Originally Posted by
fietsbob
Blue bike has an older bend style bar with a newer type brake lever.
Yes.. the blue bike is a cobble of various parts. The bars are steel Nittos from the early 1980s. 25.4 diameter. With modern Tektro levers.
The bar setup is pretty comfortable though... perhaps due more to the shape of the levers.
Originally Posted by
dnomel
Even those cheap old non aero brakes can be made pretty comfortable for the hoods position. They're too short by themselves so they need to become an extension of the bars. They and/or the bars probably need to be angled up a bit, and it can take some extra tape to get a good transition from bars to brakes. I think turning the brake levers inward also helps in a couple ways. It allows the hands to rest in a more comfortable position and more on the outsides of the hoods, and turning them in also tends to turn them down, smoothing the transition. If they have those additional levers for braking from the tops, I take them off and tape right over the nub they attached to. If they have hoods, I'll tape over the hoods.
Unfortunately, a lot of older bicycles are set up with rather steep ramps and they are very challenging for older hands. I'm guessing they would have come set up that way. But... yes... you can improve the comfort somewhat.