As described in Bar-o-Phelia, my bar obsession festered and grew over a period of a few years, and then was spurred into action by a combination of me straight-lining it right past the zone psychologists refer to as “self-control”, and not having any adult supervisors present who would normally have sounded the “voice of reason”. (My Velomihottie was Do-Gooding in Africa for her Do-Good job which serves to, among other things, morally equalize my profession.) In a untempered flurry, my expensive carbon anatomic bars were swapped for alloy, traditional bend bars.
Recent weather patterns have kept Bike Number One off the roads, but this day saw the heavens open up to reveal the Glorious Orb of Cancer-Inducing Radiation (the Sun). While the rest of Seattle was bewildered by this unexpected phenomenon and discussed in small groups as to what that “blinding light” was and whether it was “safe”, I took the opportunity by the Big Ring and jumped on the bike to give my new bars a go.
First impressions being what they are, I have to say my immediate reaction is that alloy bars give a surprisingly steel-like feel to the ride. Not only are they stiffer and generally more comfortable, they also have great road feel and breathe some life into the ride. Also, the round tops are magnificent; endless options for where to position your hands, and at what angle. Not only that, but I feel I can grip and pull on the bars much more effectively with the round bars than I can with the flat sections of the K-Wings. The round tops also do a number for the phantom aero bar position, which is one of my favorites – both because it looks cool when the Pros do it and because it seems to be fast as fuck. The round tops make this much easier; control is improved to the point where you can even ride this way over uneven road surfaces without riding in an unpredictable pattern that doesn’t work out well either for you nor any nearby traffic. (Side observation: this position gets unstable going over bumps – there’s a reason the Pros don’t use this position on the Pavé. Keep that little jem in mind.)
The bend of the drops set the hoods angled back just a bit and the curve of the bar meets them in just the right way so I can comfortably ride anywhere from the very center of the bar (at the stem) all the way down to the far end of the hoods. Climbing and power-riding Belgian Style is simply awesome. Tons of leverage, and great rouling positions. This is a huge improvement over the K-Wings, in my esteemed opinion.
The story gets less peaches and creme in the drops. You have much better access to the breaks from the drops, although I have to tweak my thumb up a bit more to pop the Go-Button on my Ergo levers. In that most forward position in the drops, the classic bend is definitely less comfortable than an anatomic bend. That said, the position just back from there, the in tail end of the drop just (25% on the drop, 75% on the straights) is simply awesome. That means long descents might prove a bit more uncomfortable (what long descent isn’t already uncomfortable) than an anatomic bend, but power riding in the drops is way mo’ bettah and you can’t put a price on looking like a Pro as you glide along in the drops, all Euro-style on your classic bends.
Assuming a 40km ride on moderate terrain provides conclusive results as to the performance of a bar, I’m convinced I’ll never switch back to an anatomic bend, at least not until the next bout of bar-o-phelia sets in. The question remains as to whether I might upgrade this bar to a carbon bar, but for the moment I’m really liking the lively feel of the alloy bar. I’ll wait and see how that shakes out on the first long ride next season.
Cheers.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Ron
This hair has been split here in the past, a while back. It's cool you bring it up again as my thoughts on the subject have evolved, as has Fizik's finishing tape.
The first time I wrapped my bars with fizik tape and every other time before I wrapped bars with something else, it seemed to me the finishing tape was stiff, too narrow, and even brittle. I threw the shit out and used 3M electrician's tape. That's when the debate started. Frank's position was that finishing tape must always be used (as were other Velominati) mine was the stuff was shit.
Enter round, classic drop bars and what I believe to be a revamped finishing tape from Fizik. Upon finishing Il Gruppo Progetto the finishing tape was looking me in the eye saying; "Use me Marko, I promise, I'm different" in addition, the Campione del Mundos with all their roundness offered a less technical platform to give it a try. I couldn't be happier. The "new" tape is more supple and actually feels a lot like 3M tape as it slightly stretches and conforms to the bar tape. I'm converted.
Now that said, I'll admit there is one, ONE, wrap of black 3M tape underneath for insurance. And, I would only use the branded finished tape with unbranded (not labeled) microtex as all the little fiziks going from a spiral to parallel wrap are way too busy.
This probably doesn't even come close to answering your question.
@Ron
Doooooood, get theeee to yon local Specialized shop. Specialized classic white(or other colors) tape is cushy, dot-o-rific and stays nice and clean. Please see my rant in tape-o-philia post.
That's why they call it "finishing tape". I always do an underlayer with electrical tape, so I can take my time and get the logos lined up, loose ends underneath, no wrinkles with the Fizik finish tape. Finishing tape is for bling, electrical tape is for function.
Also, Fizik sells packs of bar tape that include gel pads you can place under the tape when wrapping, but I think you automatically forfeit any future "hardman" status with that.
@Gianni
You should avoid the white Roubaix tape though. Mine was dirty within seconds of my first ride. It feels nice, but mine is certainly gray now.
@Collin
Weird...the S-Wrap Classic of mine is still white and nice and I really don't wash it. It just does not get dirty. Granted I don't live in the Northwest and I don't have to ride in crap weather much either. But this tape is most excellent, it wears well and has some cushion.
@Gianni
I'll have to try that out when this tape wears out. The Roubaix tape has a suede-like texture, which just absorbs anything that touches it.
@Ron, @Marko, @sgt
No Rule on this, but absolutely, a Velominatus takes the utmost care in wrapping their bars. This should be done carefully, and to the soundtrack of La Tete en Course.
I use a contrasting color of 3M electrical tape to hold the tape in place, carefully and cleanly wrapped around and over the outside edge of the tape, so as to eliminate the visibility of the "cut" edge of the tape. The tape is to be cut at a diagnal such that the last wrap of the bars is parallel to the stem. A skilled Velominatus can even do this on an anatomic bar such as the K-Wing.
The contrasting strip of tape, of course should match some other bit of the bike, and then the finishing tape must be wrapped over that, leaving a bit exposed and being wrapped cleanly and without any visible overlap. Demonstrated below:
I turned wrenches in one of my LBSs for a couple years. I was the bar wrapper on the high end bikes, no one had the attention to detail I had (they call it OCD now). I refused to do it on lower end bikes because it took me too long and gave me fits and cost the shop in labor money.
There is a saying I use when it comes to things like wrapping bars. "Sometimes a job is due, it may not be done but it is due".
meh, those are the best bars on the market. Also you can get a round drops version if you wish