SQ Labs FL-X bar on Scott Spark RC 2022

[StillAlive]

I got my XL Scott Spark RC Comp at the end of February. Love the bike, but still working to dial in the cockpit.
I ride about 90% fire roads (some very steep and rocky), and 10% singles. Rides from 2-6 hours with lots of climbing – not much flat around where I live. I’m 61, 6’3”, skinny, with a long torso. With my saddle at the correct height, the drop to the bar is more than 3.5”, so my hands and wrists get pretty strained.
Looking at the SQ Lab bars, I like the FL-X 16 degree backsweep with 30cm rise. The FL-X has a forward bend to compensate for the sweep, so no need to change to a longer stem.

But I like to stand up and hammer in the pedals sometimes – will the higher compliance (30%) of the FL-X feel like I’m bouncing up and down? Or is it more nuanced than that?

Also, the stock Spark stem only has two bolts. You have to slide the bar into it. Does anyone know if the FL-X 30cm will slide in there? Otherwise I need to buy a new Syncros 4-bolt stem.

Folks on line report that the rise on SQ Lab bars runs about 10mm less than what’s advertised, so that the 30mm rise bar would be closer to 20mm. Can anyone confirm this?

Finally, if I get the new bar and it brings my bar height up to about 2.5” below my seat, is that a sustainable position in terms of pressure on hands and wrists? Because of my height and long torso, I like being stretched out (plus I’m flexible so my back is happy too). But I want to find that happy place where the bars are lower than the seat but not so much that the hands and wrists suffer.

Finally, doing the suggested way to measure the natural angle of my hands, I clearly get the 16 degree sweep. But the guy at my LBS warned me that I’d regret it (but he’s old school XC and has never ridden or even seen serious riders with bars with more sweep).

Advice appreciated.

p.s. Just put on the Ergon SM Men’s Pro seat – what an improvement from the painful stick seat.

[chadezell]

I’m shorter than you at 5’11” but like you, I’m all torso.  I can’t speak to the FL-X bar but I do have the 30X 12 degree and have found it very comfortable from cruising greenways with my daughter to overnight backpacking trips in western N.C.  I find it has enough flex for me.  I’m not sure I would like another 30%, given how comfortable the 30X feels.  I would be curious to try out a FL-X, might be wonderful.  Best of luck.

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