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Curious as to your opinions on flared bars for gravel racing. I don’t buy in to all the “gravel” hype stuff promoted by bike companies. Please enlighten me..Thanks
I’ve got a set of aluminum Easton bars with 16 degrees of flare. Love ‘em. Wouldn’t mind a bit wider. I feel nicely planted when descending, especially chunkier terrain.
Probably don’t need flare but I find it comfortable on most bars. Some bars overdo it but I’m not going to yuck your yum if something is comfortable for you.
Hate them and think they’re pointless. “The flared drops give more control" if I’m desperate about the amount of control then I want my brakes in reach so I’m not riding on the drops (I’m on the hoods or in the hooks).
Swapped the OE flared bars that came on my checkpoint for 38cm non flared bars bike does everything from racing to all day epics.
Have riding buddies who like flare so much they’ve gone flared on their road bikes so we just sit in silence at café stops.
I like the flare for sprinting. Keeps my wrists clear of the bar. I use a minimal flare bar (Enve Aero) and that is good for me. The more aggressively flared bars are not for me. https://enve.com/products/aero-handlebar?variant=45111161913628&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20547849738&tw_kwdid=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20782446938&gbraid=0AAAAAqGqh1nnvJ6xFXRc7vxSRkNgsvBWG&gclid=Cj0KCQiArt_JBhCTARIsADQZaymGN0XnUHsqgMdPvpqvSI0HJzbnhKC-UVD3gxTPvbgZUWtaOkBqXSAaAkHgEALw_wcB
Yes to flare (or outsweep) in the drops, no to flare at the hoods. Personally find flare at the hoods uncomfortable on my wrists.
How much flare and where seems pretty personal but it seems like most folks prefer wider drops (I do too).
“The flared drops give more control" if I’m desperate about the amount of control then I want my brakes in reach so I’m not riding on the drops (I’m on the hoods or in the hooks).
This is an interesting take for me. Lot of gravel riders are talking about how you should descent on the drops because of the control. And I know those are different disciplines - but I have never seen a cyclocross rider touch the drops once.
Outdoor rider only:
I think some brifters are now designed around the presence or absence of flare (ex., GRX), making this even less simple than it once was. Personally, I quite like Zipp’s SL-70 XPLR bars’ relatively constrained flare and road bar-like shifter orientation. Something about the outsweep keeping my wrists at a more natural angle definitely helps with comfort *in the drops. Dunno about control so much. For a time, I also had a Thompson bar with a ton of flare and outsweep. I did not like it, but in retrospect the things I did not like were more to do with reach and length of drops than with flare per se. On those though, I could feel increased steering control in the drops more acutely. So basically there is no way to get around trying a few shapes to see what works for you, is what I have concluded. Gently-used alloy bars are not particularly expensive or (IMO) terrifying and can be resold, so as long as you don’t mind re-wrapping bar tape a bunch of times… experiment.
Correct bar and lever setup offers increased control and braking power/modulation in the drops for majority of riders. You get lower center of gravity (+ for handling), you actuate the brake lever further from the pivot point which means less force required for desired amount of braking and ultimately most of the people are able to brake with only one finger so they can hold the bar with the remaining fingers. I would argue you need to have exceptionaly strong fingers to brake with one finger on the tops.
I ride gravel outside in Colorado, on some pretty rough terrain, and never use the drops. I’m just not comfortable there. But I see how the flare would, is nothing else, give you more space for your forearms past the tops. I believe the wide drops are to mimic flatbar mtb width
I find subtly flared bars more comfortable so I love they are now default even on road bikes. More flare for gravel makes sense for better control on descents.
Flared drops (along with extra wide overall) seems trendy to me. For MTB, short stems + wide bars do have a benefit. While I suppose you could be hucking a gravel bike, I don’t expect many folks would do so. Reality is is most folks ride gravel as an extension to riding road. So for comfort and performance the fit should be somewhat within orbit of a road bike. For me, that means riding 42c bars (no flare) with a 110mm stem on both road and gravel.
Maybe if Thibaut Pinot had flared bars in 2019 he’d have won the Tour du France 
A couple of factors to consider:
FYI I’m a fan of flare on the road and gravel for the reasons above, though you don’t need as much on the road but I really like that I can have 36cm tops and 42cm drops.
My Ritchey Beacons have 36 degrees of flare. I do not like the look, but they are very shallow at 80 mm drop and I don’t think they could be that shallow without the flare. Most of my riding is trail riding and where possible I am on the drops, mostly for braking, they are 44s. I had the Venturemaxes, but the drop was not enough for me.
First IMHO we need to know what the OP defines as “gravel racing.” Is this UCI gravel, doable on road bikes, quasi-MTBing where 50+mm tyres are de rigeur, or somewhere in between? How technical the riding is will affect what riding position(s) are optimal, and this will vary.
Then there are personal preferences, and some people are going to hate sone bar shapes, whether flared or otherwise; I personally loathe “riser drop bars” as these complicate bike fit, and also make attaching accessories like bags, clip-on bars, computers, lights and so on difficult or impossible.
In my experience a bit of flare is acceptable or beneficial, and doesn’t negatively affect hand comfort; I’ve not yet used bars with >12° flare. Wider drops can indeed increase control on rough desents, while keeping the hoods narrow helps with aero. I don’t think that wider is always better though, and can’t see myself using bars that are >42cm C-C at the hoods, so at most +2cm at the hoods versus my trad road fit. After that you become a windsock IME.
Given there is more braking power available from the hooks, that’s likely to be the position used on descents, and when things get steep keeping one’s C of G further back helps, so less drop can be a good thing. That typically goes with more flare, but whether the levers are still comfortable at higher angles is the big question, for me at least.
No or minimal flare (say 38cm tops 40mm drops) is my vote for both road and gravel. I solve for wrist room while sprinting via short reach (70mm is perfect).
I find a slight flare to be most comfortable, my wrists feel like they’re in a more natural position in the drops. And generally I think having more leverage is advantageous
With the caveat that I’m Cat4ForLife and Masters 60+, I race CX in the drops a fair bit. Partly for aero (I appreciate that aero hoods is more aero, but that feels like giving up too much control), partly for a different position. Racing in the drops tends to be once the field is strung out, which suggests that it feels like less control than I want when rubbing elbows near other racers. I asked Adam Myerson about racing CX in the drops. He doesn’t, and couldn’t come up with a great reason why it’d be good. Which says something, as he’s the most thoughtful CXer I’ve ever met, and by a fair bit.
Cool insight! 