Review: BikeDoc HB23 Handlebars

An average track bike now largely resembles an average track bike from 2010. For the most part folks are still running Ellipses or Shamals; the big three cranks of Sugino 75s, SRAM Omniums, and Shimano 7710s remain in rotation; Thomson finishing kit still feels like the uniform. At the consumer level, big changes in fixed gear tech are few and far between. Instead, a slow drip of influence comes from the eventual adoption of generational shifts in industry standards. I’m thinking of things like threadless (and eventually, tapered) headtubes and novel bottom bracket designs.

This general lack of turnover has been met with a boom in Chinese carbon manufacturing. Across all cycling disciplines, carbon fiber wheels, frames, and cockpit components have been more accessible than ever. AliExpress is now a primary stop for cost-conscious bike modders, and with dwindling availability of solid offerings from household-name companies, the fixed gear culture has taken cue, too. Premium track parts come at premium track prices, putting access out of reach for many stateside amateurs and hobbyists, who are flocking to Chinese-made-and-marketed products more and more every day.

When it comes to handlebar discourse, specifically in the fixed gear community, most people fall into one of two camps: you’re either a flat bar lover or a drop bar supremacist. I personally prefer drop bars because of my comfortability on road and cyclocross bikes. They feel faster, they’re required for fixed gear criterium racing, and they offer more hand positions. Notably, however, a classic drop bar without brake levers attached basically limits a riders’ choice to either the tops or the drops. An awkward side grip where a lever would be can be forced, but only with a weird supination of the wrist which is only comfortable in small doses. 

In ‘proper’ track racing, different events call for different handlebar styles. Mass start events like keirin, scratch, points, and Madison races require drop-style handlebars. On drop bars, it is well-known that riding in the hoods with horizontal forearms is more aerodynamic than riding in the drops. With this in mind, in 2019 Velobike designed the first drop bar with a hood-style grip, which premiered at the Tokyo Olympics and rode to two gold medals. 

You probably know where this is going now. I have never seen ‘real’ modern track bunch bars from Velobike, Vision, or any other premium outlets on the domestic fixed gear circuit, probably because they all sell for a minimum of $500. If you see drops with little horns out there at a fixed crit near you, there is a 99.9% chance they were bought from AliExpress, and a 95% chance they are the BikeDoc HB23. 

At first, the BikeDoc proliferation annoyed me because it seemed like a fad. For reference, I have some weird preferences when it comes to handlebars. I have almost exclusively run aluminum, 380mm bars with short reach, short drop, and no flare. Aluminum means crash resilience; short reach and short drop keeps the fit closer across hand positions, and most bars that satisfy those requirements have minimal to zero flare. The type of bar I normally use has nothing in common with the BikeDocs, so my impulse was to look the other way. 

Also, I had never bought anything— let alone bike parts— on AliExpress. Over the years I’ve had countless friends from bikes and beyond who were savvy Ali shoppers, but I never partook. The website was hard to navigate, and I could almost feel the FBI man on the other side of my webcam as I surfed it. In most situations I just defer to the used market for discount parts. I was also just a late bloomer to realizing carbon from “American” brands— especially in 2026— isn’t necessarily nicer than Chinese-made carbon, it’s just more expensive.

What drove me to pull the trigger on a pair of BikeDocs was admittedly a desire for marginal gains. While my track bike has always been a bit of a form-over-function build, I realize the ability to get more tucked on the bike simply makes you faster. The labored hand position I had on my normal drops was not helping my case, and I figured that added comfort in an aero position was probably just as valuable for speed as a waxed chain or TT tires — two things I also added for this year’s fixed gear buildout. 

So, debit card in hand, I braved the AliExpress site and began shopping. To determine the size I wanted would be the first step. BikeDoc offers the HB23 in five sizes, ranging from 310 to 390mm in the drops and 250 to 330mm at the hoods, split up into even 20mm increments. With a reach of 104mm and drop of 120mm, if you’re a geometry whiz (or if you just look at the BikeDoc website) that comes to 14° of flare— exactly 14° more flare than I usually run. 

Credit: BikeDoc

With that in mind, I decided a familiarity of feeling in the drops was more important than in the hoods. Plus, narrower up top would mean a more aero position, so I landed on the second biggest size— the 370/310mm offering. Every size is available in both a matte and glossy finish, but I always go glossy when it’s available. Fuck blatte!

 $150.60 later, a meticulously packed box arrived on my doorstep after just two weeks, which felt quick considering the length of its journey from Xiamen to Pittsburgh. On the customer service side of things, I was impressed by the consistency of tracking updates. I received an email update every time the package changed hands, putting my unfounded reservations about Ali shopping to rest.

The first thing I do when I get a new bike part is weigh it. BikeDoc advertises the HB23 at 260g +/- 15g, with no information about which size was weighed. Mine weighed in at 303.5g, putting them a bit farther outside the margin of error than I see as permissible. As far as carbon bars go generally, they are definitely on the heavy side. Even some nice aluminum bars like the Zipp Service Course SL or many Ritchey WCS options come in 30-50g lighter. Chalk some of the BikeDocs’ heft up to the extra material on the hoods and the very wide forearm platform, but yeah, they’re not the lightest. 

Nonetheless, I was excited to try them out, so I threw them on and prepared to tape them up. It took a bit of time to figure out the best way to wrap them, but I eventually settled on a classic figure-8 method while pulling the tape very tight around the horns. I should have done a bit more research to see if my preferred K-Edge out-front computer mounts would fit in the clamp area, because they decidedly didn’t. BikeDoc does list the 46mm clamp area in their diagrams, but I didn’t even think about how narrow that was before ordering. A Silca mount has since been ordered. Don’t worry; I don’t plan to review it.

That same day, I took my bike down to the track with a few extra stems to test out the fit. The extreme narrowness in the hoods took some getting used to, but the difference it made in my efficiency/comfort/speed exchange was immediately apparent. I don’t have any data for you, but a basic principle is that if you reduce your frontal area and are simultaneously able to hold an aero position more comfortably— and thus, for longer periods of time— you’re gonna be faster for it ten out of ten times. 

Since I first put them on, I’ve logged about 100 hours of BikeDoc time with a couple long road rides, some alleycats, and some ‘real’ racing in the mix. I used them at every stop during my epic spring travels, and they handled everything I could reasonably request from a narrow drop bar. They’re ugly, but if you’re willing to compromise aesthetics for performance on your fixed gear, don’t count the HB23 out.

I’m a bit ashamed by how much I like them, to be honest. The HB23, like most carbon bars, is really stiff in the good ways, but still does a great job dampening road vibration. The horn has a very slim feel, which is just pronounced enough to give you something to grab onto. You all know how much I hate giant brake levers by now. Down low, I enjoy the fact that I don’t lose too much sprinting leverage with a more-normal 370mm width down low. Flare is cool, so maybe my other bikes require some revision to bring the brake levers in a bit. Just a thought!

A Reddit post from two years ago does recount a horror story about breaking two HB23s at the clamp area, but according to someone on the thread, the issue has been addressed by BikeDoc. I wasn’t able to find any evidence to support that claim, but I’m also not gonna give you a cross section unless I break them or someone buys me a new pair. BikeDoc also offers a 1-year warranty on the bar. If I break them, you’ll hear from me!