[CR]Handlebars Revisited

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli:Laser)

From: <"kohl57@starpower.net">
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 12:24:16 -0500
Subject: [CR]Handlebars Revisited

Since it’s easier to talk about handlebars that it is apparently for me to get the right ones for my Competition GS....

Has anyone seen a reasonably comprehensive (and preferably illustrated) catalogue of the myriad handlebar bends from the classic era? I have a 1949 Phillips fitments catalogue and am amazed at the sheer number and variety, many of which I’ve never seen and reckon are long extinct. Then there are cryptic references to a Reg Harris bend in late 50s Raleigh catalogues.. what pray tell did that look like? And I suspect it was dropped when Raleigh canned poor Reg so perhaps rare!

Handlebar use seems to have changed a lot. I ride my classic British club bikes using the original narrow (15-16 inch wide, 5-6 inch drop) Maes bend bars which, of course, have none of that continental handlebar tape but grips on the drop only. Add the fact that the early brake calipers were not hooded and thus one rides these only on the "drop" which seems to have been the custom then. Now, everyone seems to ride with their hands either atop the bars (which I personally find impossible with narrow bars) or with the palm around the brake hoods. All of which somehow defeats the effectiveness of dropped bars. I can ride 70 miles on a Maes bend in the dropped position, but that’s just me. Or me conforming to the machine! Handlebars also seem to have gotten much wider post 1970s. Of course personal preference and comfort dictates much of this but there do seem to be definite trends at work.

Peter Kohler Washington DC USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .