Never once at a European Six Day race (late 80s, early 90s) did I see a down sloped stem on a pro or amateur Six Day race bike. Campaigning as an amateur at velodromes around Britain and the continent, I can't remember ever seeing a down sloped stem. I knew they were popular in the US track scene and wondered why I didn't see them in Europe. My conclusion was that if they aren't necessary for achieving proper racing position then why bother.
Someone may say that the pro Six Day circuit doesn't count (and I haven't been to any since the early 90s so my upclose knowledge is, let's say, vintage) because lots of road pros are contracted to ride Six Days. But my gear observations are true of the riders who are principly known for track--Urs Freuler, Danny Clark, Tony Doyle... They were still riding old style Record components and chunky record track pedals with clips and double straps, and were all sporting Cinelli plain 1A stems.
The only steel bars you saw at a Six Day were on the bikes of world class match sprinters who'd visit to do a exhibition match sprint for the fans. By the early 90s they the match sprinters had upswept stems on low front frames. This was also true of the amateur leagues at your local velodrome. The only steel bar you'd see would be on an 50s or earlier vintage bike. Any new set up used alloy bars.
The Six Day riders used majority Cinelli mod 66 deep drop bars with the rest being mod 65 Criterium bars. Every bar was fully wrapped. I've mentioned this stuff before onlist so sorry for the repeat, but I once showed up at the track for league night with only the lower half of my mod 65 bar taped, thinking I was showing some vintage T-Town style, and got the piss taken out all evening. Never made that kind of poser mistake again.
On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 11:14 AM, Isaac Schell <ias23philly@yahoo.com> wrote:
> ...Why is that? Is it possible that the more aggressive track equipment was traded out for something slightly more comfortable for track bikes that didnt actually see much track use? Or did people actually prefer this set up during races?
>
The answer is B. Watching the track bike scene in London, for example, where the fixie culture was getting started in the early 90s, the less likely a track bike was to ever be raced on the track, the more likely it was to have a down sloped stem, or a steel bar, or abbreviated bar tape.
Initially this was a dissappointment to me when I raced over there, because I like the sloped stem look, and the other details that scream track bike. But I soon learned that none of those things were necessary or even helpful for racing at the highest level, much less at my hack level.
The new popularity of fixies and the track-bike-look has no doubt made downsloped stems and track specific bars seem necessary for track racing. But they're only _necessary_ for a track-specific look. If someone out there needs a downslope stem to get the right fit, then go for it, but consider a low front frame next time because down slope stems were an answer to the question how to get low enough on tall frames for Kilos and match sprints in top competition, which isn't an issue any more and there are faster alternatives. If someone likes downslope stems for the look, or for the 70s Kenosha vibe, that's great too. It does look good. And then down slope stems are also important for certain restorations. But the main reason we see so much emphasis on them again is not for racing but because of the fixie trend.
And if you need a steel bar because you bent your mod 65 in a sprint by arm strength, then I want to meet you before you get famous, but please be gentle when you shake my hand ;-)
Mitch Harris
Little Rock Canyon, Utah, USA