Pre-order 3T's new handlebars today!

For 60 years, 3T has pushed the development of handlebars. In the old days, its manipulation of lightweight alloys was the stuff of legends, and allowed the company to produce bars in shapes and weights that nobody else could touch.

If there is one product that defines 3T, it’s the handlebar. So developing a new range is something we take very seriously.

The Aeroflux‘s core is a new wing design. Its shape is aerodynamic for optimal speed, yet with a curve that is also very comfortable. The drop shape is borrowed from the Superergo. Why? Because it is the most comfortable grip we know, and we see no way to improve it.

Cable routing has improved with new exit hole positions, letting your cables lie smoothly on the stem body. There is also a central hole to feed cables through your stem if you don’t mind the hassle and your bike allows us (personally I am not a fan of hassle unless the rewards are worth it, but to each their own!)

The Aeroghiaia is a typical 3T product, as like to make things nobody else does. The Aeroghiaia is an aero dropbar specifically designed for gravel. As many people (just not other bike makers) know by now, aerodynamics are important if you want to go fast on a gravel bike for two reasons:

1. Gravel rides often involve open areas where speeds can be considerable and with strong winds, your speed relative to the wind can be enormous even if you’re going slowly relative to the ground
2. Gravel bikes are also used on paved roads a lot, either to loop together gravel sections or for a civilized outing with roadie friends. So you don’t want to give up any speed to them.

The Aeroghiaia combines the new center section of the Aeroflux with the drop shape of the Superghiaia. This means that it has one of the great 3T inventions of the past five years, the multi-flare. A little history:

When people wanted more control from their dropbars, the drops started to flare out more. But as those angles increased, they took the brake/shift levers with them. And putting those levers at an angle is uncomfortable – SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo designed the hoods to be upright for your hands to be supported, not at an angle.

The multiflare solves that by keeping the drop at a standard “roadie” angle as it curves down and forward, right until the point where the levers are attached. Immediately underneath, they flare out strongly to give you the wider hand position you want for control.

As a bonus, it turns out that the actual lever shape works perfectly with this type of flare, so braking remains very easy from the flared position (and is unchanged compared to a normal dropbar from the hood position).

This principle has been copied several times already but the multiflare on the Aeroghiaia is unmatched.

We purposely did not make these two new bars clip-on compatible. For road racing there is no point, for time trialing there are much better options than a dropbar and for gravel, hopefully more and more race organizers will ban aerobars. Secondly, if you make a bar clip-on compatible, you need to convert another 20% of your wing to a round shape, increasing its drag.

These two new bars together with the existing Superergo and Superghiaia form a simple matrix:

So Aero = aero, Ghiaia = Mud, Super = ergonomic center section. Super simple names, or so we thought, but then internally the communication went awry. And so the first Aeroghiabars we get in stock actually are labeled incorrectly. Everything is as it should be, carbon layup, finish, except the name.

Since we didn’t want to delay offering these bars to you (and since we secretly like little quirks like this), we decided to go ahead anyway. So this is your only chance to own these “limited edition” bars, namely Aeroghiaia bars with a “Superghiaia” logo and Aeroflux bars with a “Superflux” logo.

Along with the new bars, we have also updated the APTO range with the APTO Stealth. The graphics go perfectly with the new bars and the bolts were updated.

To finish it off nicely, we also start shipping our new Prendo bartape. Using a new sticky PU material, the Prendo comes in two versions:

Prendo Tough

• This new bar tape is designed specifically for the most demanding gravel rides.
• It uses soft and durable PU material with added thickness for extra comfort.
• The special pattern with 3T logos and sticky finish ensures the best grip.
• Control and comfort on the bars, just what you need to enjoy the gravel sections.
• Ideal for your Exploro or extra-comfortable Strada.

Prendo Speed

• Designed for road use this bar tape combines soft, comfortable and lightweight PU material.
• Sticky finish ensure secure grip for all conditions.
• The special pattern with 3T logos and sticky finish ensures the best grip.
• Our texture design with 3T logos plus the included finishing tape gives a very classy look to your cockpit.
• Ideal for your Exploro or extra-comfortable Strada.