Is this handle bar comfortable?
 

I got a late '80s bike and right now it has this handle bar. It sort of u-shaped compared to what I usually ride. My question is would this be comfortable on a longish ride (~2 hours or so)? Its a Specialized II (?) 40cm width. Is it a collectible or junk $$$ wise? Should I look for something else? Bike its being refurbished now so I can't ride it yet.

"Criterium bend" bars...... not really good if you ride the tops often.....
I have them on a couple of bikes but I don't have a problem riding drops for extended times.....

Is that a Kenwood KT-5500 tuner?

It's not one I'd pick. I enjoy having long straight ramps behind the hoods to place my hands when riding more upright. So Nitto B115s are where it's at for me. :)

Yes- looks like the Cinelli criterium bend -- also kind of popular on old school track machines as a sprint bar ---- usually with a long reach and a deep drop

If I could make a suggestion, I would say Soma's Highway One bar is a beautiful piece of kit in the short and shallow mold that is en vogue today, while still looking very traditional

Mine in a 46c --- unless you told me otherwise, i'd swear they were made under contract by Nitto

https://i.imgur.com/v6ILmLf.jpg

I have a pair of Cinelli Criterium bars, which I really like. The immediate bend right after the brake levers allows the hands to be angled as if they were on STIs/Ergos, instead of the wrist-kicked-out hand position of traditional drop bars.

As for riding-on-the-tops comfort....ehhhh, not so much? Not super fun on the wrists unless you're right by the stem clamp where it's the flattest. The trade-off is as mentioned, riding on the hoods (of decent late-'80s or newer brake levers) being quite nice. Riding in the drops is the same as anything else vintage.

Make sure the drop, if it matters, isn't more than less aggressive bars. My Criteriums put my hands 0.5-0.75" lower than they'd normally be, compared to something like Cinelli 64s (Giro D'Italia). It's why I went to the 64s on my 62cm Paramount. I normally ride 63.5cm frames and that missing 1.5cm in height is noticeable for me.

I'd keep the bars. They have their merits and are pretty cool/rare, at least in road circles (not track).

..

I've got those bars on my Merckx Corsa Extra. I've yet to ride that bike more than 20 miles at a stretch, but for rides of that length or longer, I'm mostly on the drops. So I wouldn't take much notice that tops feel weird. They certainly do look weird.
_

Focus, man. Focus.

There are bars with a less radical bend called "Gimondi" bend bars that look almost as cool, but gives you just a little bit more room than Criterium bend bars at the top to put your hands on before the curve into the brake levers. I have two bikes with those and I really like them. The model 350 bars from Mavic (The ones I have on my bike) have that bend. Once in a while good used ones come up at eBay for sale for reasonable enough prices. For NOS though, you will have to pay through the nose, which is unfortunately typical of most Mavic C&V components.

Well, he's clearly a vinyl guy.

Yes it is. Not the best only okay IMO...

Yes I am. Vinyl on my AR-1 along with a El86 P-P amp and a pair of full range speakers are the bomb...

I think I like straight bars better since I ride more on the top that in the drops. Will look for something this weekend at the annual bike swap meet this Sunday.

I also got this mustard yellow leather seat made by San Marco (???). I will take a pic when I get home. Looks comfy but the color is weird...

It's more important to look good than feel good
 

They're not comfortable, but they look great.

Bars are such an individual choice - much like saddles. My preference is for randonneur bars (relatively straight, slight rise, shallow drops), but there are people who prefer bars like these (or the Cinellis with the big hooks, or Maes bars). You may not know for certain until you try them out.

My guess, a Kenwood KT-3500.

+1, and I really like that stem.

I see the LP cleaning gear, and some CD's. Nothing wrong with that tuner. I have a T-1, but there is so little good on FM these days, I'm thinking about taking it out of the mix. I do like having something to go with each source selector, though, kind of an OCD thing.

My Discwasher from the early 80s- and the foam was all broken down- I'd forgotten how stiff the foam should be, I picked one up at an estate sale that's in much better shape.

The idea behind the criterium bend is that they had minimal extension and drop. It put you in a good position to sprint out of the saddle which is what you do out of every turn in a criterium race.

Also the bend makes it so your wrists and forearms dont interfere with the bars. All my racing was done on Giro d Italia and Campione de Mondo bars. All summer long I had painfull bruising on my forearms from pulling on the bars out of the saddle. But back then you took what you could get and no one told me about criterium bars.

I use the crit bars for all day riding but it's mostly when I ride fast, jump off then get going to another destination. When I have long rides, I use other bikes with traditional bars.

Hard to answer. It's comfortable if it's comfortable for what you're doing. That's why you're getting differing responses. Some people love them, some don't.

As noted, those are criterium/track bars. Criteriums and track races are short in duration and high in speed, and you only need one hand position, or maybe two. Most of the time in a crit you will be on the drops, and on the track of course there is no hood position, because no brakes. Track bars tend to be deeper drop than criterium bars, but similar in shape.

Also, such races are very close quarters, so narrow bars let you both squeeze through tight gaps, and also allow you to spread your elbows to get yourself more room when things get tight. Neither are necessary for solo road rides of any duration.

If you intend to use the brake levers that are on the bike, I would NOT recommend modern anatomic/short drop bars. They are shaped to work with brifters, not regular old aero levers. You may find that the ramps don't blend into your hoods, and also that the reach to your brake levers from the drops is too long. I'd recommend a traditional shape. In addition to the "Gimondi" bend already noted, you could look for what might be called a "Tour de France" bend; it will have squarer shoulders than the Gimondi. You could use a "Merckx" bend if you want deep drop bars. Or if you like a longer reach bar, a "Maes" bend gives you that. All will work well with regular brake levers.

As far as collectibility goes, there's nothing particular about the shape or the brand that makes them collectible. But who knows. They are very high quality, as Specialized had Nitto make their bars back then IIRC.

Goes without saying that the bar center diameter needs to match your stem clamp. Your stem probably has a 26.0mm clamp. Most bars today are made with 25.4 or 31.8mm centers. Your stem might possibly have a 25.4mm/1" but I doubt it. Nitto still make both 26.0mm and 25.4mm bars though.