Since the heyday of 90′s mountain biking Syncros has gone through several iterations.
Before Race Face and Blackspire, Syncros was the Canadian high end aluminum component company that catered to a trail-centric crowd before that segment really existed. Their threadless stem with a hinged faceplate and tapered top cap was one of the parts I’d wanted but couldn’t afford as a part-time shop employee, and their cranks were elusive even through college. I still trawl eBay periodically looking for their flannel-inspired team jersey.
After that Syncros fell on hard times. They were sold to GT and became their in-house component brand, then as GT ran aground Syncros was spun off to Ritchey. For a period of time Ritchey and Syncros inhabited slightly different niches with Ritchey covering road and XC while Syncros ditched all of their road offerings to focus on aggressive XC, trail, freeride and DH segments. The XC stuff was slightly differentiated from the Ritchey product but most consumers saw through their graphics and considered them to be kissing cousins. The components were good, but not different enough to be relevant.
Since then Syncros was sold off to Scott Sports to become their in-house component line and although there is still some Ritchey lineage the products have taken on more of their own unique character again. Within the revamped 2013 offering the FL1.0 Carbon Risers caught my attention.
Sure, the graphics look like shit with my iPhone pics, but in person they’re rather striking with a simple unidirectional matte finish. Offered in 700 and 740 widths I opted for the more XC friendly 700 in the 15 mm rise option. Although the sweep is a standard 9 degrees rearward the tip (or upward curve) is 6 degrees rather than the more common 5. Compared to my 20 mm rise Easton EC70 bars with 5 degree tip these are actually 2 mm higher at the ends because of that extra upward bend in spite of their lower rise.
Close up of the rough clamping area and graphics.
Extreme close up of the clamping area and nifty graphics.
Last week I buffed out my RSL with a new set of wheels, all new cables & housing and these bars. My workhorse is starting its third season and although I’ll be spending plenty of time on the Divide I would expect the RSL will still remain my primary race bike.
My initial impressions of this bar is pretty good and the extra width and tip make the handling feel remarkably dialed. I was comfortable on the RSL before, but now it really goes where I point it. Look for a full, formal write up after I get some time on them.
And of course I got a set of these for the Divide, too.