Bikepacking rigs and adventure hardtails ask something different from a handlebar — hours of hand fatigue, loaded front ends, and the odd tree-strike on singletrack. The Ritchey Comp Kyote answers with geometry borrowed from moto and old-school touring bars: 27.5° of backsweep, 35mm of rise, and 800mm of width, all rolled into a double-butted alloy bar that shrugs off abuse without the cost of a carbon layup.

The sweep is the story here. Most flat and riser bars sit around 8 to 9 degrees of backsweep, which keeps your wrists cocked outward under load. The Kyote's 27.5° pulls your hands rearward into a neutral wrist position, which is why riders coming off a nearly flat 720mm bar tend to describe the switch as night and day. On long days with bar bags cinched down, that wrist angle is the difference between showing up fresh at camp and nursing sore forearms.

Width is generous on purpose. At 800mm you've got real estate for a bar bag, GPS, dynamo light, feed bags, and whatever accessory the next bikepacking trend demands. If the full width feels excessive for tight singletrack or narrower shoulders, the bar trims down cleanly — many riders settle somewhere in the 760mm to 780mm range after living with it for a few rides, and the extra material gives you room to experiment before committing to a cut.... Read More