Mimic those who are better than you; this is the underlying principle of nearly everything I do in life, whether in my work, in sport, or hobbies. The less I know about something, the more inclined I am towards this, and the more faithfully I mimic. As my skill and knowledge develope, I mime less and reason more, applying my own mistakes as well as those of others to the process we commonly refere to as becoming ‘experienced’. This process continues until I grow into an opinionated sponge; while I continue to mop up any and every piece of information and advice I can get my hands on, I follow the path that is influenced still by advice, but dictated largely by the unique journey that lays behind me and the lessons I’ve learned along it. But still the underlying premise remains: The Pros must be onto something.
So it was that I became obsessed with classic-bend bars; Gilbert, Hushovd, Basso, Potato, Cadelephant, the Brothers Grimpeur – many of my favorite riders cruised into my heart aboard classic-bend bars. Not to mention the likes of Coppi, De Vlaeminck, Merckx, and Maertens – none of whom had a choice but rode them nevertheless. Over time, the swooping curve of a classic, round drop has found its place alongside the Quick Release, Delta Brake, and Record Hub as some of the Most Beautiful Bits of Kit.
I love the way the bars sweep up from the drops and position the hoods at an elegant, upward pitch as the bar continues it’s journey upward to meet the stem. Each classic-bend bar does this, yet the particular sweep of the 3T Rotundo does it more elegantly than any other; the exact radius of its bend and the pitch of its rise is perfection. I have another set of classic 3T bars which predate the Rotundo whose radius of the bend is within a millimeter of that of the Rotundo and yet the aesthetics are not it’s equal. Like all things of sublime beauty, there is something intangible about its curve that sets it appart from others.
But aesthetics are only skin deep, and the real measure of the bar is how comfortable it is. Since getting ahold of my first Rotundo, I’ve moved to classic bend bars on all my machines. I was apprehensive about the move from an ergo bend, which I’d always ridden, to the round bend of the Rotundos. Whereas I had always assumed that a flat section of bar would be more comfortable to grab hold of, this turns out not to be the case. Evidently, my hand is not straight and is in fact quite good at bending and forming to various shapes. Riding in the drops, wrists pointed inwards towards the V-Locus, my fingers grip the curved surface of the drops perfectly. The classic bend also reduces the reach from the drop to the brake lever, which means that long descents with frequent use of the brakes are also much more comfortable.
The positioning of the hoods is a slightly different matter and depends somewhat on the groupo. Bikes Number 1 and 2 both wear 10 speed Campa Record, while Bike Number 3 wears Dura-Ace 7700. The design of the Campa hoods resemble the Power Triangles of Merckx, while the design of the Shimano hoods more closely resemble pegs. The transition from the bar to the hoods on my Campa bikes is smooth like Keith Stone, allowing you to choose multiple positions along where bar meets hood. The design of the Shimano levers, on the other hand, cause them to stand up from the bar more abruptly, meaning that there are fewer comfortable positions available. It’s not really a significant issue, but it does provide less positions which can play a factor on longer rides.
As an aside, the matching 3T ARX stem meets nearly every expectation one can have of a stem; it’s light, stiff and simple. My only complaint is that it is only available in a 6 or 17 degree version; those of us who pay careful attention to how low or how high our bars are find that these two combinations don’t provide enough flexibility to dial in the position; I’m running the bars on Bike Number 3 and am stuck riding my bars about 5mm higher than on my other bikes. To be fair, this is not a shortcoming of the ARX stem in particular; very few manufacturers offer choices outside 6 or 17 degrees. However, for perfect positioning, 3T and others should add an 8 or 10 degree stem to the mix.
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@marko
I understand now, thanks
Phillipe Gilbert's rivals are delighted now that he has been given a new bike for the World championships in Copenhagen. I still wouldn't bet against him though . . .
http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sporzatips/MG_sporzatips_gevuld/1.1109749
@Chris
It actually took quite a bit of innovation and awesomeness to get to the point of making carbon lugs. Look, TVT, and Vitus worked exclusively with Carbon (and kevlar) tubes running into alu lugs. Man, those things were sexy. I think Calfee might have been the first to build working carbon lugs, except Colnago generally gets credit for that innovation. Guessing a bit on the timing of those.
There are few things sexier than carbon tubes running into polished aluminum luggs, as shown here on Greg LeMan's 1990 stunner:
(Click the shot for a full-sizer. Also more detail on his bike over at Bikecult. One of my favorite bikes ever. I bought both a Regal saddle and a pair of Scott Dropins after the 1990 Tour.)
@frank
There are few things sexier than carbon tubes running into polished aluminum Luggs,
But one of them is the Campy Delta brake - I get the brake-caliper-equivalent of carbone every time I see a pair
@frank
My first 'real' race bike was a Trek 2300 lugged carbon bike. I took all the decals off it, and sold all the Ultegra, and installed Campa C-Record with Delta brakes. It was sexy to look at, but as I grew as a racer, it was too soft in the BB. Lost a lot of power climbing. Then as it turned out, carbon does't stand up to side impacts from cars very well (someone in a Honda Civic blew a stoplight and hit me, breaking it in half). Did love the Scott Dropins though. Kinda wish you could still race 'em.
I love the look of my Deltas, just wish they stopped me a bit better. Oh well, they are on my Sunday cruising bike, so I can put up with them & their lack of response. Seem to work better from the drops than the hoods.
Similar to the way in which the "Denim Shit Kit" bibs apparently transcend The Rules based on the V channeled through those that wore them, can a component, such as the Delta, transcend arguably sub-par performance in serving its sole function based on its unequivocal beauty so much so that it would warrant a 'Reverence' article?
Those photos of LeMans bike has me leaning towards a steel steed for tonight's ride over the carbon machine.
Damn, lots of nice stems about there. Love the Deda Zeros. Love my Ritchey WCS in glossy white. The 3T's are sexy as well. I have my eye on the newly introduced Richey Classic bars/stem in silver. Replacing a nice Thomson stem just because it isn't quite sexy enough? Madness.
Hey, an aside. I have a Ritchey WCS alloy post on my winter bike. The damn thing slips every single ride. Have a Thomson post but need more setback than it offers. Contacted Ritchey and they told me to dissemble, clean, lube with carbon paste. Not sure if they caught that it is the alloy post. Should I try carbon paste on metal? I'm up for trying anything. I tighten the hell out of it and as soon as I hit a speed bump or hole, my saddle moves.
@scaler911
And don't forget about ALAN and the old glued and screweds .
@Marko
Hell ya, with a Spinergy on the on the rear!