The Best Gravel Handlebars Compared For Comfort: Deda Gera vs Lauf Smoothie

If you’re after the best gravel handlebars with a high degree of comfort, you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve been on a quest to find the best gravel handlebars for a long time, and have gleaned many insights from testing different models for their shape, material, and vibration-damping qualities.

In my most recent handlebar test, I directly compared carbon and aluminium handlebars to see if there was a difference in terms of vibration absorption.

This time, I’m comparing two highly unique gravel handlebars:
– The Deda Gera Carbon with its unusual bar shape, and
– The Lauf Smoothie with added glass fibre for greater vibration absorption

So, will the glass fibre of the Smoothie yield more comfort, or will the bar shape of the Gera win out? Let’s find out.

Deda Gera Carbon Gravel Handlebars

The Deda Gera is a handlebar designed specifically for gravel, and it has a very distinctive look. Most notable are the bar tops that sweep forward and up (7mm rise) from the stem, and then gently flow back down to level at a 12-degree angle.

To inform this design, Deda took inspiration from the natural posture of the hands and wrists and how they naturally extend onto the bar tops. This shape is said to provide a more ergonomic wrist angle for all-day comfort. The bar tops also help bring your elbows in closer to your sides, which might improve your aerodynamics.

I’m actually quite familiar with this shape as it closely resembles the Coefficient Wave handlebar I’ve previously tested (and found to be very comfortable).

In addition to the unique bar tops, these bars have a very short reach (40 mm) and a compact drop (100 mm). With such short distances between hand positions, it makes moving your hands about the bars very quick.

The Deda Gera Carbon also features 16-degrees of flare (outsweep) down to the drops. This increases the width of the bars at the drops by 80 mm, providing additional steering leverage to take on rougher terrain. Your handling confidence can be enhanced further thanks to the notably wide widths available (440 to 480 mm).

You can get the Deda Gera in carbon fibre or a comparatively affordable aluminium version (US $126). If you so desire, aero bars can be installed next to the stem or on the 7mm high raised bar tops. The latter achieves a taller ride position for your elbow pads, however, it will also render the bar tops unusable.

Lauf Smoothie Gravel Handlebars

The Lauf Smoothie features a much more classic shape than the Gera making it great for a mix of road and gravel riding.

The key selling point of the Lauf Smoothie is the addition of glass fibre to the carbon layout. According to Lauf, this helps damp vibrations and gives the handlebar “almost double the compliance” of a normal carbon handlebar.

More vibration attenuation should make the Smoothie ideal for road and gravel riding, so does the glass fibre actually improve comfort?

I’ll be answering that shortly, but let’s first discuss the handlebar shape.

The Smoothie features flattened bar tops with a moderate three-degree back sweep. These flattened bar tops create a bit more surface area for your palms, which can both increase comfort and provide additional grip.

The Smoothie is available in 400, 420 and 440 mm wide variants. Like the Gera, there is a 16-degree flare down to the drops, and this adds 70 mm of additional width in the drops for extra control over your bike.

The reach (80mm) is twice as long as the Gera and the bar drop is bigger too (125 mm vs 100mm). The Smoothie’s design much closer resembles the geometry we see on road bike handlebars.

Installing These Comfortable Gravel Handlebars

The Lauf Smoothie is the most straightforward handlebar to install as you cannot route your cables inside the handlebar, perhaps as a result of the added glass fibre. Instead, the cables flow underneath the bar tops.

When it comes to cable routing, the Deda Gera is much trickier as a result of its shape. You can route the cables internally, but it’s a tough challenge to get around the bend and requires a lot of patience.

I found that adjusting the bar tilt is somewhat limiting on the Smoothie as the flattened bar tops only feel comfortable within a very short tilt range.

In comparison, the Deda Gera allows for quite a broad range of tilt and brake hood placement. This allowed me to tinker with bar ergonomics and get the height of the brake hoods in a location that worked perfectly for me.

Gravel Handlebars With Short or Long Reach?

Bar reach is the distance that the brake levers attach forward of the stem. A road or gravel bike handlebar will usually have a reach of between 70 and 80 mm.

The Lauf Smoothie falls within this reach range (80mm), however, the Deda Gera is significantly shorter (40 mm). This is a big difference should you be swapping between these two specific bars like I did – it’s the equivalent of changing your stem length by 40mm.

The difference in reach translated to my hands being closer to my body while using the Gera.

It’s possible to increase your stem length to accommodate this difference in bar reach. However, if you currently use a stem longer than 100 mm, the Gera might not suit your needs. This is because stems that exceed 140 mm in length are exceedingly rare.

I ended up fitting a 20mm longer stem with the Gera. I also removed 25mm of headset spacers (as the bar drop is shallow), and I mounted the brake hoods a touch lower than usual. These interventions changed the effective bar reach enough for me to get super comfortable.

Another option is that you can move your saddle backward on the rails to achieve a longer distance to the handlebar. However, I’d only recommend this if you’ve been wanting to adjust your saddle position anyway.

But keep in mind that when you fit wider handlebars, you need a shorter bar reach (or shorter stem) to maintain your position. This is because the brake hoods get further away from your torso as the bars get wider. I suspect that Deda opted for so little bar reach because they expect their customers will be upgrading to wider gravel handlebars (which is a growing trend).

What Are These Gravel Handlebars Like To Ride?

The Lauf Smoothie is a rock-solid, confidence-inspiring handlebar. In terms of handling, I liked it the most. With its longer reach and bigger drop, it allowed me to put more of my body weight on the front wheel. This helped gain additional front tyre traction in fast corners.

In comparison, the Deda Gera, with its short reach and moderate drop, made my front tyre feel a bit more vague when cornering. I found it demanded a bit more attention on looser gravel road surfaces. To get my bike handling well, it became clear that I needed to increase my stem length to accommodate for the shorter reach of the Gera.

Where the Deda Gera Carbon handlebar shines is the shape of the bar tops. The additional rise and back sweep translate into a very comfortable hand position, and the pressure across my palms feels perfectly distributed. I’ve now completed multiple 200 km (120 mi) rides on the Deda Gera handlebar and have experienced no hand pain or numbness whatsoever.

The bar tops on the Lauf Smoothie are simply not as comfortable. I noticed they introduced a bit of pressure on my palms, causing minor pain and discomfort. This was most apparent after an hour or two of cycling.

In terms of ride comfort, the Gera is the clear winner for me.

What About Vertical Compliance?

Both the Deda Gera and Lauf Smoothie offer little perceptible flex in the hoods or drops.

There will be enough flex to mitigate some of the energy coming from a big hit. But when it comes to a simple weighted test, these handlebars are not in the same league as other handlebars I’ve tested. In fact, both the Ritchey WCS Carbon Venturemax and Coefficient Wave handlebars offered noticeable flex in the drops.

If the Gera and Smoothie are not super compliant after bigger hits, perhaps we will see an improvement over road and gravel chatter…

My Test Bike and Vibration Measurement Procedure

I conducted my vibration tests on a Mondraker Dusty gravel bike with a 70 mm rigid stem and Challenge Gravine 40 mm tyres. The air pressure was set to 45 PSI (3.1 Bar). The HiRide Sterra suspension fork was hydraulically locked and didn’t play any major role in this test.

My vibration measurement procedure was modified for this test. I mounted my accelerometer closer to the brake hoods, right at the curve between the bar tops and the hoods. This location gives us the most accurate vibration reading from the bar itself. I also took these measurements without any bar tape wrapped underneath.

I had two test scenarios: a smooth asphalt road test, and a high-frequency chatter test that simulates riding on a bumpy gravel road. Both tests were conducted at 25 kph (15 mph).

Vibration Test Results

Smooth Asphalt Road Test

	Average Acceleration (g)	Vibration Difference
Lauf Smoothie Handlebar	0.162	5.3% Fewer Vibrations
Deda Gera Carbon Handlebar	0.171	–

In the fast asphalt road test, the results showed the Lauf Smoothie was consistently 5.3% more effective at damping vibrations than the Deda Gera Carbon. This is a surprisingly large difference and one that suggests that the glass fibre is effective at mitigating vibrations.

High-Frequency Chatter Test

	Average Acceleration (g)	Vibration Difference
Lauf Smoothie Handlebar	1.74	2.3% Fewer Vibrations
Deda Gera Carbon Handlebar	1.78	–

In the high-frequency chatter test, the Lauf Smoothie again showed a reduction in vibrations. However, for this test with larger bumps, the vibration difference had more than halved (2.3%).

Vibration Test Discussion

The interesting thing about these tests is that I did not perceive any reduction in vibrations, and was even surprised that my accelerometer showed some disparity.

I suspect you too won’t notice an appreciatable comfort difference between handlebars with such a small vibration difference. This will especially be the case should you use the appropriate tyre pressure for your body weight, and any of the comfortable bar tapes I recommend.

The Best Gravel Handlebars For Comfort

Both the Lauf Smoothie and Deda Gera are examples of comfortable gravel handlebars, yet they go about executing comfort using different approaches.

The Lauf Smoothie, with its added glass fibre, has been verified by my testing to damp more vibrations than the Deda Gera Carbon. However, I don’t think the vibration reduction will be enough for you to notice.

That means this test really comes down to your preferred bar shape.

If you like a more classic gravel handlebar shape, the Lauf Smoothie is an excellent product. It’s light, stiff, and responsive, and has an edge over other carbon handlebars in terms of vibration damping. The reach is also similar to most road handlebars so it’s unlikely you will need to change your stem length.

That said, if you’ve previously experienced pain, numbness or tingling in your hands, I think you should try the Deda Gera.

The Gera bar tops are the perfect ergonomics for me and might be for you too. This handlebar is compact and easy to move around, and most importantly – still wonderfully comfortable after six or seven hours of riding.

The Deda Gera Aluminium is under half the price of the Gera Carbon and would be a great option if the carbon model was out of your price range. It could also be a better way to test if the bar top shape works for you.

Where Can You Buy The Deda Gera?

• Deda Gera Aluminium 44 cm – US $126 on Amazon
• Deda Gera Aluminium 46 cm – US $133 on Amazon
• Deda Gera Aluminium 48 cm – US $126 on Amazon
• Deda Gera Carbon 44 cm – US $321 on Amazon
• Deda Gera Carbon 46 cm – US $301 on Amazon
• Deda Gera Carbon 48 cm – $322 on Amazon

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