Mountain Bike Rider — March 2018

mbr

ratings

explained

The scores

on the doors

MARCH 2018 mbr 73

1-4 5-6

Something’s wrong. It’s rare, but sometimes

a product will have a design fl aw or some

other weakness that means we can’t

recommend it. Steer clear.

OK — one or two

faults but it has

potential.

7

Good —

worth

considering.

8

Very

good

— for the

money,

we’d buy it.

10

Simply

the best

— we couldn’t

fault it.

9

Excellent

— a slight

mod or two

and it might

be perfect.

FUNN KINGPIN HANDLEBAR

£56

SPECIFICATION Weight: 282g • Width: 785mm, upsweep: 5.5°, backsweep: 8° • Colours: red, orange, blue, grey, black, green • Contact: funnmtb.com

FUNN STRIPPA EVO STEM

£51.99

SPECIFICATION Weight: 144g • Length: 35mm (tested) and 45mm (35mm clamp only) Clamp: 31.8, 35mm (31.8mm tested) Stack height: 40mm

Colours: black, orange, blue, red • Contact: funnmtb.com

The extra width options and perfect stiffness-to-

fl ex ratio make the Funn Kingpin a good choice for

any long-travel machine.

Funn has pushed the measurements a little

compared to most other brands. Not content with

sticking to the ‘normal’ 780 or 800mm, Funn goes

beyond with 785 and 810mm options; time to start

breathing in even more on tight trails. There’s a

wide range of rise options available, as well

as 31.8 and 35mm bar diameters. The

other fi gures are pretty similar

to the popular Renthal

Fatbar, with just the

backsweep pushed out

a smidge to 8°.

As the Kingpin is

aimed at providing

DH-level performance

and reliability, Funn

has used a pretty hefty aluminium construction.

Weighing in at 282g in the narrower 785mm x

31.8mm combo, it’s not the lightest option, but

still competitive. Better still, the Kingpin is a bit

cheaper than many of its rivals, so that weight

discrepancy can easily be overlooked.

Clamp it on the bike and the

shape feels spot-on, and it’s

defi nitely not a harsh bar in

terms of ride quality.

James

Bracey

CNC-machined to within an inch of its life from

solid 6061 billet aluminium, the Funn Strippa

Evo stem is an angular-looking beast, with lots

of sharp lines. Mercifully, Funn has rounded off

any of the edges you might conceivably catch

with your knees.

The machining is carried over to the face

plate, which is secured by four M4 stainless

steel bolts, all pre-installed with a little threadlock

to help with security. Stiffness from the 35mm

length version is excellent, as we’d expect from

such a stubby model. Stack height is acceptable

at 40mm, but being zero rise means that

there’s no option to change your bar height by

fl ipping it upside down. In addition to the 35mm

length Funn also make a longer

45mm version for 31.8mm

diameter bars, but if you

run 35mm diameter bars

there’s only one option; the

45mm length.

James Bracey