Truvativ NOIR T30 10S Carbon Flat Bar Review

When it comes to bars, it’s a matter of personal taste, but there are some tried-and-true designs that seem to please more riders. With more and more people riding 29ers, flat bars are again the flavor of the day, but the Truvativ NOIR T30 is definitely not your daddy’s flat bar. This thing is pretty sweet.

2012 Truvativ NOIR T30 10S Flat Bar Features:

• Unidirectional carbon fiber SL
• Weight: 180 grams
• Width: 700mm
• Backsweep: 10 deg
• Clamp Diameter: 31.8mm
• MSRP: $136

Truvativ NOIR T30 10S Flat Bar Review

Flat bars are all the rage on 29ers. With the extra height provided by the bigger hoops, it’s often a good idea to stick with a flat bar instead of a low riser. It all depends on the stack height stem rise, etc., but it’s safe to say most 29ers sport flat bars. Traditionally, flat bars are narrow and don’t have enough backsweep for comfort. Well, not anymore with the 2012 Truvativ NOIR T30 10S bars.

I’ve been riding the T30’s on my Yeti Big Top and have found the perfect match with an inverted (for 5 deg negative rise) Truvativ AKA 70mm stem on that bike. Keeping the front-end as low as possible, the negative rise stem and the super-wide T30 offers a great feel.

As mentioned earlier, most flat bars tend to be narrow. In fact, some are super-scary-narrow, in my opinion, at sub-600mm. I typically like a 680+ wide bar, so the T30’s are a tad wider than “usual.” What does that mean? Well, it really provides added stability on sketchy descents and more controlled cornering. I feel more confident and smooth and have much more real estate to move around on long climbs.

With all that backsweep, I found that I could rotate the bars so that they had a bit of upsweep instead of all that backsweep. For me, this was perfect (see above photo), but with all that width and backsweep, you can easily dial in the angle of attack to your liking.

As with all carbon fiber bars, you get a smoother ride than with their aluminum counterparts, but not all carbon is created equal. In my ride time, the T30’s are nice, but there are better carbon bars on the market as far as chatter absorption. These are good, but not quite the pinnacle in that department — their only real flaw.

The Good

• Confidence-inspiring 700mm width
• Excellent match for 29er trailbikes
• 10 deg backsweep adds to comfort
• Flat bars keep the front end down on 29ers
• Burly trailbike construction
• Super-grippy clamp area

The Bad

• Not the lightest carbon fiber bars in this class
• Trail chatter is reduced, but not best-in-class

Bottom Line: Truvativ NOIR T30 10S

I’m really stoked to see more width coming into the flat bar market… that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been running low risers on my 29ers. Now, with the new Truvativ NOIR T30 10S, I can have that width and comfort in a flat bar.

Buy Now: Truvativ Bars at JensonUSA