I had a darlin' of a small Masi Prestige once that had the Cinelli bars drilled for the brake cable. The strong impression was that the bars were original, and the bike had hardly been ridden when it came into my possession. Two peculiar aspects of this bike were that I could never get it to shift as well as I wished, and an uncanny ability to ride over bumps with the most delightful springyness, such that I have never experienced on any other bike. I always wondered what tubes were used on the bike? I rode around looking for bumps, and never had a problem with the bars over flexing that I could notice. Basicly, like anything else that is drilled, there is a sensible way to do it, and a way that is less so. The size of drill bit and hole placement can make an important difference. It might be good to trust your bike shop on the call, as presumably they have a trained eye to determine...unless they are just being over cautious as their rule of thumb. Certainly not an expert here, but it seems that you could give the bars a stress test while the bike is stationary, one that is close to what you would be experiencing when riding, and note any major deflection. How you ride would seem to be a factor as well, do you putter around, or hammer like that stock broker in New York?
Might as well finish the story...I eventually sold the bike to an architect in Japan who wouldn't stop hounding me about it. He has it in an interior design show window now, and it isn't being ridden. I'd like to get it back, the adorable fleur-de-lis sticker on the pearl white frame always remimded me of Susan in my fourth grade class, the one with the red hair clips in her long blond hair...sigh....
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan
> Greetings all:
>
> The Cinelli handlebars of the 3Rensho I own are drilled for the brake
> cables. I asked at the LBS how to run new cables and was told I should
> not and that the drilling had probably weakened the bars.
>
> Comments, please, as to yea or nay?
>
> --
> Lynn Travers
> Hazelwood, MO