About us

You can't beat the Swiss for efficiency and precision. They invented precision timekeeping, after all, in a decades-long process of choosing the best materials and refining their design and technique over and over. In their relentless quest for perfection, the Swiss have embraced new materials and technologies like titanium cases and quartz movements, but only where appropriate. Rolex does not switch to carbon fiber production if it doesn't make sense. These are the qualities Oval Concepts brings to the market, from their headquarters in the Swiss Alps.

As founder, I love being able to bring American ingenuity to Oval's product design, employing the highest-quality materials and manufacturing methods that are at the leading edge of materials science and technology know-how. And I love being able to employ product designers who include some of the sharpest minds in bicycle racing technology, folks we can't name, but who have helped maintain American dominance of a certain big French bicycle race for five years running.

Our location near the Swiss-Italian border means we're immersed in the cycling-rich folklore of Italy, a place where the sport's passions and traditions are truly legend, and where good old-fashioned bike fit is still held in high regard. This is the culture we surround ourselves with. This is our passion.

Oval's designs are guided by this unique blend of passion, tradition, technology and design know-how. It's a forward-thinking approach that reveres the past, while pushing today's limits. It makes us different. It makes us better. See for yourself.

get Fit to Fly

Proper fit on your bicycle is absolutely the most critical part that equipment plays in your performance. Without proper fit you will never achieve your full potential – no matter how light, expensive or fancy your equipment is. Proper fit defines your comfort, power and aerodynamics on the bike and therefore your speed and your fun. Oval Concepts is all about speed and fun.

Today’s invasion of sloping top tubes and carbon framesets and the resulting reduction in number of frame sizes makes using the bar, stem and seat post to achieve proper fit more critical than ever. Oval Concepts provides more sizes of bars, stems and seat posts than any other company. Oval designs literally millions of incremental adjustments into their aero bars making us the leader in providing tools for complex aero bar fit. That is why world champions on the track, on the road and in triathlon turn to Oval for results.

While others talk about proper bike fit, Oval helps you get Fit to Fly!

JetStream Technology (RBT)

Five Grand Tour wins in the past five years with four riders and four teams. Two IronMan® World Championship wins in the past two years. Without paying one dime for the sponsorship? Coincidence? We think not. Pros come to us for results.

JetStream technology gently redirects a flow of clean air away from areas of high turbulence (where most drag is created) and lets it dissipate back into ambient air. JetStream Fork Technology (JFT) reduces the drag of the largest mechanical drag effect on the bike – the top of the front wheel – by over 20%.  JetStream Bar Technology (JBT) reduces the drag of the largest overall drag effect on the bike – you, the rider.

A study by Dr. Mark Drela, Ph.D., Professor of Aerodynamics, Astronautics and Fluid Dynamics at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has validated the significant wheel drag reduction effects of Oval’s JetStream fork technology. Dr. Drela’s study of the JetStream’s double aero blade design found a greater than 20% reduction in front wheel drag at a bike speed of 50 kph (31 mph) vs. the best possible single blade design.

Early wind tunnel studies of the A911 JetStream Aero Bar have documented 4-6% overall drag reduction at 50 kph vs. numerous “classic” laminar flat aero bars. If future studies back these early results they will open the door for broad future development of JetStream bar technology.

JetStream Technology is revolutionizing bicycle aerodynamics by looking beyond simply minimizing frontal area. JetStream designs are now being integrated into not just new time trial and triathlon bikes but also road and e-bikes. If JetStream technology can be so dominant in pure aero events, imagine what they can do to 6 hour stage road events over 23 days or even changing the speed, power, and longevity equation for future of e-bike designs.

Professional Athletes and Teams

Oval Concepts is very serious about working with professional athletes. We make a huge investment, not in sponsorships like others but, in product, time and travel (and patents and molds) to work with top athletes, see them perform and analyze how we can provide them the very best equipment to help them succeed.

I have been working with professional athletes since 1982. I know that they depend on equipment that performs at the highest level so that they can perform at the highest level. Good equipment cannot win a race, but poor equipment can certainly contribute to losing. And great equipment puts you in a position to do your very best. (That’s right, get Fit to Fly!)

And don’t forget the Hawthorne Effect that says “for every performance improvement there is an equal and additional psychological improvement.”

At Oval Concepts we work closely with top-level road teams, triathletes and mountain bikers. We give them our thoroughly lab-tested, top-level products and they use them and abuse them like no machines can. In a matter of weeks they can stress our products to levels us mere mortals will never reach. They then give us feedback about fit and function and we use their ideas to constantly improve our products.

We go to the Tour, Giro, Vuelta and Ironman events to study the competition and see how our athletes use our products. We work with team mechanics to set torque specs and re-write our assembly instructions. We go into wind tunnels in different countries with different aero coaches to see how we can deliver the slickest, most adjustable aero product available. We lay in the grass or next to the massage table after events to get first hand ideas on how to go faster more comfortably.

It is not like we do not listen to the “average” athletes who use our products – we do. (And with the advent of e-mail, we take your recommendations to the drawing boards quickly.) It is just that top-level athletes are paid to perform at the highest levels against the best in the world in conditions most of us refuse to endure. For this reason, their attention to detail is usually light-years ahead of the rest of us.

We work with the best to make our products the best. Come, let us show you.

Morgan Nicol

Founder, President

Reverse Bolt Technology (RBT)

Traditional stem designs have the bolt heads on the front of the stem, where the bolt head works against the corners of the lightweight stem cap. This critical design flaw means most sub-130 grams stems do not pass the new European Norms (CEN).

Reverse Bolt Technology (RBT®) solves this critical design flaw. By reversing the bolts, the bolt head can work against the stronger stem body while the 10mm of thread in the front cap makes an incredibly strong, light connection system to the most fragile stem area. RBT stems are able to routinely test four or five times the tough new European Norms (CEN) rather than routinely failing them like traditional lightweight stems. Oval Concepts stems just will not fail during normal use.

This strong, elegant RBT design concept provides us a clean canvas so we can innovate in other areas, like even lighter weights and aerodynamics where traditional designs cannot follow. R900 carbon and titanium upgrade kits reduce stem weights by 20 grams and still test over two times CEN.  R710 and R910 aero upgrade kits smooth airflows on the front of your stem. RBT is also the platform on which we built the Stem Clamp Clip-On System (SCCS), the solution to so many aero bar problems that is reshaping future aero bar technology.

Read on and see what else Reverse Bolt Technology can do for you.

Complete vs. Modular

INTEGRATED HANDLEBARS are bad. Period. Do not let anyone sell you the idea that integrating a bar and stem (or aero extensions or arm rests) is good because it reduces weight or adds stiffness. It is only a substitute for good design. Regardless if you are speaking of a simple road bar and stem or a complex aero bar system, integrated bar/stem systems limit adjustability exactly where you need it most. The whole purpose of the bar, stem and seat post is to provide adjustability so the more adjustable the system, the better.

COMPLETE AERO BARS come with a standard package containing the bar, extensions, arm rests and pads. Aero bars boxed complete are nice when the consumer asks, “Hey, I need an aero bar and I am in a hurry!” It is also nice for a product manager to slap onto his latest aero bike. It solves a problem quickly and simply. (At least until the consumer gets home and tries to ride their bike.)

The problem with a complete, standard aero bar offering is that the consumer is stuck with a system that may not be adjustable enough to fit them properly on their bike.  Most complete aero bars have no adjustability at all. At minimum it will come with fixed extensions and an integrated stem that are too long or too short and therefore not comfortable They violate the fundamental equation of Speed = Power + Comfort + Aerodynamics. They sap your power, rob you of your comfort and make you a real drag (all puns intended).

At least with Oval Concepts COMPLETE aero bars you still get up to 1.2 million incremental adjustments. Even if you do want to change extension shape or arm rest color or upgrade to carbon fiber parts you can be sure that all parts are compatible with your original COMPLETE bar purchase.

MODULAR AERO BAR SYSTEMS allow you to choose the proper stem length and angle, base bar, clamp system, extension shape and arm rest to put you in your Optimal Aero Position (OAP). You can decide the materials and colors you like at the price you can afford. A modular system lets you choose all the correct parts the first time so you can be sure you are getting (and paying for) exactly what you need.

The best solution is to go to your local bike fit specialist (usually a local shop) and ask them to help you find your OAP. Many bike fit specialists use Oval Concepts aero bars because they are MODULAR and provide more adjustability than any other aero bars. When they find your OAP then they can suggest the best aero bar for you. (We are confident an Oval Concepts bar will be one option.)

CUSTOM AERO BARS like the 4000 $/Euro A911 JetStream aero bar are built to the exact specification of the customer. Extension shape, length and angle. arm rest width and height and stem length and angle must all be specified before the super light, super strong and super stiff system is custom bonded together. Even after this bar is delivered, 1260 incremental adjustments can be made by changing stems or arm rest positions. The A911 JetStream CUSTOM bar will never be confused with an integrated system that has no adjustability.

Oval Concepts, the “Fit to Fly!” leader, has two complete MODULAR aero bar systems, one made for One Piece Bars and one for Clip-On Bars. Please consult our aero bar posters for all the details. The Oval Concepts MODULAR Aero Bar Systems are the best systems so far to give you the fit you need, at the price and weight you desire.

Stem Cap Clip-On System (SCCS)

Classic clip-on bars clamp just outside of the stem clamp area of a road bar. Most road bars are not designed to handle the clamping forces required to safely anchor a classic clip-on. Many road bars taper from 26.0 or 31.8mm diameter to 23.8mm immediately outside the stem clamp area. Many consumers mount their clip-ons in this taper area where they slowly work their way outward, scratching the base bar, rotating and loosening until the system is unrideable.

Even if you have a road bar made for a classic clip-on, if you tighten the clamp too little the clip-ons rotate and scratch the base bar. If you tighten the clamp too much you dent the base bar. This scratching or crushing can be frustrating if the bar is aluminum but it is both dangerous and enraging if you paid for a nice carbon bar.

The SCCS clamps solve all of these classic clip-on problems. Bolting a forged SCCS clamp on any Oval Concepts RBT stem allows you to then install extensions and arm rests directly on the cap. Four stem bolts properly torqued and you have the SCCS clip-on mounted on Friday. Four bolts properly torqued again on Monday and you have your classic front cap back – and your nice road bar is still in great shape.

Once you have a SCCS clamp mounted with your choice of extension, arm rest and arm pad you can insert any shape bar – an exotic shaped aero bar (like the A921 JetStream), a round road bar (even one too fragile for classic clip-ons like the 170 gram R950 ErgoLite) or even a flat road bar (like the R910 Aergo bar).

As Dan Empfield at slowtwitch.com says “To date this is the best shorty system I've seen.”  http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/shorty2.html

Cool, huh?