Having ridden and reviewed Kore products in the past, I was stoked to test the OCD 7050 T6 triple butted aluminum riser bar and Repute stem.
Specs
This version of the OCD is 800mm wide and features a 7 degree back sweep and a 35 degree up sweep. The bar bore is stepped up to the new 35 mm size and it tips the scales at a claimed 397 grams. This light weight is made possible by the special triple butted construction and the high-performance 7050 aluminum.
The Repute stem features 0 degrees of rise and is only 50mm in length. This 6061 aluminum stem features CNC centre bore construction in order to reduce weight to a scant 165 grams.
Out on the Trail
While this 800mm bar is more than capable of DH duty, I decided to throw it on my 5.5″ FS trail bike as I spend a lot more time on it. I installed the bars at the full 800mm length, and at first I thought that I was going to have to trim them down. Personally, I’m a big fan of wide bars, especially for aggressive riding, but after coming off of a relatively narrow XC bar on my previous bike, the jump up to a full 800mm was a big one. It took me a couple of rides to get used to the width again, but after I did there was no going back!
In my opinion, the control of a wide bar is unparalleled in technical terrain, and especially at speed. The 800mm width really helps to slow down the steering and allows for precise placement of the front wheel, as well as reducing chatter from high-speed rock gardens. Some people complain that it’s too wide to fit through the trees on their trails but really, how many narrow slots are out there? In my opinion, if there are only a couple of spots that are difficult to fit through on your entire trail system, then the vast majority of the time you should have no issues. Do you really want to limit your bike handling and control because you might have to slow down and shimmy through one or two spots?
Personal opinions on wide bars aside, the OCD does everything that I think a wide, burly bar should do: precise control, no undue flex, and plenty of vibration damping (at least, for an aluminum bar). The 35 degree up sweep and 7 degree back sweep are also perfect for the fit on my rig.
Finally, if you don’t want to run the full 800mm width, the ends of the bars are marked so that you can easily trim to your desired size. But remember, you can always make the bar shorter, but you can’t make it longer!
A wide bar is only half of the aggressive-handling cockpit equation. The other half is the stem–generally, as short as possible. The Repute fits the bill at only 50 mm long.
The Repute stem has been rock solid through my months of testing. With a solid grip on the bars, an attractive design, and light weight, this is the perfect short stem for your aggressive mountain biking needs!
Bottom Line
The performance of the Kore OCD bar and Repute stem have been flawless over my several month-long testing period and have earned their place on my full suspension trail bike. Add to that the attractive but subtle styling, and I doubt I’ll be swapping these out anytime soon!
OCD Bar MSRP: $59.99
Repute Stem MSRP: $59.99
Many thanks to Kore for sending the bar and stem over for review!
