Specialized has cleaned up the aerodynamics of the stem and handlebar, but without going to a non-adjustable one-piece stem/bar like Trek has. After their collaborators at McLaren laughed at a traditional stem clamped onto a handlebar, noting that it looked like plumbing, Specialized engineers made a handlebar clamp with two bolts that go right through the bar. The round clamping area with oval holes front and back allows the bar to rotate as well as to be interchanged to alter width and/or rise. At the same time, it also allows fully internal routing of cables through the bar and stem, and into the frame. The cables are not visible at all until they pop out at the derailleurs and brakes.
The handlebar is thin and aero-shaped on either side of the stem clamp, but since the bar’s top is already perpendicular to the wind, Specialized built in much of the height adjustability of the bike’s front end into the handlebar. It comes with either a flat top or with 25 mm of rise, which raises the brake levers the same as a 6-degree, 110 mm stem would.
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