Spank OOZY Trail 780 Vibrocore Handlebar: Rider Review

Intro:

My bike is a little on the heavy side, and I don’t care because I love my rugged, reliable all mountain aluminum & alloy machine! In fact, there isn’t one carbon component on it, and after years of biking with friends who sport predominantly carbon frames and components on their rides, I am just not of the option that the VERY expensive benefits of carbon outweigh the reliability, longevity, and affordability of the slightly heavier aluminum and alloy frames and components. So, when I jumped on a buddies 2019 version of my bike, with its 800 mm carbon handlebar, it wasn’t the attributes of the carbon that I liked, it was longer handlebar that provided the feel of a different ride that really caught my attention. After the first downhill, I knew I'd be going home and immediately looking for a new, longer bar for my bike.

Reason to Purchase:

After looking at the huge range of bar options available, the Spank Ozzy Vibrocore (780mm/25mm rise) caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First off, and possibly the most inconsequential for other riders was that the aluminum construction and geometry of the bar was almost exactly what I was looking for because the rise & sweep was almost identical to the bike I had ridden that felt so good at speed on the trail. I am 6’0”, and I found the 800mm bar on my buddies bike to feel great, but I did have some issues with tree clearance on the trails, and considering my previous bar was 760mm, I have found the 780 mm length bar to be a great compromise between length & tree-clearance confidence out on the trail. In regards to rise & sweep, I'd have to confess a degree of ignorance regarding my previous bar and how it compares to the Ozzy Vibrocore, but the description of the bar as having “aggressive geometry ” is dead-on. At a neutral rise setting, my elbows and arms naturally want to stay in an aggressive riding position. I did see some other bars claim to be designed “all day riding”, so If your someone who deals with wrist pain or arm pump, I could see the Spank Ozzy Bar as not being your best option.

Now, there are a lot of bars out there with similar geometry & more competitively priced, so the primary reason I spent the extra cash on the Spank Ozzy Vibocore was the trail chatter dampening characteristics the bars injected foam core claimed to have. I reasoned that with the Ozzy I could get some or most of the benefits of a carbon bar alongside the durability & price point of an aluminum bar, and luckily, this little compromise had paid off for me.

Final Thoughts:

Compared to my old Race Face Chester bar, the Spank Ozzy Vibrocore DEFINITELY offers a noticeable dampened ride experience alongside geometry that is more complementary to aggressive riding styles. And while I have since chopped my bars down to 770mm, I'm beyond happy with the purchase, and definitely feel my riding has benefited from the slightly more aggressive geometry of the Spank Ozzy Vibrocore Handlebar.