I have a couple of my oldest racers with steel drop-bars (one, a shallow 3.5" drop like Highgate). I am thinking of going over to aluminum on the Barnard. Speaking just for comfort (shock absorption, flexibility), is it worth it to make the switch? The steel is fine, but I think the ride is a bit unyeilding with them. Is it just my perception?

If you want more comfort, throw some gel pads under the bar tape, then maybe get carbon. Don’t think aluminum is going make much difference,

I've never noticed any difference between the steel and aluminum bars on my various bikes.
Phil

In my opinion, no.

For me, drop and width are what I seek to define my comfort level. I prefer a 42cm wide bar with a shallow drop. The handlebar I installed on my Marinoni are perfect, width wise, but the drop is too much. When I get back to the lake cottage (after all the snow and cold are gone) I will seek out a more appropriate handlebar. Probably alloy simply because they are more plentiful in my stash...


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On the track, Cinelli Steel pista bars and stem are just more secure feeling. Period.

They are heavier. Unless you are racing with a lot of climbing, be happy.
or, let those guys with the 14# carbon wonder bikes that you spot them 10# and they are weak.

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for a vintage Brit iron you might wish to consider a Marsh bend

a bit difficult to locate however on our side of ye olde puddle...


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I've haven't had any steel road bars in a long time. But the only uncomfortably stiff bars I've had were aluminum, some very cheap MTB bars that must've been way too thick-walled, they felt like hitting a fastball with a wooden bat turned the wrong way!

I do have some carbon road bars that I like quite a bit, but those require a stem also on vintage bikes. I have a couple of old steel bikes with 31.8 clamp stems just because I like modern shaped bars with a kinda short reach, flat ramps, and fairly shallow drop. These are bikes I take on long rides. On the old Legnano, Schwinn, and Scapin I have old school bars but wouldn't be super happy riding those for 60-100 mile rides.

I also have some Surly Open bars, which are steel, which I find quite comfy.

Yes, I am a fan of the Marsh shallow design, as well as of the Highgate shallow. I believe Reynolds (as well as probably Strata and maybe Birmalux) made aluminum versions of these. As you noted, hard-to-get, though.

I've found this to really help, almost cannot see them, and easy to install. Plus... affordable.

Maybe I'll consider bar-tape before swapping the bars out.

Hard plastic Phillips bar grips

cool bike

The bigger problem with steel bars might be that their diameter is usually only 22mm or 7/8" instead of 24mm or 15/16".

On old bikes where I've desired a thicker grip diameter while retaining traditional vinyl or cloth tape, I will wrap the desired tape over the old tape, which improves comfort noticeably!
And I try to wrap in the opposite direction as the previous wrap, gives a bit of extra texture for improved grip, and I liked the look.

Here's one that I did this way over an aluminum bar (vinyl over cotton), it somewhat shows up in this full-format photo:

mated to a long stem the weight of the bars may be noticeable (my personal experience), but otherwise I agree with others = should not be an issue.

The other thing you could consider are gloves with gel inserts. I don’t have experience but have read these also can be quite helpful. Your bike is gorgeous.

Other things to try would be tilting the nose of your saddle up just a smidge, which can often take some weight off of your hands, and slightly wider tires to provide a plush ride.

A cheap and easy fix that would likely make more of a difference than switching bars: use two layers of bar tape---cork or equivalently thick foam. I started doing that decades ago, after undergoing ulnar nerve relocation surgery. The larger diameter gives as much of a benefit as the added cushioning.

This,

larger diameter and more cushion make a big difference for me. I rarely ride in the drops so started just wrapping the tops with 2 layers of cork and or foam.

Using black its not very noticeable as far as I'm concerned.

And yep on the nose up, these two things can make a big difference and at this stage of the game are far more important than aesthetics on riders, daily drivers, etc.

I think the silver one has double only on top, the other one is cork/foam over cloth, both make a big difference.

That's a good point. I do love the feel of having a full hand when gripping the bars.

Yeah, going from 27 x 1" to 27 x 1 1/8" sounds reasonable, and dropping my psi down from 100 to about 85 might also be a worthy experiment. One other factor that I think I am spoiled for is the straight deck of the Maes style bars that are on most of my bikes.

Thanks. It is my flagship. About fifteen years ago, Spenco (who also makes gel inserts for shoes) made an Ironman glove. It had the best gel I have used. Right now, I use the Specialized Dual Gel, but not for this bike. When I ride the Barnard, I am using un-padded straight leather. I guess I have to make a decision between being period-correct or more comfortable. After listening to your and these other opinions, I think I'll stay with my current setup.

Yes it makes sense to “dress the part” when riding the old bikes but if you’re uncomfortable then that’s where you need to draw the line.
The wider tire suggestion is a very good one. Also, with 28 tires you should be able to have considerably less pressure than 85psi. would think 50psi should be enough. You only need enough not to pinch sidewalls. The idea you need high pressure to reduce rolling resistance/ go faster has been debunked. At 50psi wide tires are like having shock absorbers.

Exactly this, "dressing the part and looking good" only gets you so far, if it doesn't really help get you down the road then adjustments and even compromises have to be made, especially this far down the road if we want to keep going down said road.

Good call. Forgot to mention that when I bought my first road bike with aluminum bars in 1968 after exclusively riding a track bike with steel bars for three years, I was surprised at how much more comfortable the aluminum bars were, thanks to the larger diameter.

I've been running two layers of cloth tape for a few years now. Except for wrapping time, all plus. Slightly softer, slightly bigger diameter, same cost. (The good stretches of old, beat-up bar tape get saved. First wrap is in pieces with that old stuff. Can't tell once the new tape goes on. And it now takes twice as long to wear holes at the corners of my palms that show silver aluminum!

Trak: That was probably what I was feeling when I sensed that aluminum bars are more flexible/comfortable. I had a similar epiphany when I first used padded tape.

79p: That's a good way of keeping the bike looking vintage while deriving the benefit of thicker tape. It stands to reason that a lot of racers and tourers did likewise as soon as cotton tape became available.