Perhaps you didn't see any down slope stems at six days because they are longer races and you are on the track for longer periods of time. The regular stems and bars make for a more comfortable riding position. The bars beeing taped all the way up up might be that when a rider hand slings his partner into the race he quite often would have his hand up near the stem for better balance. Riders also might want to ride a few laps with thier hands on the tops of the bars for a change of position. The half bar tape thing was very popular at T-Town, late 70's early 80's, but mostly with match sprinters, who also used sloping stems. Down and dirty for three laps, no need to change the placement of your hands..Showing more shiny chrome was the in thing.....
Ed Busch
Vonore Tennessee, USA
> 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