It starts with a casual observation. You hardly even noticed when it happened, but something shifted in your mind. A bit later the same observation is made again, this time in a slightly different context. It happens again and again and the observations layer atop one another like sheets of tracing paper that, when flattened together, form a complete picture.
And so, having gone almost completely unnoticed, an obsession is born.
My obsession over classic-bend bars has been developing slowly over the last two years or so, fueled by three principle factors (mimicking the pros, form, and function), and buffered by another (investment). The fuel for the fire included the observation that many of my favorite pros ride classic-bend bars, the FSA K-Wing bars I was riding didn’t allow for a very smooth routing of the cables from my Ergo shifters, and I was not satisfied with the quality if my shifting. On the other hand, I liked the scalloped area that the K-Wings offer, and I was reluctant to move away from a bar that I spent quite a bit of money on, especially for a bar that would also represent an investment and which I wasn’t sure I would like any better. However, those same scallops caused sharp bends in the cables which adversely effected shifting performance. Not to mention, I haven’t seen a pro riding K-Wings since, well, ever.
The classic-bend bars have been weighing heavier and heavier on my mind recently; my shifting has never been as good as I think it should be, and I have become increasingly convinced that the problem was the cable routing and that classic-band bars would likely resolve the issue. Also, both Brett’s and Marko’s latest build projects involved classic-band bars, and I love the look they offer. Add to that to the fact that I’ve recently grown especially tired of the angular look of the K-Wings, particularly in marriage with my 17-degree stem, and you’re asking for trouble.
Yesterday, a flurry of text message exchanges with Marko over bars sent my obsession over the precipice. That, combined with a particularly frustrating day at the office turned obsession into action; the Hand of Merckx guided me into a chance meeting wherein I ended up with a like-new 3T Rotundo Pro bar for less than half the retail value. No shipping, no waiting, just good-old-fashioned instant gratification. Impulse buy satisfied and bar experimentation available at a palatable cost, I disappeared into the basement to labor on my machine for a few hours to install the new bars. And, although rainy weather today will keep me from riding Bike Number One, shifting performance on the work stand showed a considerable improvement in the crispness and speed of the shifts, and sitting on the bike in the workshop seems to validate that the classic bend is indeed very comfortable. Both of those test seem pretty conclusive, obviously. And, most importantly, it looks Pro.
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FTW!!!
And since it is bag on our fearless leader day - what the hell are (were) you doing running components from a company called "Full Speed Ahead"? Do you hoist yer main sail and batten down yer hatches too? Oh, and your bar tape looks like it belongs on some 60 year old lady's golf clubs. I believe the only acceptable bar tape is Cinelli cork (or a reasonable facsimile) or Benotto Cello tape if being applied to a retro classic.
Nice bike though, I'm very jealous.
@frank
I love this pic: your bike looks like a forlorn dog looking out the window and not allowed to go out. It may not be a rain bike, but it knows it's on the wrong side of that window...
@Geof, @Steampunk
Geoff is right, that's the best gear to store your bike in, assuming you leave it unridden for more than a few hours at a time, which, of course, we don't.
That said, the argument that there is something inherently hardman about what gear your bike is in when you're not riding it is a load of gerbil bullocks. I used to be a 53x11 storer as well, but the chain stretches the rear mech into an unsightly position. The gear photographed here also allows the cassette to shine maximally, showing off how clean it is, and let's all 53 teeth of the big ring gleam like a wolf baring it's teeth to it's prey.
A Lion doesn't walk around with a gazelle in it's mouth just to prove it has fangs. A Roman kept his sword sheathed until it was necessary to disembowel a Germanian. Cowboys took pride in keeping their Ruger holstered until the last possible second to prove how fast they were.
Hardmen keep their bikes in a low gear until it's time to lay down The V. Any questions?
@Cyclops
Fizik microtex. You can't beat it. Cork tape is for people who ride saddles filled with gel and have springs on them to make them nice and comfy. How can you mention cinelli cork tape and Benotto cello tape in the same sentence? If my LBS could stock that shit, it's all I would ride.
@Steampunk
Isn't that the truth? She and I argue over that all the time. She screams, "I'm carbon! I'm perfect for the rain! I promise! I'll be good!". And when I let her out in the rain, she proves it, too. But I tell her she's got to let the other bikes play every now and again as well. She got to ride all summer while Bee and EV waitied in the basement, and now it's winter and it's their turn.
She understands, but she doesn't like it.
I dunno, I like the bar tape choice myself. Nice job wrapping around the back behind the hoods too. One of my big pet peeves is seeing lazy hipster jerks with bad tape jobs, or worse yet, dangling (!) bar tape, like some sort of handlebar dingle-berry.
Anyone ever drill into a Alu bar for "internal" routing from shift lever to roughly around the stem area? Safe? I've thought about this for a few seconds, once or twice over the years...
@frank
Nicely skirted the "running FSA (For Sucking Ass) parts" though huh?
@Cyclops
Didn't want to touch it, given the assertion that cork was somehow a viable option for bar tape. FSA categorically rules, obviously.
@mcsqueak
Thanks mate. It's one of my better works. Made easy by the classic bend. Handlebar dingleberry. Into the Lexicon with that one, my friend.
@wvcycling
Yeah, sure did, in the nineties. That shit was all the rage, but bars/stems were burlier then. It made for a nice smooth tape job akin to pre-aero brakes. For me, I find the cables under the tape comfortable.
@Cyclops,
Microtex bar tape has very little cushion - far less than Cinelli cork. THAT makes you harder - especially with Alu bars. And it cleans up wonderfully!
And, yes, really nice tape job, frank.