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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View Comments
@Riddle of Steel
Easy there fella.
To save you from a bollocking, permit me to explain;
Frank ain't no hipster, and you'll find that hipster's a dirty word in these parts.
I suspect what he is saying is that he has found that there is something inherently correct about 'classic bend' bars as opposed to so called anatomic bend bars for the reasons he has clearly delineated in his article. That's his opinion, and I'm inclined to agree.
The distinction of a hipster from a Velominatus is that the hipster adopts the simulacra (just for you Dr C) of cool for appearance sake whilst the Velominatus assesses componentry with clear understanding both of their function AND aesthetic qualities.
@huffalotpuffalot
No.
Just no.
@sthilzy 65-44s?
@Riddle of Steel
If you scanned frank's article, it may seem like that, sure. But if you read it, you'd see he said it looks great and it works for him, comfort-wise.
He's using "the bar that fits [him] best, and that [he] is most comfortable with... trad." He isn't using "a bar that negatively affects [his] control, or causes [him] [any] discomfort."
Yeh?
@frank
Frank, if you look at a Ridley Noah, it will have very similar cut outs on the fork for the very reason that it reduces drag and thus saves effort. So it hasn't fallen by the wayside.
@Xponti
Correct.
I recall reading somewhere that Ridley had bought the intellectual property from Oval Concepts and taken it into the development of their bikes. I think it was in relation to the development of Cuddles TT bike when he was still with Lotto.
I think that's why you don't see it as an aftermarket fork any longer.
"the Quick Release, Delta Brake, and Record Hub as some of the Most Beautiful Bits of Kit." Fuck, fuckedy, fuck fuck. I had all that shit in pairs. I loved those hubs and delta brakes though. Simply works of art. To look at them, to spin the rear wheel off the bike in your hands. Good stuff right there. Sold the Campa kit after the DA 9 speed movement, and only have one lonely Record QR to show for it. Probably got $20 a piece average when I 'unloaded' it. Fuck.
@frank: the photo of 'the power triangles of Merckx' is I'm assuming from your garage (er, shop). The poster to the right in the background appears to have a climber (I think it's either Cedar Wright or Dean Potter, doesn't look like Tommy C). You get out on the stone dude? For all of ya that just pedal, and I know this is a cycling only site, putting your hand on the rock 120M off the deck, is pretty cool.
@scaler911
I hear ya brother.
I wince at all of the good stuff I practically gave away in my first retirement.
I had one of these with Super Record and Mavic Bullhorns that I practically gave to the local bike shop after I moved overseas in the early '90's.
(note, not my frame, but the paint was exactly the same. For the record, I would never have gone with that stem)
The one that hurts most though was my sweet pair of Mavic GL330 tubs on Super Record hubs. Those were so light and fast. I sold them for $120 in 1991. Who knew that I'd want them back 20 years later.
@mouse
Look at that thing, all bendy and grunge. Frame builders starting to experiment with bending metal more. It's why we have sexy carbon now, but the steel is still my favorite. It's not finding the perfect engineering and injecting space age resins and carbon (I do have a bike like that and it's real nice), it's old school smithing, and reverent.
@Steampunk
White, black and now even red, but always with flashy details.
No plain colors there...