We took our traditional XC width and sweep that so many racers rely on, and mirrored the design in straight-gauge 3/2.5 titanium – with titanium’s improved strength and near infinite fatigue life, our PG Ti is a bar that’ll be around long enough to will to your kids.
Submitted by
fat albert
a Weekend Warrior
from Berkeley, CA
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2005
Strengths: light and absorbs chatter better than aluminum
Weaknesses: Titec customer service was very unhelpful with replacing a misplaced shim. Gave me the run-around (we'll get back to you after checking with our warehouse-- yet didn't get back to me at all). When I finally was able get another response, the guy basically said 'buy another bar'. Also, did not provide suggestions where to get another one (the guy clearly avoided responding to this question).
Bottom Line:
Flat bars are great for control, and this one is especially good for those who ride a rigid fork because of its shock-absorbing material! Given the poor customer service on top of the high initial cost, I feel bad that I own two of their bars (this PG Ti and the Flat-Tracker). I'll give them a 1 for value, which paired with a 5 for performance, equals a 3 for overall.
These bars took a couple rides to get used too. After that they have been great. The width of the bars has prevented me from putting on bar ends but the width has also been great for those narrow spots you sometimes find yourself in. I also liked the quicker response in steering I got with these bars. I have had a few hard crashes while riding with these bars and they are still in great condition, not a scratch or dent on them. I would definitely buy these bars again, if I was putting them on a second bike, cuz they're gonna be on this bike for a long time.
Submitted by
ed ballow
a Cross Country Rider
from pensacola,fl
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2002
Strengths: fits me used for eight years
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
eight years!!! when I broke my race face crank I thought well it is about as old as it gets but the only thing older is my pg bar.. 50 or more miles a week for 8 years 5 frames and every other thing has broken. the pg bar is still here
Similar Products Used: heavy duty alum.Zoom 170.GT steel(in the time before internet and mobile phones)
Bike Setup: `99 RM Blizzard,XT/LX Bomber z5,bla bla.handlebar mounted on Roox stem.CT barends.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Matt
a Cross Country Rider
from Berkeley, CA
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2000
Strengths: strenght, titanium's vibration damping, doesn't crinkle when you crank down the bar ends, inexpensive ($45), good bend (3-degree) and perfect length for me and my stem (135mm)
Weaknesses: I'm sorry? Did you say something?
Bottom Line:
This is a review of the '99 Titec PG bar, which appears to have previously been known as the 150 bar. Unlike other people, I've never had to do anything to the shim, except make sure it was centered. Sure, I never used this with my Icon Durante piece of junk (almost an exact copy of the Kore Elite stem with a single bolt clamp), which I'm almost sure would have resulted in the bar turning at an inopportune time, but I've honestly never had any problems with this bar. Light, lasts forever, perfect width. With this bar, my steering is 100% intuitive. I never feel like I'm trying to goad my bike into turning, like I did with my wider Icon Ernie bar (580mm). Plus, with ti, you don't have that metal fatigue problem, so even after it bends it is still ridable. And maybe even can be bent back, without having to replace it. Never had that problem: don't expect to. Aluminum just feels harsh after using this bar.
Submitted by
Uncle Fats
a Weekend Warrior
from Wall NJ
Date Reviewed: December 20, 1999
Strengths: Strong and light
Weaknesses: Let me think.....still thinking.....oh yeah it's a flat bar and I love riser's but other than that....NONE!!!
Bottom Line:
This is the best flat bar money can buy. Titec makes the best stuff, I love it. It is light, but shows no hint of extreme flex, or noticable flex. this is worth the cash and is an extremely nice bar. THIS THING IS BOMBPROOF!!! BUY ONE!!!
Similar Products Used: OEM crap Hell bents' Azonics Kore elite Answer Hyperlite Ibis Ti Control Tech Syncros
Bike Setup: It was on my old Trek 8900
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ilan
a Cross-Country Rider
from Austin
Date Reviewed: September 19, 1999
Strengths: light, kinda flexy
Weaknesses: shim
Bottom Line:
Bought used at the marketplace for $30, so they were quite cheap. My old CT bar broke where the bar-end clamps on to it, so that kinda pissed me off. Hopefully these Ti bars wont ever break. As far as flex and/or damping, its not very noticable especialy if have a susp fork, but these are definitely easier on the wrists than my CT ones. Its really rocky here in Austin and after a long ride my wrists and hands would be really sore, but they arent nearly as sore with these new Ti bars. And im using the same bar-ends with the same bar-end plugs, and i made sure to not over tighten them. My only complaint about this bar is with the shim. It slid around in my stem so i put some duct tape around the middle of the bar, slid the shim back over it, tightened the stem down hard, and now its nice and snug and you can hardly see the duct tape. As a bonus, it doesnt creak at all like my CT bar. Oh yeah, and its not as wide as some other bars, like my CT bar, so it will seem wierd at first, but it's useful in tight squeezes when you have trees and shrubs closing in on you. 4 chilis due to the bad shim, they need to make it a little fatter.
Submitted by
Mark Stewart
a cross-country rider
from Edmonton, AB Canada
Date Reviewed: February 19, 1999
Bottom Line:
Good bars! Mine are three or so years old and still going strong. The shim has a tendency to let the bars slip on some stems, especially minimalist one bolt clampy jobs, but once cinched up snug is fine. I managed to dimple one end of mine due to a barend impacting the pavement. Compared to my face, pants and helmet it did just fine under the circumstances. I have seen a set of these bend, but the guy who bent 'em was the exact opposite of a finesse rider(and they were replaced under warranty). Get 'em! Take it from me, even if you bend em, it'll be preferable to breaking a light alloy bar.
Submitted by
John
a cross-country rider
from Western Kentucky
Date Reviewed: February 7, 1999
Bottom Line:
I have used these bars on my Litespeed Obed for over a year. I am a Clydesdale rider who raced and trained all last season on them. I did not bend, break, or destroy the bars nor do they look any worst for wear. There are a lot of good bars out there but for $40 I don't think I could have gotten a Ti bar. I don't like aluminum do to the instant fatigue syndrome (you know....crash once and walk home due to not having a bar!) I would recommend them to anyone.
Submitted by
Dale
a cross-country rider
from Knoxville, TN
Date Reviewed: July 27, 1998
Bottom Line:
I've had this same bar on three different frames over four years now. It has been raced cross country many times and been crashed many more times with absolutely no adverse affects. I use bar ends - no crimping to report. As for the length, I cannot imagine using a wider bar in the technical single track of east Tennessee and western North Carolina. I am 180 pounds of vet racer and I haven't been able to bend it. I would definitely buy another one.
Submitted by
cush
a cross-country rider
from albany, ny
Date Reviewed: July 17, 1998
Bottom Line:
I have been racing and riding this bar all season and love it. It was a major weight over the 100% solid steel bar that came with my c-dale F500. It does not require the BARTS (Bar end reinforcement things) that you need with the 118. I did not use lock tite on the center of the bar to eliminate twisting and have not had a problem. A quality product.
Submitted by
Rollingbones
a weekend warrior
from Fair Oaks CA
Date Reviewed: May 18, 1998
Bottom Line:
Over a 1 1/2 yr. period I bent three alum. bars crashing. I purchased one of these BMF Bars almost two years ago. Still crashing, no bent bar, not even with barends (I have the wide base OnZa Raw's, short). Not much else can be said. I've replaced just about everything on the bar, but the bar. It takes takes a crash'n and keeps on mash'n. Five Hot Tamales!!
