Race Face recently reaffirmed its commitment to downcountry with the launch of its super-light Era SL cranks. Now its doubling down with the new Era SL handlebar. This carbon bar is aimed squarely at cross-country, downcountry, and short travel trail bikes, with a very light weight, Goldilocks Tune, and a flippable design that essentially makes it two bars in one.The Era SL is lightweight and flips for +/-6mm rise.Era SL Handlebar DetailsThe new Era SL is made of UD Carbon, and it slides into the brands handlebar lineup as the lightest of the bunch, with a claimed weight of 170 grams. This makes it among the lightest non-boutique handlebars on the market, especially at 760mm wide. Race Face states that it is eMTB-ready and designed for downcountry, suitable for trail riding on bikes with up to 140mm of travel. Although the brand may be leaning into downcountry, the Era SLs low weight and dimensions should also make it well-suited for lightweight cross-country race bikes, too.The 760mm width is well-suited for its target downcountry and XC audience. The purpose-built flippable design, however, is somewhat novel. (photo/Jeremy Benson)DimensionsThe Era SL has a 35mm clamp diameter and has a max clamp width of 60mm. It comes in a 760mm width, and Race Face says it is trimmable to 720mm without impacting the bars stiffness characteristics. They also mention that it can be trimmed narrower than that, but it increases stiffness undesirably.The Era SL has fairly standard sweep angles: 8 degrees of back sweep and 5 degrees of up sweep. However, they note that if the bar is rolled to a flat profile with no upward sweep, it has a 9-degree back sweep. And finally, it has a flippable design that allows for either 6mm of rise or 6mm of drop.Flip ItOn the bike, the drop and rise positions are visually quite obvious.Arguably, the most interesting feature of the Era SL handlebar is its flip-to-fit design. Race Face designed the Era SL to go from 6mm of rise to 6mm of drop by simply flipping it over lengthwise. Despite flipping the bar, the sweeps remain consistent, and the logos have been designed to flip as well. While that sounds almost impossible at first, it makes more sense when you see it.And while some XC riders have probably been doing this for years, this is the first modern handlebar weve seen that specifically calls it out as a feature.Essentially, the rise/drop section of the bar is offset to the top or bottom (depending on its orientation) of the widest part/center of the bar. The offset design accounts for +/-6mm of rise from flat, giving riders a total difference of 12mm when flipping the handlebar. Race Face also tells us that riders seeking more adjustability can pair the Era SL handlebar with the Turbine SL stem. The Turbine SL stem can also be flipped for +/-6mm rise, making for a total of 24mm of height adjustability in the cockpit.The Era SL handlebar is a suitable choice when youre wearing spandex.Goldilocks TuneRace Face has given the Era SL its Goldilocks Tune (GL Tune), which it shares with the rest of the handlebars in the brands lineup. With the GL Tune, Race Face believes theyve found the just right balance of stiffness and compliance to enhance rider comfort while maintaining handling precision. According to the brand, trimming the Era SL bar to 720mm does not affect the GL Tune, but going narrower than that will increase stiffness.And its suitable when youre wearing baggies.Race Face Era SL Handlebar: Pricing and AvailabilityThe Era SL is available now at a retail price of $199 USD ($220 CAD). Like most Race Face products, it comes with a lifetime warranty. You can learn more about it and the rest of the Era SL family of products on the Race Face website.raceface.comThe post Race Face Flips Out with New Lightweight Era SL Handlebar with Flippable Design appeared first on Bikerumor.