Origin 8 Space Bar (Mary Bar)

After winning the 2007 24 hours of Rocky Hill, bike fit and ergonomics took on a whole new meaning for me. My wrists and knees had taken a beating beyond anything they had ever experienced. Part of that was the nature of the beast, riding that far for that long. But I couldn’t help but think that poor bike fit and component selection played a part too. That’s when I met Sean Ahmadi and got him to professionally fit all of my bikes. I also started doing a lot of research on components and ergonomics. I came across the Jeff Jones H-Bars and On-One Mary bars. The Jones bars are super sweet and hand crafted from titanium. I really wanted a set of these, but even used, I couldn’t find one for less than $175. So then I looked at the Mary bars. The going price seemed to be about $60 for these. I checked with my shop to see what they could get me. They could not get either of those bars, but they could get an Origin 8 Space Bar, which is basically the same thing as the Mary bar. For $25, I snapped it up.

The bars took a few miles to get used to, but felt completely natural thereafter. To see for yourself just how un-natural straight/riser bars are for your wrists, do this. While sitting on your bike, let your hands drop to your sides. Now, without rotating your wrists, raise your arms up slowly until they are near your handlebar. Notice how much you would have to rotate your wrists to grip a straight bar. With the 30 degree sweep on the Space bar, you hardly have to rotate your wrists at all, if any.

Besides a more natural wrist grip, your elbows are brought closer in to your torso. This gives you more leverage and control, making if even more suitable for single speed applications. I can generate so much more pull on these bars, that I find I can usually run one tooth less for the rear cog on my singlespeed. Singlespeed racing is all about who can push the biggest gear, so having bars like this are advantageous.

Space Bar in action

Even for geared setups, I find I like these bars more than anything else. They have a forward sweep before sweeping backwards, so you can keep the stem length that you would normally run with a standard bar. The bars also have about 1” of rise (or drop) built in. I used to be a believer in having the bar set lower than the saddle, but I’ve gradually changed my point of view to have the bars level or higher than the saddle. When it comes to mountain biking, and even road cycling, your comfort on the bike often trumps aerodynamics. There’s a balance to be struck. For me, I didn’t quite need the full 1”, so I flipped the headset spacers from below the stem to above it and found a comfortable medium.

The only drawback to this product is it’s weight. At a hefty 292 grams, it can’t compete with a 99 gram carbon ultralite flat bar, but then again, how many people actually have a 99 gram bar? The question a weight weenie should ask themselves is whether they’re getting maximum efficiency and control from their lightweight bar. In my opinion, the added weight (a measley ¼ lb at most) is well worth the added benefit you get from the ergonomic shape. Here is another good review: http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2008/06/origin-8-space-bar-review.html

Caveman rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars overall

5 out of 5 stars for value.

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