If you didn’t know, I love a bit of Italian Deda Elementi when it comes to my handlebar and stem combos on my bikes. Had it for years. The 75mm reach and 125mm drop on their RHM (Rapid Hand Movement) drop bars just feels great to me so I have it on all my bikes if I can.
However, I’ve never got round to swapping out the stock Selcof bars and stem on my Planet-X road bike so I’ve been on the look out for some more Deda recently.
Deda bars and stems haven’t changed much over the years. Before you get to the fancy carbon aero road bars they generally fit into 1 of 3 versions. Deda Zero1, Zero2 and Zero100. The primary difference being weight and price point. Zero 100 being the lightest and most expensive. They haven’t changed much in spec either because they are such a simple product. Different versions or model years have slightly different logos. Red and White mainly but they have dabbled with Blue and White and offer a BOB (Black on Black) version too which is very dark theme.
Now I’ve always normally plummed for Deda Zero1, it does enough for me but I found a brand new set of Zero100 bars on eBay recently. A quick google and they’re retailing for between £60 and £80 in the UK. I put in a cheeky offer which was accepted and got them for £14.16 delivered. The logo looks a few years old but 100% brand new and a bargain.
My next challenge was to find a matching stem. After extensively searching eBay where sellers were wanting £30-£40 for a used, scratched one with half the logo missing and brand new ones being super expensive, I did find one at bikeloungeonline.com
Initially I thought it was too good to be true. Maybe a scam site so I did some checking. No address on the site which is usually a red flag but there was a telephone number. So I googled that and it turned out to be the same number as the UK Giordana clothing website. It had a very similar look and feel and there was a UK address on that site too so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went for it.
Today I received an email from John, the proprietor, apologising because the pic was a different model year to what he had but as it turns out, it was fine
So after a bit of patience, a bit of luck and a bit of due diligence I’ve bagged a bargain
Adios