When you need extra cushion and vibration/impact damping at your handlebar, the bike industry offers many bar tape options that can help. However, there can be trade offs. First is a thicker or gel based wrap that is too spongy or tends to loosen up on you as you ride. Second is that the cyclist often feels the need to grip tighter, then adding pressure on the hands, wrists and arms, generally defeating the purpose. You can add the fact that you may not be able to get the feel or grip of your favorite bar tape. Many of these products work great for some cyclists, but if you already struggle with numbness, carpal tunnel syndrome, or impact shock from rough surfaces, Fizik offers an option that is stable, effective, and allows you run whatever bar tape you prefer. The advanced Fizik Bar Gel Medical Technogel system is a set of four pieces of flat, dense gel strips that can be cut to length to fit your handlebar size and shape. You can run the bar tape of your choice over the pads to have the best of all worlds.

Fizik partners with neighboring Vicenza, Italy company Technogel to offer these medical-level gel pads. Technogel not only makes medical care products, bedding and seating products but also many other gel pad systems in collaboration with a diverse set of partners from footwear manufacturers to spa bath makers, even Alfa Romeo. Around the world the Medical Technogel is licensed for similar purposes, and of course Fizik has applied it some saddle models and this bar gel Technogel The material is conforming and provides a consistent layer and feel under your tape. You can feel it give, but it is not squishy- it is a thin gel layer, not a liquid. The width of the strips allow for an ideal distribution on a rounded or flatter style bar shape, distributing pressure and further shielding you hand from impact and road vibration. Fizik sponsored road cycling teams use these pads for the Spring Classics and winter training rides, to preserve the hand and wrist health of the riders over long, hard hours on the bike.

The growth of cyclocross over the last decade and the now booming gravel market have also driven stronger interest in, and use of this bar gel, for fairly obvious reasons. With this set of four pads you get two pieces that will essentially set-up just behind your levers, mate to the curve and align along the top of the handle. Fizik provides cut lines so you can customize the fit. Two other straight segments are designed to be mounted in the drop curve and towards the bar ends. Keep in mind the pads do not wrap all the way around the bar and have transitional edges. The pieces are flexible, but the base of the Medical Technogel has a slightly stiffer material. There is a light tackiness to the material, so you can place, try, and move the pads. Some people find adding a little electrical tape once the pads are set-up makes for fewer bobbles when taping the bars. The bar gel adds about 3mm of thickness, to the covered area, and has a series of dots that add a textured feel that you may not notice depending on the tape you use, but does add a tactile sensation for most people, even if they aren't fully aware of it. Depending on your need to cut or adjust the shape of the strips, the gel adds about 135 grams to your bar tape assembly.

In our experience, and we have carried Fizik' products and the bar gel since their launch in the US, you can reuse this product indefinitely without breakdown or degradation so long as you don't tear or damage it in a crash event. Most sticky base tape used under handlebar wrap will come off more easily then it does off the handlebar just by pushing it with your finger (not the nail). If you struggle with carpal tunnel issues, hand weakness or numbness on your rides, or simply want a better, more consistent, highly effective padding layer under your favorite handlebar tape, we highly recommend Fizik's Bar Gel Medical Technogel system.