Zipp Service Course bar and stem review

Alloy drop-bar cockpit

Our rating

4.0

139.98

Published: May 10, 2011 at 11:00 am

Our review
Lightweight, well shaped alloy drop bar cockpit with high quality feel at a reasonable price

It's designed as an affordable option, but Zipp’s Service Course cockpit certainly doesn’t feel cheap on the bike. The ‘short and shallow’ bar is a great option for riders who find conventional drops too deep but want more hand options than on cow horns.

All the curve of the 55mm forward section is at the top for a comfortable hood position, while the straight section below the levers and curved and cut marked lowers give two distinct descending positions. At 278g for the 42cm we tried, it’s within sight of a lot of carbon fibre bars and it has a relatively forgiving feel for an alloy bar too. There’s a 20g lighter SL version available for £89.99.

The matching stem is very impressive, with paired Torx bolt bar clamp and oval thinwall shaft, with cutaway twin bolt back, giving a usefully stiff feel despite a very light 127g weight for our 100mm sample. Smoothly radiused edges plus strengthening ribs and the machined ‘Z’ logo on the front plate combine to give a quality look.

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