The Sonder Confucius handlebars are a bit of a throwback and a modern-day oddity rolled into one. If you’re a bikepacker or bikepacking-curious, a gravel enthusiast, or just someone who loves to tinker with unique gear, these bars or ones like them might already be on your radar? If not, the look may seem bold but this is actually a fairly traditional design now and it seems like Sonder built them with a clear purpose: to offer something durable, practical, and really cost effective that mimics some more expensive options that have been around a while longer.
Opinions here are my own and based on around 60 hours riding these bars in different environments on my Pipedream Sirius S5 (long)
Riding on the Confucius is comfortable. They’re pretty narrow (for me) at 760mm, which to be fair, is enough to give you a feeling of control when you’re bombing down a forest road or grinding up a climb. But in technical terrain, I found it limiting. As a result, I bought some handlebar extenders and hacked away at those to get them around 810mm with grips. This extra leverage can become important when you have the extra weight of loaded bags on the handlebars, forks or on the bike in general. It also gave me more space for spreading my controls out.
The narrowness is also an issue if you want to have space on the area between the loop and handlebar ends. Once you have grips on, brake levers, shifters, dropper lever and a bell on them. There's no room for movement. I'm a one finger braker, whish was just about fine with my XT brakes, but my Hope levers were to long and I kept having to lift my fingers over the levers to brake. Not ideal. Alpkit.... PLEASE just make these at least 800mm and let us cut them down? I think then, at this price they would be incredible value.
Strangely every review on the Alpkit website says they are super wide!? I guess the crossover from roadie / gravel to the end user of these bars must be greater as 760mm is very narrow for a modern MTB rider. Oh well...
The sweep lets your wrists relax naturally, which is a big deal on those all-day rides. You’ll sit more upright compared to standard flat bars, but the rise isn't crazy, which some people will like, especially if your back and shoulders have been complaining about your current setup. This is especially important to me.
The thing of this type of bar is how much utility they pack into one simple piece of kit. The flat top bar is basically an accessory playground. You’ve got room for your handlebar bag, GPS, phone mount, lights, etc, whatever you need for the day ahead. It’s the kind of setup that makes accessorising easy, and it keeps everything safe, tidy and secure. This is where the Confucius bars feel like they’re in their element.
Another benefit here is when you have a handlebar-roll setup, getting the front light right out front so the beam is not obscured by the bags is a big win for me. The loop is perfect for this. Alpkit also makes a really cool bag that fits right inside the loop too, which can easily hold enough stuff to make it the only bag you need for shorter rides.
That practicality comes with a trade-off. If you're going to use the loop effectively then it will likely have to be flat / level. This means that you are trapped into a set rise and sweep of the bar. To be fair, any loop bar is going to have this limitation too.
If you’re a roadie at heart or care about looking sleek and fast, you might find the bars too clunky and whilst they’re not ridiculously heavy, they’re definitely not the lightest handlebars out there, which might matter if you’re counting every gram.
The Sonder Confucius handlebars are not for everyone, but for the job i needed them for, they have been great. They’re built like a tank, offer great utility for bikepacking and accessorising, whilst providing a riding position that feels natural and easygoing. But the design isn’t without its quirks. The limited width, and lack of "adjustability" in rotation mean these bars won’t suit every bike or every rider. But thats not who they are marketed at. So why do a Sonder Confucius handlebar review: Well, frustratingly, Alpkit gives next to no information about this product on their website, only the width. So if you want to know the following: Clamp size (31.8) Material specifics (6061 alloy) Rise (15mm) or sweep (9º) You've come to the right (better?) place. I reviewed it because I had to take a punt, now perhaps you're better informed and you don't have to? You're welcome 😉
What’s great:
Super comfy, wrist-friendly "MTB style" sweep
Loads of room for mounting gear and accessories.
Built tough for big adventures.
Great for stability on rough terrain.
Exremely good value. (29.99)
What’s not:
Too narrow straight out of the box.
Locked-in setup if you want to adjust sweep or rise
Bulky look isn’t for everyone.
Limited essential details on website.
MY VERDICT
If you’re into bikepacking or just want something durable and practical for chill rides, the Confucius bars are worth a look. If you're an MTBer you're gonna want them wider? But here's the thing... I paid £29.99 for these straight from Alpkit, which is amazing value. So wether I stick or twist on them, I feel like they will have been a worthwhile experiment.
As it stands right now, they are my bar of choice for the moment.
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