Hi Matthew
I have wondered about all 3 questions you pose myself. I have also heard these same explanations of the Cinelli 'Priest' origin. It would
be great to finally confirm the rumors.
I had a pair of these bars set up with a Campy Super Record lever and
brake. I recall upon setup that the lever was much more comfortable with the bars setup with a downward sweep - your results may vary.
Here are a few facts I can confirm about these bars, from my experience:
There are 3 types that have existed to my knowledge.
1. The first version has the standard 'new' CINELLI logotype repeated
on each side of the clamp area. The bars sweep DOWN when the logos read correct-side-up. BEWARE: The knurled clamp area sleeve is prone to slip, at least when using a Cinelli 1R - YES, the slip happens between the sleeve and the bar, not the stem and the sleeve. I think the 1R bends the sleeve into an oval and seperates it from the bar. This is the type pictured on my Merckx Pista, here:
http://sports.webshots.com/
2. The second version is the same as the first but the bars sweep UP when the logos read correct-side-up. The bar slip problem still exists
in this model from my experience.
3. The third version has the same bend but the logos are different. On
this model, the Cinelli 'flying C' logo appears on each side of the clamp area, no CINELLI name in text. I believe this model is off topic
and was made during the mountain bike boom but I cannot confirm this.
It appears some considerations to fix the slipping problem have also been made as there is a slight bulge under the knurled clamp area. I cannot confirm this though because I have never used them on a bike.
I would suggest using a 1A stem no matter which version of the bar you
have. This is based on the clamping pressure the 1A utilizes, AND because it will make installing/uninstalling easier. The 1R has always
been difficult to use with these bars because of the width of the clamp area of the stem and the curve of the bar.
Anyone else? Mark Buswell San Francisco, CA USA
On Mar 26, 2009, at 8:51 PM, devotion finesse wrote:
>
> I am in the process of equipping an on-topic bike with some Cinelli
> "townie
> " style bars commonly referred to as "priest" bars. I have a number
> of que
> stions about them:(1) When were these bars produced by Cinelli?(2)
> Anybody
> know of a catalogue name for them? Or is "priest" correct?(3) I
> have heard
> that these bars were designed/developed by Cinelli to accompany the
> SECOND
> (not the gold) Colnago that was presented to Pope John Paul, after
> he re
> quested more of a "town bike". Any truth to this tale?Lastly...(4)
> Can any
> one suggest an 'on-topic' brake lever solution for use with these
> bars? Sh
> ould I simply use Campy road levers but turned at a 90 degree
> angle? Cross
> levers? Inverse levers? If anybody has any pictures of bikes with
> any suc
> h configuration, I'd LOVE to see 'em!Thanks,Matthew BowneBrooklyn, Ne
> w York
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