I'm starting to look at options for my upcoming conversion of the Marinoni to a sporty medium to long distance rider. I'm debating between rando and traditional bends, and cannot get my hands on any locally to get a feel for them (shops these days don't tend to carry "classic" type bars nor do they offer bicycles equipped with them).

There appears to be a handful different "classic" alloy drop bars being made today (i.e. non-ergo / non-channeled), and I'd like to hear impressions/rants/raves from folks who've spent some time with them - comfort, practicality, strength, etc.

Some of the bars I have seen lately are:
- Nitto B135 Rando
- Nitto B115 "classic"
- Nitto 177 "Noodle"
- VO "Chris's Bend" Rando
- VO Grand Cru "Course"
- NOS 70's / 80's **********

With the proliferation of classic renovations lately, I thought some of the folks here might have some thoughts.
Thanks!
-Michael

The rando bars make out of the saddle riding more comforatable (plenty of arm room in the drops). However the tops with the upward sweep IMO have an uncomfortable wrist position. The mountain bike drops are the best for long distance touring. Again only my opinion.

Nitto Noodles
Deda 215
Ritchey WCS classic
Cinelli 64s (coming back into production this year)

Good news, the 64 is my favourite bend.

That is good news, indeed, about the 64's - I had not heard that Cinelli will be making them again.

This has been one of my concerns with the rando bend. I tend to ride with my hands on the horizontal bar tops for seated climbing on steady grades, and the upward sweep is right where I place my hands.

Hopefully the new Cinelli 64s will have a standard clamp diameter...

The Deda 215 Deep is very similar to the Nitto Noodle but without the curvy top. The ramps are quite flat and the drops are a classic shape. I have some and highly recommend them.

3ttt TdF.

Cinelli 64's, 5 of my 7 bikes have 'em, one has 66's.
Nitto B115, but you better fit them right. One bike.

Ambrosio Competione de Italia (I think) has a nice slight rando bend and are comfortable.
I had a set of those and really liked them. I should have taken them off for Nittos when I sold the bike.

Sakae World Champion? Road Champion are rando, too. If you can get used to the the cat-eye look, they have great clearance.
I ride the drops, so the top is not an issue.

I really don't like anything else I've tried in the classic dept. I like 3TTT Forma's (ergo) but only because they fit my hand well.

I once thought it was a hassle on the Cinelli bars (26.4 clamp) but I've had little problem at all finding stems for them.

The Cinelli rep and I talked quite a while at the NAHBS. I think he said the 64's were coming in 26.0, and the quill stems.

I remember those Sekae bars. Really pretty engraving on the sleeves.

I always installed Cinelli Criterium bars on my bikes through the 80's (oh, my poor neck) and loved them for my more youthful riding style at the time, even on centuries. As a result, I never experienced any of the other classic bars of the time (64's, 3ttt, Sekai WC, etc).

I find the re-introduction of the 64's very intriguing........

For a classic bar, I like:

- Cinelli Model 63 (my favorite C & V bar)
- 3T Rotundo Pro (31.8 though)
- Deda 215

I have a Nitto Noodle on my Trek 310. It may be my favorite bar next to my GB Randonneurs. I have one bike with a Cinelli 64 also.

I have the Nitto Randoneur bars on my touring bike, and a bike with Nitto Noodles. Both are great in my opinion.

I just tried the Nitto Noodle bars for the first time. They feel so nice that it made me wonder why I should keep any vintage bar at all. I do have the old GB rando bars and I think they are pretty nice, but they are way to narrow at the top for my liking.

The Nitto Noodle is the bar I've been sort of leaning towards, so it is good to hear this feedback on them. They seem to offer a really nice bend with nice flat ramps.

b115 is a fine bar if you don't have specific tastes. cheap and 25.4.
b135 is great in the drops, bad everywhere else. cheap and 25.4.

nitto noodle. i don't own a pair, but they seems to be perfect. i played with a pair today. they have the opposite bends as the b135, except for the drops. perfect. expensive and only 26.0.
the other VO ones are 26.0 too.

I'm using a Nitto Technomic with a 26.0 clamp. I have Nitto shims, as well, so have some flexibility there.
The feedback thus far is helping confirm my tendency towards the noodle. I was curious about the Rando's, but because I spend most of my time on the hoods or on the horizontal flats on either side of the stem, it seems that the rando's would not suit me.

Just to be slightly contrary, although I share your opinion regarding the esthetics of classic bars, if this is really to be a bike on which you will put some serious miles and you ride some substantial time in the drops, I would not totally reject ergo. Not all are as extreme as the carbon ergos and the ergo bend is very comfortable. Take a look at the Deda Piega. From a function standpoint, they are my favorite bars.

Also, ergo bars have been around for more than 20 years. I had some then.

canyoneagle, I don't know if there are any new aluminum handlebars without channels. Modolo has a set of steel bars without them, however.

Handlebars that I've found comfortable: I have a set of Cinelli 64s, shallow reach and shallow-medium drop make them very adaptable to most riding styles. For my long distance road bike I installed a set of Modolo Q-Race ergo bars. They're not radically ergo with a medium reach and drop. My rat bike has a set of North Star 'bars that are similar to the Q-Race and the budget king of good 'bars. The touring bike is using the 'bars I removed from the long distance road bike (to try the Modolos). While they're CODA bars the brand isn't important, but the medium reach to drop ratio is almost square (the same) making for a good neutral fitting 'bar on tops, drops and hoods.

Good luck with your search as handlebars are such a personal fit item.

Brad

PS I removed a set of Modolo Brevettato 'bars from the touring bike because they were too narrow for me, but their ergos are similar to the Cinelli 64 'bars.

the Nitto B115s get my vote. back in the early '90s I really like the TTT Merckxx bend bars but these Nitto give a good balance between price, style and sizes. check here https://www.benscycle.net/

I like sakae road champion bars, which works out great cause virtually every old road bike I come across seems to have them, sure they aren't super light or worth hens teeth, but the reach/drop is perfect for me, I'm not sure how many different widths they came in, but every one I find seems to be 39.5 center to center at the drops.. just wish they were 40, but hey, not enough to shake me.

Short reach, shallow drop, compact bend, 26.0 clamp. Best bars I've ridden period. Not very C&V though...

I *love* the GB rando bars. They're very narrow on the tops and have a really tight bend at the tops which I find quite comfortable to rest my wrists on. I think you'll have a hard time finding them NOS, but they came on a ton of boomer bikes and polish up great even after lots of abuse. They look like this:

Did I miss where you told us what kind of bars those are?

I really like the GB rando bars as I've come across three pairs. They come on Schwinn Sports Tourers and was one of the only things I kept when I rebuilt mine.