Malaysian Sprint Bars

The 1st of January is here, That means all the new track cycling technology is being released and finally available for the public to purchase. Vorteq (based in the UK) have debuted their new track bike and equipment designed for the Malaysian squad.

Malaysian Sprint Bars. Image source: https://bit.ly/2QxOWdH

Azizulhasni Awang's Sprint Bike at the Cambridge World Cup 2019.

The WX-R handlebars are the shallowest drop bars we have ever seen. Measuring in at 31mm from the bottom of the integrated stem to the centre of the drops!

Malaysian Sprint Bar. Image source: https://bit.ly/2QxOWdH

As per the UCI rules, track cycling bars require a ‘traditional’ style handlebar configuration where the drop of the bar must wrap around forming the leading edge, with the ends of the bars pointing toward the rear of the bike. With the current handlebar trend of long and shallow, these bars don’t offer much wiggle room for further shallowing or lengthening.

Malaysian Sprint Bars. Image source: https://bit.ly/2QxOWdH

To achieve this super shallow drop, the Vorteq designers have swept up the elbows before dropping down into the grips. The sweep creates a very iconic look for these bars, certainly one that has turned a few heads at the UCI events.

Malaysian Sprint Bars. Image source: https://bit.ly/2QxOWdH.

The WX-R Tokyo Track Edition bars retail for £10,000, or roughly $13,000 USD. At that price I wouldn’t expect to be seeing them on your local track. Maybe Vorteq will create a non-integrated version with more universality for the public in the coming months? We will just have to wait and see...