DMR 35mm Cockpit – First Look
DMR are a British company that many people hold in a special place in their hearts, their iconic original V12 and V8 pedals turning heads and making cover shots in the “good old days”. They have a deep history in dirt and street riding, but in recent years have been working with gravity focused riders such Brendan Fairclough to produce products for disciplines beyond the well packed lips and concrete circus. At Eurobike earlier in the year we saw the launch of their new “Alpine Division” range, firmly stating their intention to develop the “all mountain” side of their range. While the cockpit of our new bike features the Mk3 bars and stem which have been around for a couple of years, we are sure that as the Alpine Division grows bars and stem will be on the menu from DMR.
The 35mm handlebar has been around for a few years now, with a number of companies, including KORE, Race Face and Chromag all supporting the larger diameter. Whether it will become a standard for gravity focused riding remains to be seen, but with bars now maxing out around the 800mm width, the arguments for a larger contact area between bars and stem make a lot of sense. Not so long ago 31.8mm (“normal” sized) bars were called “Oversized”, and the 1-inch diameter was “standard”.
DMR Defy 35 Stem
The Defy stem does have a 31.8mm brother that features all the same measurements (except the clamp size, duh!). In terms of the magic numbers, it has a length of 50mm and a very subtle rise of about 4-5mm. The body of the stem that clamps around the steerer is very low compared to similar stems, giving a sleek and compact look. You also get a DMR top-cap included.
The steerer clamp system is a little different to the normal pinch bolts at the back, with two longer bolts pulling wedges into the steerer tube, clamping it securely and keeping the back of the stem clean and smooth – definitely a good thing if you have ever put your knee, or gentleman’s area into a stem at high speed. The bar clamps are widely spaced to give plenty of stiffness, helped by the over-oversized bar diameter.
Weight 245g
RRP £49.99
DMR Wingbar Mk3 35
The wingbar is on it’s third incarnation, and like the defy stem is available in both 31.8 and 35mm options. Both sizes are available in 20mm or 35mm rises, the 31.8mm being 780mm wide, and the 35mm we have on test being 800mm wide. Backsweep is 8 degrees and upsweep is 5 degrees, both pretty much bang on the money in our book and in line with other bars of this sort on the market.
For those of you for whom 800mm is a bit too much, the bars are marked for trimming down to 690mm wide to help you fine tune your cockpit to suit your height, ape index, and the forest density in your area.
Weight 324g
RRP £49.99
We are putting together a new long term bike at the moment, and every day is exciting for the posties – we will certainly owe the good people of Royal Mail and DPD a tin of Quality Street at Christmas*. As soon she is complete this cockpit will be out there and getting the usual Ride.io hammering.
*Not Mr TNT though, he’s rubbish.