New aerobars….

… and road bar/stem combos from 3T

Legendary handlebar and stem manufacturer 3T has separated from former parent company Gruppo, which still has Cinelli and Columbus Tubing, and is now a separate concern under new ownership and management.

The current product range is to be discontinued, although stock will still be supplied by Gruppo until March 2008. It will be replaced by an entirely new range, initially concentrating on handlebars and stems, designed in Madone, Italy and manufactured by high-end Asian factories.

In order to create the next generation of 3T products, the company has built a new engineering team from scratch, led by Briton Richard McAinsh, who was formerly Head of Composite Design and Development – Engines at Ferrari. McAinsh is confident that he can bring new insights and techniques developed in the world of Formula One to lightweight cycle manufacture, and will be employing sophisticated computer programs including CATIA V5 and SolidWorks CAD and FiberSIM composites layup simulation.

The new 3T lineup will start with a three-tier range of bars and stems labelled LTD, Team and Pro in descending order of price and performance. They will be available from January 2008.