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
@sthilzy
Ah, Criteriums. Loved em.
Posted it before, but here it was *snif*
The best thing was the bend between the top curve of the drop where it met the top of the hood. Perfect spot for the heel of the palm to rest.
@mouse
There's something decidedly pro about V-meter wire evenly wrapped around a front brake cable. Tommy V was sporting the look during this years tdf.
@Steampunk
This is a central concept in my life, I call it "Establishing a Need". For example, I bought a DVD of The Matrix before I owned a DVD Player. But it's a shame to let that $15 go to waste, so that established a need for a DVD player. It's beautiful.
@Chris
I too have the Easton ergo-shaped bars that came with Bike #1 when I got it. They lasted all of about 3 rides before I swapped out the FSA Wing Pro Compacts from Bike #2. The ergo shape was just completely uncomfortable and effectively made be a Belgian Style specialist. I prefer the look of the classic bend bar, but find the compact drop fit more seamlessly with my distinct lack of flexibility.
@Nof Landrien
There's a lot of distortion in the shot because of the fish-eye lens on my iPhone, in addition to the phone not having been held level. Here's a picture of the bike as ridden (also with the 10° stem, having abandoned the 17° stem in the photo). It was chosen purely to show the shape of the Ergos versus the STI's.
Indeed, it's L'Equipe's cover story from his La Chevauchée Fantastique on Stage 17. Despite the trouble, that remains one of my favorite days of bike racing. We were there; had just come back from riding in the Alpes the day before, so hadn't heard that he'd lost the lead. As the stage unfolded we slowly deciphered what had happend and what was going on...it was magical.
@scaler911
Never very seriously, but yeah. My brother is a very serious climber and as such I've been involved in it off and on; I've done it enough to have climbing shoes, harness, chalkbag, etc, but I suck completely. Last time I climbed, it was bouldering at The Circuit in Portland.
@VeloVita
You were supposed to say something along the lines of that's an awesome bar, you'll love it.
I suppose I hadn't really appreciated the difference between compact bars and ergo bars in that the ergo bars straighten out completely in the middle of the hooks. I spend most of my time in the drops in that area so it might work for me. It's just annoying that if I'm wrong I'll be wasting a roll or two of tape.
I was going to go for new cables anyway, the cut of the current set is all wrong, the barrel adjusters rub against the stem and I'd quite like to get some of the Gore kit to keep it crisp over the winter.
@fermapiedi
Sounds like a great project; keep us updated!
@mouse
Ah, the PDM Concorde. Loves me that bike. Not sure what you're doing with the diacompe levers on there, though.
@Chris
Just as a point of clarification; a V-Meter is actually the absence of a (working) computer. The only number a V-Meter reports on is the V; wether through a V taped over the screen on a computer, or - the preferred way - directly via the V that flows through us like a Jedi does the Force.
@frank
Bollocks. How remiss of me. This evening I was planning on building my bike back up after my holiday. I'll leave the little ring off the front and file the teeth off all but the 11t cog before heading out for some hill reps.
@all
Speaking of bars, computers and other shiny things. I've just issued the birthday wish list to Mrs Chris. Rollers, Jawbones, a proper bike fitting session and, ahem, a Garmin 500 (data logger thing to be kept in my pocket at all times). Wish me luck!
@all
Here's a photo that demonstrates how different curves can be more beautiful than others. Hinault's bars are nearly perfect, while LeMond's are too swooping.
@perplex
Seriously. Atrocious to say the least. He should consider slapping on some Adilettes.