I haven't been able to write my Friday night reflections for a couple of weeks due to flu which worked its way through all in our house.
Tonight, however, I wanted to reflect on the effects that different handlebars may have not only on one's riding style but also one's general disposition. I had never thought about such issues until this past summer when, for the firts time, I rode a set of 1940s Marsh bars.
For most of my cycling life I have ridden Cinelli alloy-bars - be they Tour de France or Giro d'Italia bars (I couldn't honestly tell you the difference between the two as I have never really taken the time to notice). In my adult life, I have always used 42cm bars. I rarely ever ride the drops, preferring to rest on the brake hoods or bar tops. Maybe this reflects laziness on my part, but also it may be simply a reflection of a comfort level developed over three decades of my own manner of riding. I never felt completely comfortable down in the drops and hammering. I do use them on occasion, but still prefer to hook on the brake hoods and, with bent elbows, drop down half way, so to speak.
Even with a pair of off-topic 3TTT ergo-bars on my all-weather "frankenbike" I wasn't really riding anything that much different. And yet, in early August 2008, when I rolled the Carpenter out onto the road for the first time I found myself not only transported back in time, but also introduced to a new manner of riding - riding the Marsh bars!
As I wobbled up the driveway hands gripping what seemed ridiculously narrow chromed-steel bars, at least with my hands in the customary position on the brake hoods, I wondered whether I had made a wrong choice. That first ride felt very twitchy, cramped and, at times, on the edge of comfort and safety. After a late summer and autumn of riding the Marsh bars, however, I came to love their quirkiness and found them remarkably comfortable. And yes, I found that I loved riding the shallow drops - all of a sudden my range of hand positions dramatically increased (although riding on the very narrow tops of the bars is still a bit too much of a challenge). Yes, the steel bars seem more harsh than alloy in terms of feel and the diameter is less than I have been used to, but what a blast. I now have a burning desire to try other styles of bars from that that glorious period of variety and innovation, the 1930s-50s.
When one day I had to ride the "frankenbike" with its broad ergo-bars I felt like I was driving a bus, and this past winter, I loathed the straight bars on my winter MTB - despite having upturned bar end extensions. A short commute to work left me longing for fine weather and the opportunity to ride a bike with drops. Especially that late-1940s bike with its Marsh bars.
Paul Williams, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Paul B. Williams, BAH (Laurier), MPhil (Cardiff, Wales), PhD (Queen's) Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, castell5@sympatico.ca paul_williams@carleton.ca