Favorite handlebar shape
 

What is yours?

Also, post some pictures of your setup!

Traditional bend, 31.8 or 25.4, 44 c-to-c

Round shallow bend with a tight curve from tops to ramps (so the tops are quite square) and some slope from ramps to hooks, and all that in 38 cm c-c width. Some flare is nice too, but not too much. At the moment, Fizik Cyrano R3 Snake fits this description the closest, though I would like to have just a bit more reach and slope to the ramps. Old Easton Equipe Pro/TKO bend seems like it would be very good, but that's almost impossible to find nowadays.

Side profile:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7633/...530bc71b4f.jpg

Installed:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4252/...199b2e98_c.jpg

I used a Deda 215 anatomic bend bar for years, but I kept wanting to grab it in the drops where it wasn't meant to be grabbed. Last week I made the switch to Fizik Cyrano R3s. I wanted a bar with an "increasing radius" that was tight up near the levers and opened up as it went back. It's not perfect (because my hands are so huge) but I can basically grab it anywhere and be OK. No useful pics yet, but I did take these right after I finished the setup.

https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram...23543808_n.jpg

https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram...05270784_n.jpg

This is basically the profile of the bars:

https://static.bike-components.de/ca...481263274.jpeg

because i run 40cm, i like everything else proportional

compact, mid-short reach, mid-short drop, semi-ergo if thats a descriptor

gives flat transition to hoods, with ends that point more or less horizontal

i used to dig the anatomic bars like deda's on campag 10sp

Doesn't come in 38 width though, does it? Do you find the levers to be easy to reach from the drops?

Sure it does:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8661/...3c6a40c5d0.jpg

As you can see, it's also a fair bit shorter and more shallow than the wider versions, which makes it that much better for me. Reach to the levers is OK as it is set up right now - hoods relatively high on the bends, but levers dialed in at least 1 cm. I expect Shimano levers would be even easier to reach as I would typically have them lower on the bar, and the levers themselves would be longer. I believe newer Sram levers are also a bit longer, so they would be better than these 10-speed ones too.

Short shallow and it must have a flat top. Favorite is the Zipp SL70 Aero. Flat top helps me rest my hands on them on long climbs...I don't care about the aero either way. Zipp also has the shortest reach, along with Ritchey's flat top Streem bar but the Zipps are better designed. I cannot use round profile bars anymore.

Zipp SL-80 met my criteria and I've been happy -- aesthetically the "beyond black" I appreciated to avoid glaring logos and graphics off the front. If I could find a flattened top "aero" alloy version with same reach and drop dimensions (and perhaps some grooves for cable routing molded in), I'd probably go that route.
80mm reach, 125mm drop.
http://img.artscyclery.com/watermark...SCSL8-BK-4.jpg
http://img.artscyclery.com/watermark...SCSL8-BK-2.jpg

Sy Reene, you may want to check out the Ergonova Pro. Similar shape to the SL-80 (my previous go to bar) but with a flat top & cable grooves. Drop = 123, Reach =77 so it sets up very similar. Love the flattned tops!

Thanks! I just might. Though, curious paint pattern.. what does this end up looking like after it's wrapped with bar tape?

38cm FSA K-Wing. Compact drop with raised flattened tops that aren't too wide to grab like some aero bars.
http://i.imgur.com/Yd0jxdg.jpg

Weird, their website doesn't show it as an option.

I dunno. My Dedas were 46 outside-outside, so I chose the Fizik in 44 center-center. I never looked toward the smaller sizes. And yes, the levers are easily reached from the drops, but with my hands, Las Vegas is an easy reach from the drops - and I live in Maryland. I swear I should have been 6'4 with these stupid hands and feet, not 5'10.


That's a good looking bar too.

There isn't one "traditional" bend. Cinelli tended toward drops that were a "U" on its side when looked from the side. TTT had a line that was much more of a "V". I love those "V" bars (and the many Japanese copies) with as much reach and depth as I can get. 38-40 wide for my geared bikes, 42 or more for my fix gear climbers. The more radius on the "shoulders" (where the tops round into the drops) the better, esp on the fix gears. (I hate bruised forearms from climbing out of the saddle in the drops. And I have been able to ride aero with my palms over the hoods and just my wrists on the top of the drops, no issue at all.)

My Mooney currently sports some no-name "V" track or near track bars, deep, wide, big radius shoulders. Love 'em.

Ben

Oh and here's a better pic of my setup.

It's possibly been discontinued now. It used to be that the 38 cm was 75/125 reach/drop, 40 cm was 80/130 and 42+ was 85/140. Now they have R5 family that's apparently 80/130 in all widths, while R3 is 85/140 in all widths, so maybe the 38 cm got cut at the same time. On the other hand, there was very little information on it back when I bought it too, mostly on various Japanese sites and blogs; it could be that the website is simply wrong. In any case, it's still available at Wiggle if you're interested.

Are the hoods level with the ground in that pic? Seems like the seat is angled up quite a bit if that were the case

The 3T Tornova is my go to handlebar. It has the traditional deep drops, round bends as the Rotundo but combined with the ergo-shaped tops of the Ergoova. I had these bars on my previous builds and have a set going on my new build as well.

An old pic I took from a couple years back, but Tornova on the left, Rotundo on the right.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8247/8...b9857381_c.jpg

That demonstrates nicely what I call the "U" or Cinelli bend on the left and the "V" or TTT bent on the right. Thanks. (My hands like the right-hand bar.)

Ben

How do the levers look on those?

Sorry, funny angle I guess. I've actually been wanting to do a recent staged pic, so here it is.

http://cydewaze.org/gallery/IMG_20170804_160637.jpg

This new stem leaves the bars a bit high (hard to find a good looking -10 or -12 deg stem these days), so I might try to fit one of these to spill off some of the height I gained.

My old builds from 3+ years ago, both with Campy and 3T Tornova on the Ridley and Rotundo on the De Rosa.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5503/1...62c8dfcd_o.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7326/1...cbfb1d0d_o.jpg