Ns Proof 2010:

Bars are not just bars. The people at NS-Bikes definitely know that.

The shape of the bars is one of the big improvements. Because of the long bended shapes on the bars they managed to get the stress over the whole bar, and not just on one point (at the bendings). This makes the bars stronger. Also the right angle up and back-sweep make this handlebar feel very nice.

Another thing I really like on the NS Proof bar is the weight. The Proof bar is with it’s 340g (weighed it myself) probably the lightest reliable handlebar out there with 3” rise.

When I started riding this bar I could immediately feel the 200g difference with my old 3” rise bar. This felt so much better.

The website of NS-Bikes said the Proof bars are good for suspension forks. But the NS Proof can also handle rigid forks without any problems! Erenes from NS-Bikes rides the Proof bar on rigid forks, and I’ve been beating the hell out of these bars too on rigid forks.  And it’s holding out great! This bar ‘Proofs’ that riding a rigid fork and aluminium bars can work very good!

They come in 720mm/28” width so people who prefer wide bars are also going to be very happy with these bars! If you prefer smaller bars you can cut them to your own favourite length.

When I asked Erenes from NS-Bikes he said this is one of the safest bars on the market. There are no cracked or bent handlebars reported!

The clamp diameter of the Proof bar is 25.4mm, which makes a great combination with the NS Quark Pro stem.

NS Quark Pro 2010:

The first two things I can say about the NS Quark Pro stem is that it looks really nice, and it is ridiculously light! The weight is 175g for the 2010 25.4mm version, which is around the same as an xc stem, but this one can take any abuse.

The stem is 40mm long, has 0mm rise and is available in many colors.

The reason why I prefer this stem over other light stems, is firstly because this one is even lighter, and secondly, this one has 6mm bolts. Most light stems use 4mm bolts, which won’t last long, because the stress of the bolts is being held on a much smaller area in the stem, because of the small diameter. That why in most light stems the screw-thread gets ruined and than you can throw your stem away. That won’t happen to you on the NS Quark Pro stem.

The Quark Pro stem is made of cold-forged 6061 T6 Alloy and is available in 25.mm and oversized 31.8mm

This stem shows that the small details make the big differences!   

Check out WWW.NS-BIKES.COM  to see where you can get your NS-Bikes parts!!