i remember back in the days when you used to could get handlebars that actually had drops that went down.. nowdays all bars are so shallow that the drops are just the same as the tops as the hoods... and i blame old guys with bad backs...
it used to be that you could get a 73 degree stem too... but now you can only get stupid up-stems... because of all the old guys with bad backs...
and bikes these days have taller and taller head tubes because of the old guys with bad backs...
whats the net effect?.. if you are a bike racer who is young and flexible you cant get a bike where you have low drops for being aero.. because bikes dont have real drop bars anymore and they have up-stems and tall head tubes.. i remember before a-head you couldnt catch any self-respecting biker dead with an up-stem on his bike... but now thats all you get...
only the italians still will give you some deep old school bars.. everybody else just has one bar.. and thats for OE becuase people want to be "comfy"...
seriously.. its jacked up that racing bikes these days are set up so that they are comfy at 20mph... when really on a racing bike you should have it set up to be comy at 30mph... which isnt really the same thing...
14 comments:
Ritchey makes a pretty sweet deep-drop bar, 144mm, with a classic (round) bend even! I really like them. They also make a 73 deg down stem. But yeah, I know what you mean about head tubes. My last bike, "custom" has a jacked up high head tube. These integrated headsets don't help.
its just my promblem because i am long waisted... i did my home work a long time ago to track down deep bars and the right stem... but it sux that its just not a normal option since i think the public is left with less options because of the old people with bad backs since they buy most of the high end bikes...
I use the Deda Newton deep drop non-anatomic bars. I could never figure out the appeal of those anatomic bars...
"Old Guys with Bad Backs" are the guys who also pay retail for their bikes and shit. Young, nimble, long-waisted bike racer's generally have some "Pro-deal" or "Bro-deal" thing going on. That doesn't mean it doesn't suck---but after years of working in bike-shop retail (which I don't anymore---now I am working for a Charter Airline company)...the Old Guys with the Bad Backs are the bread and butter of bicycle retail.
Dude,
You are an old guy! And judging by the amount of rocking you do with your hips, while riding...if you don't have a bad back yet, you will soon. But I agree.
yeah.. i always rock in my hips and i always have... no matter what.. so i just dont try to "fix" it because it doesnt seem to have any impact... and i have had a few physiological tests to think scientifically about it too... i think core strength is one of my absolute strengths so i dont think i will ever have back problems...
i remember when a-head first started they kept the length of the head tube the same.. and you actually lost the height... and thats when things went all crazy. they started doing up-stems to gain that height back... and then manufactureres lengthened their head tubes as well...
If you are 6'4" and have a 36" inseam, it is pretty easy to get your seat 6"+ above your bars.
Sincererly,
Tall Guys of America Co-Chair
RB
...The movement in my back is the same way. Since I was a kid every time I've been on a new team, had a coach, or ridden in a new area, someone will say "you're wasting so much energy... you need to stop rocking". It's just the nature of the beast though. No control over it.
Erik - why not ride a set of Moustache Bars to go with the crazy Billy D stash your rocking pal ?
this bar height rant from a guy that has to slide halfway off the front of his saddle to compensate for not being able to reach down into his bars cuz there too low?
dont hate on the masters bar height. have harm fit you. come join us. :p
yeesh.
xo,
Old masters tool..
Fuck tall head tubes...
My Ridley last year fit perfectly, except the bars were still 20mm too high with no spacers and the deepest drop stem the sponsor (bontrager) sold (-7deg)...
That and the fact that the tire clearance was so narrow that the rear tire rubbed with 23's on everytime I got out of the saddle...
and it was flexy as shit...
and it broke...
Other than that it was an awesome bike.
But if you want to give me a $5k bike, I'm not going to complain... at least not while I'm on the team...
I shudder to think how many times peopl on group rides asked me about the bike, cause it looked sweet... and I was like "it kicks ass"
but it was a hunk of shit.
way back when everyone used to ride frames that were 2-3cm too big so it was no problem riding 90 deg stems with big drops and you sort of had the 70's Impala thing going on
now everyone rides bikes that are 2-3 cm too small so you have to have these strange stems
a lot of riders on their bikes look like V-8's in a Vega
you will be happy to know that my new bike will have higher bars... but the same reach.. so i will still be able to go forward on the saddle.. but now because my bars are too far...
it's ok.. i started imitating the pernium crushing style of yours and.. it works (seriously)! sure my garabge burns and i pee flames on mondays... i'm putting a few more watts out and spinning a little smoother and well.. i don't want to have kids anyway.
old tool.
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