Dropping the Drops - Bars, that is...
 

I managed to break my neck in two places, a few years ago when three guys tried to rob me on the way to work one morning. Thank goodness the break was stable because I stood up to fight them off as soon as I figured out what was about to happen. Anyway...

As I age, I find that it hurts my neck to ride with drop bars. With that in mind, I have been experimenting with different bars. Those on my Specialized Junker II are darn near perfect. I am just looking for some down tube cable guides so that I can install a set of handlebar mounted shifters on the bike...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ndleBars_4.jpg

I also tried a set of mustache bars on my Legnano Gran Premio (the first one I had) and liked those bars quite a bit. Sadly, that bike was too small for me and I did not ride it all that much...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ndleBars_3.jpg

Well, a couple of days ago, I installed an identical set on my Motobécane Gran Jubileé. They feel pretty good and I intend to ride the bicycle until the snow says no...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ndleBars_2.jpg

Then it will be jump on the GT that I found at the Dump this summer past. And hope I make it to Spring...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224812 http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224813

nice setups randy - btw - i was cruising your site the other night for the first time in awhile - such quality bro

I had Bullhorns on one of my bikes for about 2 years. I found them very comfortable because you sort of lock yourself in by being able to push back. I switched them to North Road handlebar so I could use a basket on front. I miss the Bullhorns because they were more comfortable on longer rides, but this bike rarely goes more than a few miles.

Hi Randy,

We were looking at your site the other day at the shop, and it is loaded with quality info!

As for the bars, have you tried different stems?

Something to get you a little more upright perhaps.

I've done that with my John Hollands and it turned into a dream bicycle for distance riding.

Nitto Technomic for instance from Peter White's site.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...itto16-040.jpg

Love that Junker II story, just my kind of thing.
By the way Randy that Peugeot UE8 frame you gave me advice on yesterday, it´s being picked up today by a very happy kid from the next town down. He sounded so happy I´ve thrown in a random bag of vintage bits I won´t need.

I too have neck problems and the Moustache bars seem to work well for me as well. The Nitto or GB Rando bars with their upward bend also works for me. I have found that some old French bars with a lot of reach seem to relieve the neck issues too. Cinelli bars, that I used for years, aren't comfortable for me anymore.

Well, some of the older riders might appreciate my situation. As we age, only our minds remain young, sometimes too young. If I project this situation a few more years down the road, I think that the next time I get one of these, or these, I will keep it for me. Who knows...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ull_Side_1.jpg

Or, for positive cash flow, you could get one of these. Although in Thunder Bay you could only sell for about a week.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/...8f8bcf540c.jpg

Randy, The robbery bit hit close to home for me, same situation for my son, but he came out fine; the would be robbers weren't so lucky.

Anyhow, over the years I've been a bit of a handle bar junkie. I think I finally have handle bars on my my bikes that are keepers, mostly through accidental experimentation, for lack of a better term and I can sell off my remaining handle bars. As much hope as I had for bull horn bars, they just didn't make the cut.

Brad

I'm pretty sure I have or can get some chrome bolt on Suntour cable guides at the bike coop where I volunteer that should work pm me if your interested.

"Do not go gentle into that good night."

I have always wondered why people think bullhorns are more comfortable than drop bars. The hand positions on the bullhorns can all be used on drop bars. Drop bars just offer a one more alternative, the drops. What am I missing?

I don't think bullhorns are more comfortable than drop bars, but on the one bike I use bullhorns on ('76 fuji track), I don't need/would never use the "drop" position, also I like the "horns" for climbing. On a dropbar the hoods are good for climbing but I have no need for hooded levers with a bullhorn. Brake lever is a cross bike lever on the flat near the stem.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/jvpro/bike-1.jpg

I agree with this. Mentally, they make you feel way cooler, but I don't think they are of practical difference. Can you elaborate, randy?

This is the cable guides I will need, or something very close to them...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...rk_Crown_3.jpg

I love the Specialized Junker II, it's kind of a rat rod looking bike and I bet rides great.

The Bullhorns were not much more comfortable than the bars and brakes on my Marinoni Squadra...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ra_Forks_1.jpg

But the Squadra bars and brakes are considerably different that anything from the Old School offerings in the vintage bicycle world...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...andleBar_1.jpg

I don't think I have any of that type but I will take look and let you know.

I don't think I have any of that type but I will take look and let you know.

The traditional drop bar is a maes bend, not today's brifter-centric anotomical bends and shallow drops. You can note the difference in Randy's Marinoni shots and the vintage bike bar shot.
The bull horns are similar in height to newer brifter-centric drop bars where the tops stay more horizontal. If you don't ride on the drops, a bull horn bar is an alternative for vintage bikes with maes bend bars. Note the positions of your wrists with each bar and lever config. Bull horns place your wrists at a more ergonomic position and the brake levers are at optimum leverage. Brifters (and traditional levers) are a compromise of leverage when brakes are operated from hoods. The lever and its placement must accommodate more than one grip position.

It's good to have alternatives and thinking outside of the box. Bull horns are not just for time trials, and posing on hipster hardware.

+1 I have ridden road bikes with bullhorns and have noticed a couple of difference. First, the horn portion of the bullhorn is generally longer and usually flatter than the portion of the drops from the first angle to the brakes. As a result, the bullhorns provide more comfortable and different grips in this area. Second, because you do not have to allow for the drops, you can set bullhorns at an optimum height.

Trust me, there is nothing cool about my Specialized Junker II, except that it is a very nice ride. The bars, the way I have them set up, allow for a much more upright sitting position, less crouch and less curl in my neck. Hence, a more comfortable ride - for me.

The brakes are very easy to reach and require very little effort to actuate. I realize that has nothing to do with the bars, but it has tons to do with appreciating the bicycle.

Finally, I use the Specialized for around town errands. I have no reason to crouch for that kind of riding and every reason to keep my head up, with traffic awareness paramount in my mind, as I zip from here to there. I use the term, zip, loosely at my age.

I know canada and amazon don't get along all the time, but

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Housin...2&sr=8-2-spell

If you can't order these, I can order some and send them up to you. I've used them on my bikes before, flawless. I love the tensioner on the fly.

When I got old and my neck started to hurt, I raised my bars.

But hey, some folks prefer doing things the hard way. :p

^ Haha, some of us like things the hard way. If nothing else, when it comes to a comfortable set of bullhorns that I can get for dirt cheap, or even free if I want to hack up an old road drop vs. a $100 Nitto stem to get the bars up a couple more inches, I'll ride the cheap comfy bullhorns.

For long distance riding?

Go for it.

I just switched over my Woodrup to a moustache bar and I am incredibly impressed. I've got three rides on it I think. I rode it for slightly over 50 miles last weekend and have never been so comfortable on my road bike before! Maybe it's my mountain bike background that makes riding anything but the top/hoods out of my comfort zone, but on top of that, riding a normal road bar puts a lot of strain on my previously broken elbow. I've yet to experience any pain since I switched.

I have a messed up neck also and riding regular style drops does bother me when I am in the drop position for to long. I think one of the reasons I like the Jetter/Jettrek I just built is because of the ergo style bars and the raised height of the stem I chose keeps me in a more upright position and it doesn't bother my neck or back riding it.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Jetter001.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Jetter005.jpg

Nitto stems for $100? I guess that is what the current exchange rate is doing to prices.

I have one bike that is too small: 54 when it should be 56. When I first built up my Trek 560, I was using a standard rise, Shimano 600 quill stem with a set of Nitto Randonneur drops. At the time I had I had some neck problems — but nothing like Randy — chronic muscle tension was all. Still, I was always craning up to see the road, and I was fearing my drop bar days were over.

Solution: I ordered a Nitto Technomic stem with nearly no reach to it at all. This shortened up the cockpit. I moved the seat forward to be sure that my knees were over the pedal spindles. The result — I can still apply the correct, proportional, tripartite weight distribution between the saddle, bars and pedals, and their is no stress on my neck. The difference is that I am in a much less aggressive posture. In urban traffic it is a positive boon.

Technomic stems with their long rise come in a very extensive section of reaches — here in Japan anyway. The one that I have on the Trek is so short that I cannot walk the bike with my usual grasp on the reach — it's like 20 mm or something. Like a shopping bike. The bike is to small for me as I said ... I'm 5' 9". But a 6' friend rode the machine for 25-30 Km or so last week with me on the Vitus, and he had no discomfort at all. Technomics are great. They are a solution for a lots of stuff that might be wrong with fit and posture. Just choose the correct reach.

I also have a Technomic on my Simplon 56. But it has a 54 TT. Because of the larger frame size and its specific geometry, I use much less rise in the stem and it is a model with a much longer reach. On my Vitus 979 I have a standard Cellini 1R (?) for days when I feel in fighting mode and am not going to be battling crowds of taxis and hordes of dangerous schoolgirl cyclists [charingko].

Oh ... I should add that I normally ride in the horns.

Randy — I really recommend this. It may be offensive to some people when they see a stem towering above the crown set, but this setup can be applied to any vintage bike. It is effective and relieves a lot of stress, but the drops are still there for the 10 or 15 minutes that you may fight a wind in your face.

Sorry — all the pics of the Trek are with the 600 stem.

PS — PM sent to you ... Randy

We do a lot of stem extension conversions at the shop I work at on all types of bikes from vintage road bikes to new cruisers with some being almost a foot long in height, they maybe ugly but at least they are riding comfortable.