When I think of Pro Taper bars I firstly think of motocross where there presence  in the sport is massive. Secondly I think of Shaun Palmer who used their MTB bars back in the mid to late 90’s, but ultimately I think of quality and most definitely disirability. Pro Taper continued into the MTB market for a few years collaborating with Answer to produce mountain bike specific bars utilising the ProTaper technology, but for some reason they just seemed to disappear from the MTB scene all together. Fast forward to 2011 and Answer are back and so are the Pro Taper Bars.

On the scales the Pro Taper DH 780’s came in at a staggeringly light for DH bars – 310g. This light weight is mostly due to the ProTaper technology which utilises a process of increasing material in areas prone to fatigue and potential failure and decreasing material where it isn’t needed resulting in bars that have a great strength to weight ratio. Everyone seems very weight conscious these days and why not, a light bike is a fast bike, but for me the most important aspect of new bars, aside from strength which these have in abundance, is the feel, and these feel very, very nice indeed. With a 4° upsweep and 8° back sweep and available in a 12.5 and 25.4mm rise, these are instinctively comfortable from the off. I opted for the lower 12.5mm rise option and for testing purposes, ran them uncut – low and wide and although I have ridden 780’s before I usually end up cutting my DH Bars down to 760, but I actually really enjoyed the width and feel of the low centre mass offered and felt especially good on the steeper, off camber and technical trails. I think they would ultimately be chopped, but if your a ‘big bar’ convert these bad boys are sure to satisfy!

How cool is that? Clearly laid out cutting marks with a ‘roadie’ cap at one end and full face at the other giving you the choice with clear cut marks to get them just right and the option to play with the width is there too – you never know, you might just like them wide?!

All in all these 7050 series alloy bars are pretty sweet and especially so at £60GBP, which for premium bars is not expensive in the grand scheme of things and considering the features these bars offer, well, there especially good value for money! Available in 4 colours including the anodised red we tested, black, white and for all the old schoolers out there, Pro Taper gold too. These bars are light, strong and as Answer say – “Nothing is more important on your bike than the handlebar. If it doesn’t do it’s job, you’d better have some good dental insurance”. If your looking for some sweet looking bars with a choice in colours, have a specific rise and want something which doesn’t compromise strength for weight then I’d definitely recommend you take a closer look at the Answer Pro Taper DH bars. You won’t be disappointed.

Answer are are exclusively distributed in the UK by Hotlines-UK  and for everything Answer, hit the logo below. Happy trails, Olly.

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