FSA’s Gravity line of downhill/freeride components has been revamped and refreshed, and we’ve gotten our hands on some samples from the forthcoming range ahead of its release.
Gravity Rise OS CSI and Rise OS handlebars
FSA has had a carbon fibre bar in its Gravity range for a good few years now – well, we say carbon, but it's actually a hybrid carbon/alloy component. That's because there’s a double-butted aluminium core to which a uni-directional carbon weave skin is applied, the idea being that you get the best of both worlds in terms of the materials' properties.The £89.95 / €116 Gravity Rise OS CSI comes in 740mm and 800mm widths and a 15mm rise, and features useful but subtle trimming and alignment marks.
The nine-degree backsweep is more radical that of Renthal’s Fatbar, for example, but is the same as many other brands, including Nukeproof and ENVE. The six-degree upsweep figure is quite extreme though, so these bars should have a unique feel. The claimed weight of 295g would make these rather hefty, so we popped the bars on our scales and sure enough they came out at a competitive 254g – so that’s probably a misprint on FSA’s front.
For those on more of a budget – or those who are still scared of carbon – there’s an all-alloy handlebar for £79.95/ €85. The Gravity OS Riser has an identical shape to its part-carbon counterpart but is available in 25mm and 40mm rise options. It's also available in semi-skimmed 740mm or full fat 800mm widths. We weighed the 800mm version at 303g.
The graphics on both bars are inoffensive and won’t clash with your kit.
Gravity stems
FSA also sent over two of its latest stems for us to test. The first is a 45mm version of the popular Gravity alloy stem. Apart from some updated graphics, it looks identical to the company’s Gravity Light stem from three years back. That’s not a bad thing; it's still a decent looking, well-made unit at a reasonable weight (ours weighed 139g).It uses 4mm bolts all round and comes with a thread-lock type solution applied to the bolt threads, which is a nice touch. The stem has a six-degree rise and is also available in 60mm, 75mm and 90mm options. It'll retail for £54.95/ €59
The second stem is FSA's latest Gravity direct-mount stem. Once again, it’s a part we’ve seen before, wearing new graphics for 2015. It’s 45mm long and mounts directly to the top crown of a RockShox Boxxer fork to give a stack height of just 8.5mm. It tipped our scales at 119g and will cost £44.95/ €55.
Gravity seatpost
We’ve also got FSA’s latest Gravity seatpost. It’s an inline design, 350mm long, made from 3D forged and CNC machined alloy. The head of the post uses a twin-bolt system for quick and easy adjustment. Just like on FSA’s stems, the threads of the M5 bolts on the Gravity seatpost arrive ready-threadlocked. Our 31.6mm sample weighed 259g. It’s also available in 30.9 and 27.2mm sizes. Expect to pay £79.95/ €72
Gravity chain device
Finishing up there’s FSA’s £139.95/ €159 Gravity chain device. This is also a component we’ve seen before – it was previously sold as part of the company’s Gravity Light lineup. The guide works only with a single-ring setup and a ring size of either 36 or 38t.
A sealed bearing pulley should make for smooth rolling, while single-bolt adjustment for both the upper and lower guides makes installation simpler. ISCG and ISCG05 versions will be available but if your frame is without mounts then fear not – the device includes a bottom bracket mounted adaptor.
There may not be anything ground-breaking about any of these components, but the fact FSA has chosen to give these proven parts a new lease of life is testament to their original design. As usual we'll be putting these bits through their paces and will follow up with full reviews.
