This past spring at Sea Otter I had the chance to meet Michael with Control Tech Bikes.  He took the time to show me the line up for 2008 from mountain, BMX and road.  I was very excited to see them really pushing their aftermarket and not just OEM product.  Michael also teamed up with Jason from Rico Sports Group to get me a couple sets of parts for XC and All Mountain.  After abusing many of the parts for a couple months now I can say Control Tech is ready for the masses.  Look for a few more parts to be written up in the coming week.

Control Tech SUP MT 18SC
Price : $89.99
Specs : Low Rise 31.8, Width - 660 or 710mm, Bend - 6°
Weight : 178

This bar at a 6° bend I rode a bit “rocked” forward than what the rise would suggest.   The scandium lead to a stiffer bar set up but it seemed to take the edge off compared to a standard aluminum bar that I am used to.  Not close to steel but this also might be due to the stem setup as well.  The ends of the bar were a bit too thin for my liking.  Mating it with their lock on grips was nerve ending as I was hoping not to ovalize the bar ends.  My suggestion would be to thicken up the ends for clamp ons or worse, bar ends.

The grid design on the clamping service was one of the best I have seen to date.  Wider then the stem so you can really but your bar on straight and also figure out sweep setup between various bar/stems.  The basic silver logo’s on both sides of the clamp are subtle enough but say who’s bars you are riding.

Overall I am very please with the feel of the bar and the weight/price ratio is almost impossible to beat.  Getting a bar this light without being carbon AND being able to take a couple really good falls is also impressive.