mine are about 70 mm deep at the deepest flat part, no problem at all to get my thumb round the back. I suppose as a relatively large-framed man my hands are slightly bigger than others, but I reckon a bar would have to be at least 100 mm from front to back before I couldn't safely grip it.

In addition, if anyone is thinking of getting aerobars, if you have any wrist problems or arthritis they are a godsend due to the wider platform they give for the palm so less jarring up the wrist; my right wrist has been broken three times (two times rugby, one motorcycle crash) and can be a real problem on long rides on my other bikes, usually have to strap it up, on my road bike with aerobars absolutely no pain at all.

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PRSboy replied to galibiervelo | 1 year ago
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I have the Prime Primavera bar (highly recommended) and tend to be either on the hoods, or lower with wrists on the rearward part of the hoods.

I only ever use the tops when climbing for a long period.  Its actually a comfortable platform to hold as it spreads the pressure, and certainly scope to keep your thumbs behind to grip. 

Its also a nice platform for the (UCI banned) 'puppy paws' position, as the bar tops don't dig into your forearms!

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