These aero bars haven’t changed much in the dozen or so years they’ve been out. But Porsche hasn’t changed much since its car line first came out. When a product is properly conceived you don’t have to do much to it.
Syntace’s aero bars were the first, to my recollection, that had the armrests set back behind the centerline of the "base bar," i.e., the bar to which the aero bar attaches. (They’re set back about 4cm.) Syntace’s founder, Jo Klieber, realized that the aero position mandated a shortening of the "cockpit" distance—roughly the length of the top tube and stem combined—and his aero bars helped accommodate this.
Klieber’s bars were also extremely sturdy, and the armrests were shaped well and had the proper foam density. The original bar was the C2 Clip, and it was so ahead of its time it is still manufactured today, and it still holds its own against its competition.
THE C2 CLIP
The C2, like all of Syntace’s bars, is not length adjustable. This is a hardship. But it 
also keeps the bars lighter and stronger. In the U.S. the C2 is more popular than Syntace’s Streamliner. To ride the "SL" you’ve got to adopt a rather unnatural hand position, and the C2 does not require this of you.
I’ve got very few criticisms of this bar. One was the choice of threaded hardware. The armrests are adjustable in and out, and the specialty aluminum nut that affixes these armrests did not have many threads. It was easy to strip them. But Syntace fixed that problem with a nut with longer threads, and though there is still the issue of adjustability, Syntace fixed my only major criticism, dang them.
THE STREAMLINER
The Streamliner is more or less the same bar as the C2, except it’s got a different bend to its extensions (its tube wall is also a bit thicker). The extensions are so close together, the only way to get your hands around the ends is for them to be flared outward. This is the unnatural hand position I referred to, keeping it in mind that certain people find it more natural. One I can think of would be Wendy Ingraham. I don't frankly know what bar she rides, but the SL is perfectly designed for the way she rides, which is palms facing (somewhat) up.
I’d rather see the extensions just continue forward with no outward bend, i.,e., with just an upward bend. But you wouldn’t be able to wrap your hands around the ends—they’d be too close together. "Just move the clip-ons a 
little bit away from the stem," you might suggest. No can do. The clip-ons are made to grip a bar with the O.D. of 26.2mm, and all the base bars and road bars immediately swage down to 25.4mm immediately after leaving the stem area. Why not just make a pursuit bar that is 26.2mm throughout its entire distance, until the final upturned area where the brake levers plug in? It would give you a ton more adjustability and the fatter pursuit-hand-position would be more comfortable. That’s just what I had my Asian bar supplier build for me in my final year at QR, and I’d have had Syntace make us special SLs that had extensions that were parallel to each other all the way to their terminus. But the people who took over at QR after I left were smarter than me, and abandoned that idea.
I have heard of at least one handlebar company who’s decided to duplicate my bad idea for its 2003 product line.
I would love to see Syntace come out with a 26.2mm base bar throughout, and to incorporate into the SL (or another model based on the SL design) the same sort of adjustable extensions Profile Design uses in its Aerolite. It’s a simple system that uses a pinch binder not unlike a standard seat post and seat tube. That would mean Syntace could make one bar, one size, which would be the killer app for a bike manufacturer looking for the right O.E. product. That would be a nice marriage of Syntace’s world-beating armrest design with Profile Design’s superior aero extensions adjustability.
Then there is the Blackbird. They’re making this top secret bar out in Nevada, at Area 51. It’s the one-piece that is often prototyped, never produced. I’ve one of the few who’ve ridden it. If I told you about this bar then I’d have to, well, you know.
Syntace’s stems I consider the best in the industry. Its Megaforce is the only stem I currently ride. But I’ll not write about them here, because they’re not aerobars and that’s what I’m writing about now. I will write about Syntace’s Space Control brake levers, because they’re currently the best base-bar brake lever going. Again, though, Syntace makes it harder than it has to be, because the Space Control fits its base bar and not necessarily those bars made by any other companies. Its own base bars are thin-wall, and the Space Control fits inside them nicely. But if you’ve got a thicker-wall base bar, or a composite bar like Profile Design’s Carbon X, the Space Control’s expander bolt is too large to slide in. But the Space Control is good enough that I do what I have to use it anyway.
Syntace has also just struck a tooling deal that will make these almost immediately $15 to $20 less expensive than their current (as of this writing) $90 price tag per pair. It is also likely that the wedge mechanism will be retooled to accommodate other base bars.
Syntace is an enigma. It has the best armrest system, bar none, no question, hands down. If it didn’t previously exist and its bars debuted today this company would be considered a revelation. The armrest design, and they way they attach to the clip-on, is by far the hardest thing to make, and Syntace has made it. The easy part is the bar bends, and giving the bars a little bit of forward adjustability. It is in this area that Syntace steadfastly refuses to budge, and in my view it could’ve dispensed with its competition back in the late 90s if it had pushed on the gas pedal just a little harder, and developed a better set of extensions.
The problem is Klieber, which I write though he is a long-time friend of mine. Jo has been distracted from triathlon, chiefly by mountain biking—that sport which has taken a giant face plant, especially in his native Germany where he lives. Yet he’s still hoeing that row. Had Klieber decided to point his fabulous design talent toward triathlon in recent years, the multisport world would be his oyster. But he didn’t and so it isn’t. Even at this late date if he dedicated himself to a top-notch 2003 line he could pull ahead of his competition. But that won’t happen, because (in my experience) he doesn’t listen to his customers, and he has no interest (that I can see) in designing for the multisport market. So Syntace will continue to be a company which is habitually, consistently, congenitally, 90% of the way to the goal in the execution of a proper product line.
One final thing about Syntace. If you go to its website, you’ll find it "under construction." This is because Jo Klieber decided that the U.S. office would no longer be responsible for the website, but that he would have it built and published in Germany for the worldwide market. The site has been void of information since the start of the season, and as of this writing—July 10, 2002—it’s still down. No telling when it’ll be up. This is par for the course for the German headquarters. Its historic view has been in action, if not necessarily in word, to not produce anything unless it can be produced to its high standards. Unfortunately, that often means not producing anything—at least not anything new.
Syntace USA can be reached at 949-470-3700, and its website does have its contact info.
