Wilde Bikes X Country Bar: Getting Rolling
Wilde Bikes X Country Bar: Getting Rolling – by Guitar Ted
Note: Wilde Bike Co sent over the handlebar here on review at no charge to Guitar Ted. He is not being paid, nor bribed for this review and he will always strive to give his honest thoughts and views throughout.
Wilde Bikes company may not be well known, or known at all, by you, dear reader, but their X Country Bar is here on test. So, let’s first get the introductions out of the way here.
Wilde bikes is the creation of Jeffrey Frane. Frane was the leader of the All City brand at Quality Bicycle Products from its inception in 2008 until he left the company in 2019. After a couple of years he started Wilde Bike Co. Wilde has since produced several upscale steel and titanium frame-sets and complete bikes. (We posted a story about Wilde Bike Co.’s beginnings here. )
What It Is: Wilde has also introduced a few components, mainly handlebars, and the newest is the X Country Bar. Alternately also known as the Nitto Country Bar, that name gives away its manufacturer, which is obviously Nitto of Japan. Following is a bullet point list of the X Country Bar’s features:
- 50mm Rise
- 27° Back Sweep
- 7° Up Sweep
- 800mm Wide
- 31.8mm Clamp
- Weight: 420g
- Heat Treated Aluminum
- Made in Japan
- The Country Bar is rated for off-road touring, it’s not meant to be an enduro bar, ride accordingly
- MSRP: $120.00 USD
First Impressions: The handle bar is definitely wide, feels lighter than you’d think, and looks like a typical Nitto produced product, meaning that it looks really nice. We got in the black anodized version but there is a silver, (natch) , also available.
The 27° sweep looks comfortable and the rise looks like it should put me in a nice, relaxed position. I threw it on my digital table-top scale and it weighed in at 424 rams. The bar has that very iconic Nitto decal and otherwise it is devoid of any branding besides the Wilde name on the front, right side.
There aren’t any hash marks or guides to help you get the bar set up, so you’ll have to pay closer attention to that. The center section of the handlebar’s bulged clamping area has some element of textured grip for a stem to gain some purchase on it, but that strip is narrow. Many stems have cut-outs or relief in that area, so I’m not sure that is as effective as it could have been. Then again, this bar is not rated for enduro and is meant to be an off-road touring component.
So Far… The Wilde Bike Co’s newest handle bar is a handsome piece that should be a great fit for bike packing or flat bar gravel use. I’m going to use it on gravel around here, so stay tuned to see how that works out upcoming in a month or so when I post the Quick Review.
