Posts
609
Joined
7/24/2017
Location
Sunman, IN
US
Edited Date/Time
8/12/2022 4:02am
Looking to try the twisted engineering bars mainly but open to others if you have tried them seeing if any others have had any luck mainly riding motocross with them looking for any help bike wise to reduce my arm pump since I don’t have time to actually ride a lot and get into race shape lol any info would be appreciated
I've gone down the Twisted Engineering path several times but keep uncovering failure stories plus could never get responses from the company. It seems like they've had some management issues, maybe have gone out of business/are now back in business(?), etc. Given these challenges I've steered clear.
I'm also generally opposed to composites in areas of serious consequence should they fail. Composite design is not trivial and a small company making composite handlebars is on the edge of my "OK, this is safe and here's why ..." That said, the owner could be an expert in composites and is getting the business off-the-ground, and actually he's moonlighting doing this. He may be an engineer at Boeing and an expert in composite structures. You get the idea, not badmouthing the company/product (have heard many good things, too), just leery for a number of reasons. All I am recommending is to do your homework so you're sure they meet your personal safety criteria.
Some reviews (both positive and negative):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnaqMAw_v8U
https://thumpertalk.com/reviews/product/42897-twisted-engineering-compo…
https://advrider.com/f/threads/twisted-engineering-bars-bad-experience…
https://www.mototerre.com/2017/12/05/review-twisted-engineering-flex-ba…
If I had to choose, I might go with the SFS clamps. I like the quick air adjustability and the fact that no matter what position your bars are in, you get telescoping/articulation parallel to the fork - which is the shock/input you are trying dissipate, so this is most efficient. You also get an infinite choice of bar bends.
On the other hand, you can move Flexxbars from bike to bike. That is pretty dang nice. And I've done it often. I also really dig the crew at Fasst Company. Nice, hardworking, dedicated folks. They always respond. Neken, not so much. I have yet to get them to ever to return an email or a call. When I think about it that way, I lean toward Flexxbars ...
But to be clear, both products are amazing. You'll be happy with either is my guess.
The Shop
I'd love to hear how this product has evolved.
Moved them from bike to bike. Mostly woods but they have a ton of MX hours on them as well. I’d say I have a good 250 hours on the bars. No issues at all. I’ve heard of them breaking but honestly seen more broken aluminum bars than TE bars.
Pretty sure the company has new ownership, new website up. They’ve had their issues in the past with customer service as they were a two man show. They custom fabbed me a damper mount for my Scott’s and ended up doing it for free as they screwed it up a couple times.
Looks like they are $400 now, not cheap but if you have jacked elbows abs shoulders like me they really help. First time I ever ran them I actually had to go stiffer on fork compression.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj9vE6mimJk
I used the bars to reduce the sharp movements transmitted to my wrists. I have a bad wrists that I tape and use wrist guard with and can’t even ride sometimes due to too much pain. The bars are awesome for that. buy in no way shape or form have the helped me with arm pump.
What DOES help me for arm pump is to row 2-3 times a week on my C2 rower. Even if I am not riding, as long as I am rowing, the arm pump is much much better when I make it out to the track.
If you are trying to address arm pump, save your money and spend it on a rower instead. You’ll get a helluva lot more use out of that.
https://www.roguefitness.com/black-concept-2-model-d-rower-pm5?gclid=EA…
As another perspective - because we all ride different: the reason Flexxbars help reduce arm pump for me so much is that I relax my grip more when riding. I mentally know the benefit/extra control/safety margin they help provide, so I simply can be waaaay more relaxed.
P.S. I failed to mention I also run a steering damper on all of my bikes in conjunction with all the bars setup I mentioned above. The damper just adds to to overall control package. Sorry, I should have mentioned that early on.
I found this out the hard way - I had used mine at the high resistance level for a long time and had great results. But then saw that the rower replicates "rowing on water" like crew boats better at low resistance level so I switched for a couple months and then noticed a steady decline in moto endurance (forearm fatigue). I finally put two-and-two together, switched back to the higher resistance, recovered the forearm endurance and never looked back!
Pit Row
(1) What bar flex would you recommend for a guy who rides motocross and off-road. I’ve had the opportunity to try FasstCo Flexxbars, Neken SFS clamps, and XC Gear’s Mako 360 and liked them all. Wondering how you would equate the flex of your bars to these products for comparison?
(2) I’ve heard of a few serious failures of your composite bars. What’s changed in your product to make sure there is no potential for injury?
(3) Composites design and manufacturing is a serious specialty. What is your professional background that got you into this type of product?
Twisted Engineering owner Doug Nordberg returned my call to discuss my questions in detail (way more efficient) - I like his style. I have ZERO RESERVATIONS after talking with Doug at length. ZERO. He's a mechanical engineer and I used to be a design engineer as well, so we could dive right into failure modes, bending planes, supply chain challenges (carbon fiber sourcing, etc.), custom epoxy resin blends, F1 wheel retention technologies (20 ksi cables - TE bars implement this technology for safety!), we talked about TE's challenges and him retaking the helm in 2018, blah blah blah. I was super impressed.
I am 5'11" and 175 lbs w/o gear, Vet B/C ability. He recommended the 4X flex for me. He said he'd have recommended 3X if I was pro level, but yeah ... not so much. He also mentioned he's never had a customer ask for a stiffer bar, so he was highly confident in the 4X recommendation. For reference, the 3X is ~ 12.5% stiffer than the 4X.
Guys - I am currently sold. I am a detail and safety freak and this guy's CURRENT design checks all my boxes (3rd generation, gen 1 and gen 2 do not). I will be trying a pair this summer and share out my findings.
At 57yo (for another month!!) my wrists seem to be the weak link.
Hurting after MTB riding (Jumps and wooden “features” my favourite.)
And after the less and less frequent MX riding.
MTB bars have recently increased in size from 31.8 to 35mm.
With a subsequent increase in rigidity.
These guys have come up with a bar designed to be a bit more forgiving vertically (good for wrists) while being stiff horizontally (good for steering). They do it by being very “oval” in shape.
They made a noticeable difference.
https://int.oneupcomponents.com/collections/handlebars/products/carbon-…
I’ve been considering the SFS system, but don’t think it’s available for my ‘08 YZ250F (where did that 13 years go?!?).
The TE Carbon bars look like a great, if pricey, option.
Tonight I had the opportunity to run the TE X4 bars on a super hardpack, ultra rough MX track in Colorado (IMI Motorsports). I figured riding the track after it had been beaten up all weekend would be an excellent proving ground. I put about 1 hour on them and here are my initial thoughts:
(1) They flex a lot, but since I have ridden FasstCo Flexxbars for years, I didn't even notice it. Good so far!
(2) The bike's front end is noticeably lighter with the TE X4 bars versus the Flexxbars. This was a big positive, too.
(3) I sense there is a break-in period needed with the TE X4 bars, they got better toward the end of the night. Or I adapted?
(4) They feel a bit more "springy" than I expected. Not sure what think yet.
(5) I feel like they may be better suited for off-road versus MX, but the jury is out.
So, relative to the other bars and systems I am experimenting with, here are my current preferences in priority order):
(1) Neken SFS triple clamps - I really feel like this is the best overall system for me. No (lost) movement when I yank the bars to wheelie suddenly and just awesome "extra" plushness that is adjustable.
(2) XC Gear's Mako 360 - I generally quite like this system, but I do not like the rotational movement I get in the bars when I yank them hard suddenly to get over obstacles. I lose "just enough" yank motion that I had to change my riding style. I have reconfigured them to the hardest settings (Green large polymers, Blue Shark Bite polymer), More to come on my thoughts on this setup when I ride them.
(3) FasstCo Flexxbars - these offer outstanding damping without the springyness/springback I may end up not liking with the TE X4 bars. I prefer these over the TE X4 bars at this point. That said, I've been using Flexxbars since around 2007, so I am biased. More TE X4 experimentation will enable me to better compare them "apples to apples."
(4) Twisted Engineering X4 (flex level) bars - they appear well built but do not offer the damping character I had expected. So I need more time on them to understand their character better. My main concern with their performance thus far is I am now realizing how well the Neken SFS triple clamps and FasstCo Flexxbars actually dampen. I think this is the characteristic I seek most in this class of moto parts: reduction in sharp hits and a nice touch of "cush" without being sloppy.
(5) XTrig PHDS system (on XTrig ROCS clamps) - I just picked up a set of these that I may mount the TE X4 bars in to see if I can get the overall character I seek (I'll use the green elastomers). I have not ridden with these yet and probably won't for a few months.
More to come, but the above are my current thoughts on how these products compare.
ALL products are a huge improvement over stock, FYI. I am simply nitpicking at this point.
If I decide to sell the TE X4 bars, I'll reach out.
I think as I write here this morning that upon reflection, my arm pump may have been lessened with the TE bars. Just need more time on them is the bottom line.
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