Fi'zi:k BAR:GEL
By James Sharp

The popularity of the road bike has recently undergone an amazing resurgence. Obviously, this is at least due in part to the success of Lance in the Tour de France and the subsequent ads featuring him and cycling from the likes of the USPS and Subaru. While this has lead more of the general public to regard bicycles as more than a toy to be tossed aside once the coveted drivers licence is obtained, it hasn’t affected long time cyclists. In addition to that, the general population is aging - lets face it, none of us are as young as we once were. Road bikes have generally been uncomfortable. That is changing. There are a plethora of "comfort-performance" bikes and accessories to outfit them. One such accessory is Fi’zi:k’s new BAR:GEL.

Fi’zi:k has long been known for comfortable saddles, including the performance oriented Arione. Their BAR:GEL is their first foray out into another of the three contact points, saddle, handlebars and pedals. As the name suggests, the BAR:GEL is a... um... gel, that goes on your... er... bars. Pretty descriptive name, really. The BAR:GEL is a polyurethane material made by Technogel for Fi’zi:k and has, as they claim, unique properties. For starters, the gel doesn’t just compress in the up-down direction, but rather deforms up-down, right-left and forward-back. This helps to eliminate pressure points that thick padding can cause by spreading out the pressure over a greater area. The gel won’t harden over time and won’t split or leak.

The BAR:GEL comes as four pieces of gel and two rolls of microtex bar tape. The microtex material is similar to what Fi’zi:k uses in their saddles. The tape is a little longer than normal because the gel will make the bar a little fatter than normal. The tape is adhesive backed and doesn’t really have any padding of it’s own. The BAR:GEL has two straight pieces and two curved pieces. The straight are for the drops and the curved are for the bar tops. They can be cut to length, which I had to do and was easily done with scissors. The gel pieces are slightly tacky and stay put on the bars until wrapped.

Wrapping the tape was no more difficult than any other, though the tape itself does not stretch and I did not use the adhesive. I do not like adhesive backed tape because I always take more than one attempt at getting the two sides of the handlebar to look the same. I just left the backing tape on and wrapped the bars as normal. I have not experienced any slipping, so I feel the adhesive backing is a bit superfluous. The texture of the tape is something to write home about, though. There are two types of road cyclists out there, those that wear gloves and those that don’t. I am in the former category, but in an effort to "broaden my horizons" I rode without them for part of this review. I can say that this is some of the nicest feeling tape I have ever used, adhesive back or no. It’s almost a shame to wear gloves with it, though going without never felt like I had enough protection. I kept envisioning my palm full of tiny pebbles after a crash. No thanks.

Fi’zi:k’s BAR:GEL does a nice job of taking the edge off of the bumps. This is especially noticeable on the rural chip-seal roads we have dotting the countryside. The additional bulk is hardly noticeable at all, unlike some of Fi’zi:k’s competitors. I never felt my hands squishing into the gel; rather there was just a reduction in road vibration. I didn’t have the disconnected feeling that really squishy gels can give. This was similar to thick tape, but more effective and easier to install that double wrapping normal tape. BAR:GEL goes a long way in significantly reducing hand and arm fatigue caused by the high frequency vibration that is normally transmitted from the road to the rider.

Summary: Fi’zi:k has taken their knowledge of ergonomics and comfort and applied it to the handlebars. Not only is the gel itself a comfort enhancer, the tape is great on its own merits. If you are a no-gloves rider, this is your handlebar cushion and tape. If you are a long distance rider, this is your handlebar cushion and tape. If you are a weekend warrior, in fair weather, this is your handlebar cushion and tape. Even if you don’t fit in any of the above categories, you owe it to yourself and ride the BAR:GEL system. Besides, if you are less fatigued, you’ll ride faster, right? The complete set - four gel pads and two rolls of microtex handlebar tape - retail for $30.

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com specializing in road and mountain biking and keeping his hands from going numb.

For more information, contact:
Fi'zi:k
E-mail: fizik@fizik.it
www.fizik.com