Why is this Velo Orange Grand Cru Rando bent upwards?

Comfort on really, really long rides.

Rando = Randonneuring.
Randonneurs Are In It For The Ride, Not The Race : NPR


-Tim-

It must be more natural at the hoods but not at the top straight section?

Hold your fists out on front of you. They naturally want to tilt a bit (not rest perfectly flat). IMO we need more handlebars with tilt/flare/etc.

Because if they were curved some different way, the bike would blow up and the rider would die.

Seriously, they've gotta shape it someway, and if there's a gazillion bars that are flat across there, somebody's thinking, "How can we style this one a little differently?" Key word being "style".

My theory is that back in the '70s, someone wanted a flared drop bar, took a bar that was clamped by a vise in the middle of the bar and just started prying the drops outward, thus giving the tops the upward bend.

Riser drop bars are all the rage, now.

FSA K-wing

This is not about style. The design has been around for a long time. I find this style of handlebar very comfortable for long distance riding. YMMV.

Is there some advantage in those "riser" bars over having a stem achieve the same thing?

Hoods are still in a more aggressive location.

the upper top corner is a comfortable hold, behind the brake levers. palm down and palm/thumb up.

longer ramps, because no Brifters existed yet, when this bend became classic.

Drops slope as they drop for wrist clearance so tops are narrower than the drops (Nitto-Specialized 46 was 38 on the top)

The Rando bend is more organic. It is a nice platform for cotton tape and twine. They compliment other rando bits like macrame bottle insulators and leather toe cozies. Their smooth open bend assures a snag free spot for your stash.

In this specific case, I believe they found the drag numbers to be better with the riser handlebars than using spacers under a conventional stem and handlebar setup. That is Specialized's latest version of their aero road bike.

A little upward sweep feels good to me.

On the Aeronova, put your palms on the hump and it's very stable and comfortable. The bars look a bit goofy but it works.

Here's the opposite version, ready to explode at any minute:
https://roadbikeaction.com/wp-content...llo/pista1.JPG

seriously though:

It offers another hand position....you have the flats, hoods and drops, but also just behind the hoods. It's a very comfortable position. In the pre-brifter days, riding on the hoods could be quite uncomfortable. I don't know if you have ever taken a ride with non-aero brake levers, but they kind of suck to ride there.

I like them. I have a Nitto rando bar, and ever other drop bar feels to wide to me now.

Seriously, as fietsbob mentioned, the amount of perch on the ramp portion of the bars is compromised by the need for a sweeping top curve for wrist clearance.
Also the width of grip at the top of the bar is narrowed by having gently-sweeping top curves, so having the bottom part flared outward a bit allows the rider to have what some would consider the best of both worlds, a wide upper grip and long, level ramps, still with no wrist contact at the top "corners".

I wanted a "full-curve" i.e. 180-degree loop bar on this not-so-large frame, for some added reach at the hoods and for a higher hood position, so I replaced the old French bars with this Trek System-3 handlebar in a wider width. I had wrist-burn while climbing though, but instead of replacing the bars again I used a 4-foot long piece of inch-thick Trex decking to pry out the lowers just 3/8" on each side, enough to eliminate the wrist contact.
It worked well because I didn't need or want the "rise" of a traditional Rondonneur bar, just the full curve, some added width, and enough wrist clearance. Shown here, installed, before I pried the lowers out. I did the prying with bike laying on it's side, which went smoothly.
The original French bars/stem is shown on the ground, had an entirely different feel which was far from the best for aggressive riding.

I tried this. I find that I can roll my wrists about 90 degrees from flat in the direction that a randonneur bear "flares" on the top.

But I then found that I could roll my wrists a full 180 degrees in the outward roll direction, which is opposite of how the randonneur bar flares on top, but which IS in agreement with the direction that any road or touring bar flares when riding in the drops!

So I will stick with my modified full-curve (Brampton bend) bars, and will flare the lowers only, just to the point of achieving any needed wrist clearance.
Seems like the best approach if one doesn't need any extra helping of rise, as from a taller stem or taller head tube.
The difference is whether the lower flare is created at the ramps (where my bending merely introduced some torsional twist in the ramps), or whether the flare is created in the top of the bar, where the bars begin curving upward closer the stem clamp.
The latter was popular as OEM on touring bikes, while the former was common on many standard road bends, so bending isn't usually going to be needed except with the fullest 180-degree bends and "squarest" top "corners".

I can dig that. I bet those are comfy as hell. I kind of want some now.

Those Specialized/FSA bars suggest bike designers on acid.

I would happily train a bit harder if I needed to make up for that last quarter-gram of aero drag lost by riding such an odd-looking bike.

That the cables and wires are completely hidden is perhaps an aesthetic improvement in itself, but likely a great maintenance headache as well, further driving up the cost of ownership while greatly discouraging riders finding out for themselves what handlebar dimensions and style work best for them. This is not progress.

How is it going to drive up maintenance cost? Any decent schmuck can run hidden cables

Rando bars date back at least to the 1930s, but I've wondered if that's how the style originated as well. That flare sure is comfy in the drops.

That's not how you sweet-talk your mechanic...