The Truvativ Descendant DH 35 bar is part of a fleet of bigger bore models in both carbon and alloy, with plenty pro rider signature geometries and widths.

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SRAM’s Truvativ gravity wing took longer than most to release a 35mm handlebar, insisting for years the standard 31.8mm diameter bar was both stiff and strong enough. Pressure to meet the growing number of 35mm stems kicking around and momentum behind oversized bars presumably led them to finally manufacture options for 2018.

The Descendant DH model is 800mm across with almost identical numbers to the Chromag Fubar OSX 35, except 1-degree more backsweep. SRAM don’t specify the exact type of aluminium, so it’s unclear whether it’s the same blend as the more expensive, exactly-the-same-shape, CoLab bar listed as 7050 alloy, but the exterior finish looks a little more grainy and coarse to the naked eye.

Steering is super-precise, and, leaning hard, the bar really drives the bike from side to side. There’s minimal defection (even at the end of an uncut 800mm bar) hitting the hardest turns or blasting the roughest sections. The 31.8mm Descendant CoLab bar is a personal favourite, but this thicker model feels not necessarily stiffer, but somehow harder, and delivers marginally more feedback and buzz from the trails. This makes it just the wrong side of positive and solid for me, and I’m a pretty chunky and strong 82kg unit.

That said, the Descendant bar is far from the most brutal 35mm option around, and if you’re a really big rider wanting serious rigidity might be great option, but I prefer a slightly more damped feel.