Cycling Plus

Deda Superlegge­ro Trentacinq­ue £271.99/£62.99

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FSA is a name you’ll often see listed under ‘finishing kit’ in our bike tests, and it’s generally there because it’s very good quality. The latest K-Force Light Ergo Road handlebar (£254.99) has an excellent compact shape with a 70mm reach and 125mm drop – about as short and shallow as bars go. This could have proved cramped, but the angled straight below the hood fits even the biggest hands and the slight flare (4 degrees) ensures wrist clearance. The carbon has a Kevlar layer to prevent the bar failing catastroph­ically in the event of a crash, but it still only weighs 200g. It’s not as forgiving as some when combined with the very stiff K-Force Light stem (£249), but the shallow drops do reduce vibration and buzz, and even on the hoods it’s better than most.

The stem has an oversized carbon body and carbon/aluminium faceplate with lightweigh­t reverse-fitting titanium bolts, which screw into the faceplate. It’s a great piece of engineerin­g and impressive­ly stiff, but at 170g isn’t quite in the Highs Top quality, top performanc­e Lows Pricey and you can find lighter

Very comfortabl­e bar and seatpost, and impressive­ly engineered stem

same lightness league as the bar. In fact, FSA’s SL-K aluminium stem is lighter – though that’s only really a concern to weight watchers.

The one-piece carbon seatpost (£149.95) has had a 21st century makeover, the 2014 model having internal Di2 battery fittings. The bondedin aluminium sleeve holds the battery securely without rattling. The post has 32mm of setback and a dual-bolt clamp – which can be finely adjusted – to hold the saddle securely. It does a decent job of isolating you from vibrations, and proved more comfortabl­e than an aluminium post. Our 350x31.6mm post weighed 218g.

It’s all top quality kit and performs well – but then at nearly £655 it should do! www.windwave.co.uk ig really is beautiful when it comes to these – ‘Trentacinq­ue’ being the Italian for 35. The 35mm diameter clamp zone and fat tops are unique. But while the size might be big, the weight isn’t, the carbon bar weighing a mere 178g. The stem adds 135g and the pair together are among the most comfortabl­e we’ve tried – and stiff. A great combinatio­n. www.chickencyc­les.co.uk

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