Easton Haven Handle bars and Seatpost

There are a lot of carbon parts on the market. Look in a catalog and you will see carbon parts at all levels; low cost that is usually house brand/ mail order, then middle of the road factory branded, and at the super high end, niche market stuff that is supremely expensive. As a complete, although closet bike snob, I know what I should get. I recommend it to the readers of 29eronline all the time. Still, if there is a shiny new carbon part promising me mountain biking bliss, I am always tempted. What to do?

Haven Draped Specialized Epic Carbon.

After painstakingly looking, and trying to decide what parts I wanted to drape on my bike, I went  for the Easton Haven Carbon parts. I chose them because they are built heavy enough to take abuse, but are still lighter then most aluminium equivalents. The bars are wide at 710mm, but are low rise, at about an inch. Compared to Easton Haven Aluminium bars there is a 100 gram weight difference and they are double the cost. I am using the Easton EA90 all-mountain stem that is 0 degree rise and 80mm long and under 130 grams. I like this better then a Thomson stem, at 155 grams, with a carbon bar due to the ability to see where the bar sits because of the more open face plate as opposed to Thomsons solid one. So between the stem and carbon haven bars I saved roughly a ¼ pound in nearly the worst (least effective) place to do it on a bike. The sad part is, I feel great about it !

Haven Carbon Bars at 710mm wide this is about as wide as I care to ride on our local trails. Any wider and I would have problems clipping trees

While saving weight is nice, the true benefit to the Haven Carbon bars and short stem combo is that I have a 29er friendly, short stem, wide bar set up. It is the correct height on the front end of my large frame to fit me right. In addition, in an impact situation it is an extremely strong set up, plus, I get to save a ¼ pound. Add in a little material vibration damping (I am running a 120mm travel fork so it really is a small amount ) and I have a justifiable upgrade, in my mind.

80mm Easton EA90 stem. Plenty stiff, really light and teamed up with a wide set of Haven Carbon Bars makes steering the slack angled Epic carbon a breeze.

Another note; grips. My Oury lock on grips do not clamp to the carbon bars. The Haven Carbon bars must be  slightly thinner in diameter then the aluminium bars I have been running. I have used the Specialized lock on grips. Just be careful not to over-tighten them.  Ergon Grips worked good for me as well. The best advice I can give here is to get a set of old school non-locking grips, if you really want to be safe. I like the ESI chunky grips. They are silicon and are not affected by water so, if you get caught out in the rain, your grips won’t be sliding around. If you really have to know, they are significantly lighter then most locking grips as well.

Front view of the Easton Haven carbon bars. These bars are very stiff. At 170 grams they are impressive.

The seat post weighs about 240 grams, is very stiff, and comes in a zero set back. It is a 2 bolt counter-acting design. This allows me to set the saddle nose tilt exactly where I want it and I never have to over-torque it to make sure the nose of the saddle doesn’t drop.

Stiff, light strong and not even close to the most expensive post out there.

One of the biggest reasons for choosing Easton is their reputation for producing reliable carbon. Do you really want to take the risk on a un-proven carbon manufacturer? We are talking handle bars and seat posts – failure could be catastrophic!  Easton has led the component charge as it applies to carbon now for a good 15 years and they are about as reliable as they come.

The clamp head of the Haven seat post is is a two bolt design. These are very reliable and infinitely tunable. Tried and True ! tunable

Another reason to stick with Easton is that, while expensive, their prices are not as hefty as many others. They are very competitively priced at $150 for the Haven handlebars and $130 for the seat post. By way of comparison, an Enve composite seat post costs $300.

Last, and really the most fun, they look awesome teamed up with the Easton Haven wheelset I have been running.

Look for our review of the Haven wheels coming shortly. Even in these conditions the bearings are smooth as the day they arrived.

On a more practical note; does it ride better than aluminium? Yes, and no. Really, aluminium and carbon just ride differently. Carbon is now so stiff that damping in comparison to aluminum that the difference is minimal. That said, it may be more noticeable on a rigid bike or hard tail. Carbon is super strong, but aluminium is rarely a problem in terms of breaking. Carbon is, without a doubt, lighter, but it comes at a price. I like carbon parts (except cranks – already sold the XO set I bought). Will you like carbon parts? Try a set of Havens and leave a comment!

I am no longer looking at other brands, I will be sticking with Easton! So, next up is a super light set up like Easton’s Carbon EC90 group of parts – including the wheels. I feel it is my duty to test out the high end stuff and report back. Someone has to take one for the team, it may as well be me.

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