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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@Steampunk
Just to be complete, here the link:
http://www.dedaelementi.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=159&lang=en
I'm just building up a new frame, which is being made for me in Wales by a little outfit called Paulus Quiros. This I know will be my last hand built, made to measure frame, so it's bringing in years of being inspired by little touches on frames I admired, including beautifully drilled lugs, internal cables etc. With luck, it will eventually have a '70's style drilled chainring to complete the look, though it will be a modern Campag ring - I'm not that misty eyed!
Anyway, back to the handlebar point of the article. I'd already decided it would have a quill stem, and got hold of a nice Nitto Pearl 11 (worth checking out if your restoring something a bit old - close enough to a Cinelli 1a in looks), and then found a pair of NOS Cinelli 65-42's in a shop in London - my all-time favourite bar!
Imagine my disappointment when I found that there is no way on Gods earth to make 9 speed carbon Ergo levers fit and look right, so sadly they've been replaced by a pair of 64-42's, though in deference to the overall look I'm after, they will be covered with Benotto Blue angel tape.
PQ's frames can be checked out at http://www.paulusquiros.co.uk Mine might be up in the next few weeks.
@frank
Did Boardman not lose his grip on the yellow jersey during the team time trial in the '94 tour as a result of a loose adjustable stem? I think this is one area where we should mimic the pros and steer well clear!
@Marko
My timing, as usual, is spot on! I've just picked up a nice set of Easton EC70 bars of a distinctly ergo shape! Sounds like a good reason to get a second (road) bike to carry out some comparative testing!
Frank - your campag shifters are too far back on those bars. The levers should be angled (determined by imaginary line drawn from tip of lever just touching arc of bulge in middle of lever) somehwere between perpendicular to the earths surface (min) and head tube angle (max).
Nice negative rise on the stem. It appears you have a piece of newspaper bearing a photo of Landis on your wall.
Currently riding RO
@Nof Landrien
That's a classic lever position for someone whose 'bars are really a bit too low...I should know, I've done the same thing for exactly that reason and it feels perfect.
Ahem, sorry. To continue.
Currently on Rotundos (SRAM), Deda Zeros (SRAM) and Newtons (pre-2007 Campag) on the commuter. With the Zeros (and the Newtons), the tops run straight into the hoods, so there's no difference in hand height when you ride on the hoods or the tops. Because on round bends you tend to position your shifters at somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00 o'clock on the bend (unless you are Frank), the tops are at a different height to the hoods (e.g., the Gypsy RogerV or his Merckxness, EduardoM). This works well on some bikes and for some people.
I find the Newton's flat section in the drops is too short. You are either on the flat bit at the very end of the drops or on the straight section just below the shifters, its hard to be anywhere in between. The Rotundos give you lots of choice about just where to put your hands. The Zeros are kind of in between.
The ugliest bars have to be those Ricthey anatomics with the "pistol grip" in the hooks.
@Oli
Cinelli 65's = Criterium - the bars where track meets road!
Try this site for shape comparisons
http://ruedatropical.com/2009/03/road-drop-bar-geometry/
Note the author ...
"I've omitted anatomic bars as I've never found one that fits my anatomy, so apologies to fans of anatomic bars."
Also note the levers used!
To correct myself Boardman didn't attribute the loose stem to the result that day.
'I am very disappointed to lose my yellow jersey, but I turned myself inside out,' he said. 'I gave 100 per cent. No one could have asked for more.
'A lot of what happened had to do with the amount of work we did defending the jersey on Monday, and towards the end those little hills were a real problem. I was doing long turns as pace-maker just to give my team as much rest as possible. I wanted to keep them together.'
Footage of Boardman tightening his stem while time trialling and getting a helping push from a team-mate (LeMond?).
What on earth is going on with the tracksuit and sandals...