BURGTEC COCKPIT REVIEW

RIDE WIDE CARBON ENDURO HANDLE BAR
MK3 ENDURO STEM | BARTENDER PRO GRIPS

Review by Robert Johnston
Photos by Adam Lievesley

Burgtec Components are a UK based component brand whose products have been synonymous with downhill racing since 2004. With the Santa Cruz Syndicate proudly sporting and helping to develop Burgtec’s component range, and with a wide roster of riders including the 50:01 crew, it’s safe to say they have the marketing base covered. Sturdy components that are optimized for racing and generally “giving it some” is Burgtec’s mantra, so how does their latest cockpit stack up against the competition away from the racetrack? Read on to find out.

THE LAB
Burgtec supplied their Ride Wide Carbon Enduro Handlebar, Enduro MK3 Stem and Bartender Pro Grips for a thrashing on the UK trails that helped to develop them.

The Burgtec Ride Wide Carbon Enduro Handlebar is a full 800mm width bar made from Uni-directional carbon fiber, coming in at a respectable 258g. 9-degree backsweep paired with 5-degree upsweep are familiar numbers to most, with a 30mm rise and 35mm clamp being the only offerings for this particular model. Cut marks are in place to help you trim them down to your preferred width, and some handy torque recommendations are in place to ensure you do not damage them. Burgtec have developed the Ride Wide Carbon Enduro Handlebar to offer what they claim to be “unmatched comfort and unquestionably superior vibration dampening properties”, which should help keep your paws in the best possible shape come the end of a long downhill run. Their £134.99 price tag puts them right in line with other premium carbon fiber bars on the market, and they are available in the black/raw carbon color exclusively.

The Burgtec Enduro MK3 stem sees a big update from the MK2 version, where Burgtec identified the need to bring an up to date offering to suit the needs of the current crop of enduro bikes and riders. This involved producing a stem that offers the greatest amount of bar to steerer precision they could. To obtain this extra stiffness without adding a chunk of weight, Burgtec had to modify their manufacturing process to include an initial forging stage, aligning the grain of the 6061-T6 aluminum and improving the strength and fatigue life in the process. They added some extra length and bulk to the steerer interface too after finding that a bigger overlap in this area reaped some effective stiffness rewards. Burgtec offers their Enduro MK3 stem in both 31.8mm and 35mm bar diameters, with lengths of 35mm, 42.5mm and 50mm to select from with claimed weights from 138g to 160g. As with most of Burgtec’s aluminum components, their 9 color options are available to satisfy your matching needs, all sharing the same £89.99 RRP.

For the development of their Bartender Pro Grip, Burgtec drafted in the help of Greg Minnaar – a man who needs no introduction. Satisfying the needs of the notoriously fussy multiple World Champion could not have been easy, so Burgtec pulled out all the stops to offer what they believe to be the next level in grip design. The Bartender Pro Grips rely on a single inboard clamp to lock the grips in place, combined with the ultra-thin tapered core designed to fit snugly to the bars. A 31.5mm diameter sits on the slightly thicker end of the spectrum, with a 25A rubber compound combined with the heavily ribbed pattern to provide as much vibration damping as possible. 8 colors are available for the Bartender Pros, giving you plenty of options to achieve the look you want, at a cost of £19.99.

THE DIRT
I swapped the full Burgtec cockpit between a few test rigs, to give me the best chance to directly compare the performance with the competition. The Bartender Pro grips are a touch thicker than my preference, but all the extra thickness is undoubtedly used to help take the sting out of the trail and the heavily ribbed design offers great grip in the wet. It is safe to say the Ride Wide Carbon Enduro Handlebar and Enduro MK3 stem combination provides a noticeably direct connection between the hands and the front end, without a single hint of undesirable twist. However, much to my surprise, this was not matched with a harsh feel that would indicate things were too stiff. There is no doubt that some of this was a result of the grips, but the same rang true when I experimented with a set of thinner grips, offering a slightly more muted sensation than RaceFace’s 35mm SIXC bar on chattery terrain. Swapping the cockpit from bike to bike highlighted good tolerances and high-quality hardware, with each swap feeling as smooth as the last.

The Bartender Pro grips did unfortunately suffer from a slight amount of “rock” on the bar, even after a recommended whack on the ends with a mallet. Speaking to some trusted riders who run the grips led me to believe this was an isolated issue that should not pose any cause for concern.

I am a big fan of the looks of the Burgtec cockpit, with graphics that are not too in-your-face but leave the parts unmistakable. The carbon bar has a classic shape, but the stem is quite unique and looks and feels chunky enough to justify its relatively high weight. But minimum weight certainly was not Burgtec’s primary design target, which is shown by the impressive stiffness.

The Wolf’s Last Word

The Burgtec Ride Wide Enduro Carbon Handlebar and Enduro MK3 Stem provide a solid (in all senses of the word) combination that is at home on the front of any hard-charging single crown machine, without producing a wrist-jarring ride, but come with a price to match. The Bartender Pro Grips are an effectively cushioned offering for those who like a mid to thick grip. 

Price:  £245 (as tested)
Ride Wide Carbon Enduro Handlebar – £134.99
MK3 Enduro Stem – £89.99
Bartender Pro Grips – £19.99

Website: Burgtec.co.uk/