Charles Andrews sent this privately, but agreed that it may be of
interest to CR listmembers...
>Old bikes (1935-1960), in my experience, have
>quite long top-tubes for their size--Bianchis
>in particular are notorious for this..but I'm sure
>this is not uniform. I have a couple of Glorias
>from the 1930s that have rather short top-tubes,
>more like a modern bike, even.
>
>The interview with Colnago in Cycling News
>suggests that Ernesto helped start the trend
>toward shorter frames.. Ernesto claims that
>riders came to him for fittings, he made
>them much shorter frames than they had
>before, and these riders (some famous names
>too), said the new frames were more comfortable...
>
>This I can believe...I've noticed that when I ride a
>frame that's big for me in the style of the 20s, for
>instance, even when set up relatively accurately for
>me, I have problems with my hips and back.
>
>A bike that fits right (smaller), does not cause these
>problems, and I usually have more power up hills and
>in sprints with the bars lower (more big-muscle power
>available from bending over more)...this is all
>standard stuff I know.
>
>Certain Merckx benefited from Colnago's ideas...I'm quite
>sure the high saddle and low bars Merckx used routinely
>was one reason he was so hard to beat...and notice how
>all the other riders started copying his set-up.
>
>Charles
Hi Charles,
Interesting points. However, I would think Merckx could lover his handlebars because he was so strong, not the other way around!
If you pedal very hard, this tends to lift up your body, to the point where your upper body does not rest on the handlebars, but you actually are holding on to the handlebars to prevent your upper body from going up further. In that case, you can (and probably should) use low and relatively close bars, because that is more comfortable (your arms are in the direction of the force vector). On the other hand, if your pedaling forces are less, and your weight rests on the bars, it is desirable to have them further forward and higher, so that your back muscles take over more of the work of holding your upper body. (Back muscles are strong, but lazy.)
I once found out the hard way on a very slow 20 mile ride with
friends. I was on my racing bike, set up in 1980s fashion with low
bars, etc. Halfway through the ride, my shoulders, wrists, behind,
everything hurt, and the return trip was agony. At the same time and
on the same bike, a 90-mile race left me exhausted, but otherwise
fine. Obviously the leg forces were missing during the slow ride.
--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/