FSA SLK Shallow Handlebar review

Find yourself spending too long on the brake hoods or on the top of the bars because it’s too much of a stretch down to the drops? FSA’s new “shallow” range of handlebars is for you.

Today’s headsets have put bars even lower than the old style headset/quill stems combo, and the current crop of anatomic bars make it harder still to reach the brake levers, especially for smaller hands. We’ve featured FSA’s K-Force Shallow bar before, and here’s one of the other shallow-style bars from Full Speed Ahead’s stable: the SLK Shallow.

Following on from “compact” cranksets, the same term also appears to be the moniker these handlebars are acquiring due to their profile, and you can expect to see more compact bars appearing in the peloton soon: Danilo Di Luca has been giving the new bars a go, and is apparently talking up their shape a storm. The SLK Shallow uses a Kevlar and unidirectional carbon construction, which makes for a fantastic-looking finish, and weighs just 220g.