Road Cycling - handlebars

Anybody noticed how difficult it´s getting to buy a non anatomic handlebar ? A lot of the pros prefer these but they can be difficult to find , for example : here in Spain they only import the Deda 215 in two style , anatomic and italian bend ( a la Lance ) but it´s made in three bends , anatomic , italian ( shallow ) and belgian ( deep ) as is the 250 as well but only the most expensive is imported .
Ritchey only do a conventional bend on their top ( expensive ) bar .
ITM only seem to do a normal version of the millenium .

Are we being conned by the marketing Dept ?

Are we being conned by the marketing Dept ?

well, yeah. that's there job.

i don't know much about handlebars, but 2 words: ebay. they've got everything and more on ebay these days.
dan

Anybody noticed how difficult it´s getting to buy a non anatomic handlebar ? A lot of the pros prefer these but they can be difficult to find , for example : here in Spain they only import the Deda 215 in two style , anatomic and italian bend ( a la Lance ) but it´s made in three bends , anatomic , italian ( shallow ) and belgian ( deep ) as is the 250 as well but only the most expensive is imported .
Ritchey only do a conventional bend on their top ( expensive ) bar .
ITM only seem to do a normal version of the millenium .

Are we being conned by the marketing Dept ?

EXACTLY!! This has been driving me nuts for a few years. I HATE ERGO BARS. There, I said it. :) Who's anatomy are they supposed to anatomical for? Not mine, matey, that's for sure. I felt like I was gunna brake my wrists every time I got out of the saddle and grabbed the drops. In my area 99% of club hackers have ergos, but many pros used traditional. I'm still use Cinelli 64/40s. It's very hard to find traditional, small drop bars.

I agree, as with almost everything else in the world, it's all about marketing and fashion.

I have a set of small, non-anatomical, TTT drop bars, 38cm I think.

I like ergo bars. My hand cramps up with non-ergos.

i have some old, gold nitto roads...non-anatomical. i think they're 39cm. i don't use them though. one of my previous bikes (actually, my first roadie) came with modolo anatomic bars. after the first day of riding on them i took my tubing cutter out, flipped them upside-down, and proceeded to cut off the drops. my life was much better after that. i still run bullhorns on my road bike as they make MUCH more sense to me. i'm not racing, why do i need drops? for me drop bars are unsafe in the respect that i can't brake effectively from the hoods because i have smaller hands, and braking in the drops felt unstable. so now i have my STIs mounted on my bullhorns and everything is right there at my fingertips if i need it.

I'm the same - I tried 'anatomic' bars.....once. Now I use Deda 215 deep drops. Bars are one of those things, ya know? There's hundreds of them, they're all slightly different. It'd be nice if you could try out heaps before you buy, but thats a bit unrealistic.

El Ingles, I'm sure if you shop around on the net, you'll be able to find whatever bars you need. Failing that, I can get quite a few 'traditional bars' - Deda Elementis are a good choice, Salsa makes two models, and there's the ITM Millenium Strada.

I agree - marketing does play it's part - but shop around. You're sure to find something.

They are out there. Simply ask your local shop to order you some or any good small mail order company can do as well.

I'm the same - I tried 'anatomic' bars.....once. Now I use Deda 215 deep drops. Bars are one of those things, ya know? There's hundreds of them, they're all slightly different. It'd be nice if you could try out heaps before you buy, but thats a bit unrealistic.

El Ingles, I'm sure if you shop around on the net, you'll be able to find whatever bars you need. Failing that, I can get quite a few 'traditional bars' - Deda Elementis are a good choice, Salsa makes two models, and there's the ITM Millenium Strada.

I agree - marketing does play it's part - but shop around. You're sure to find something.


Actually I´ve got a set of 215 ´s on my bike now , I was just curious if everybody else was haveing the same problem bucking the fashion - it will soon be impossible to by any bars that are not carbon and 2 or 3 times as expensive . We don´t all need superlight , fragile and expensive bars so can´t the importers think of our needs ocasionally ?

Actually I´ve got a set of 215 ´s on my bike now , I was just curious if everybody else was haveing the same problem bucking the fashion - it will soon be impossible to by any bars that are not carbon and 2 or 3 times as expensive . We don´t all need superlight , fragile and expensive bars so can´t the importers think of our needs ocasionally ?

My two favorite bars

Ritchey WCS Classic - can be had for 40 bucks if you shop around
Titec Malone - can be had for 13 bucks if you know where to get them

Both non-ergo and are identical in shape. I've tried a number of ergo bars but always go back.