Handlebar recommendation?

BikeRyder

Im new to road riding, not biking all together. Im 35 and have been riding the hills and mountains of my home town in wv as one of my earliest memories. I fixed my bikes myself and knew a lot about mtb when i was doing it. I moved to florida and guess what, no mountains. So on to the road. I bought a super good condition cannondale sr800, 1989, from someone who mechanically kept the bike in top notch condition. It runs like butter and it is what all who have recommended things to me was the right size. So, ive been terrorizing the streets on this cool old bike, then i stumbled upon a great deal on a 2006 allez, in my size. The allez is .5 cm longer on the toptubes than the cannondale. They feel terribly similAr in fit except the cannondale has a lower stem and the difference in ride follows, but still i like both the rides. The cannondale has a nitto olympia and the allez has the specialized drop bar and what a total difference in feel between the two. Now that i have something to compare it to, that cannondale just feels dangerous. Like a rocket with now stabilizers. The drops are borderline inaccessible and when in drop my forearms press on the top of the bar and very incomfortable. On the allez, the drops feel comfortable, accessible, my arms are free to steer, i can choose to be d my elbows and go lower or straighter arm it for alightly more upright.

1. So, what makes the allez bar so much more accessible in all positions?

2. Also, would you rather have a base model shimano dual pivot caliper brakes, or a well working 1989 single pivot 600 that seems to be flawless other than several years of road dust?

dj58

Are the nitto Olympia a compact short reach type bar and the Allez an ergonomic type bar? Can you post some links or photo's of the bars in question? If you prefer the bar shape on the Allez why not change to that style on the cannondale?

As for the brake, if the single pivot R600 caliper is functioning correctly and you are happy with the stopping power keep it if you want to keep the bike O.E. spec. However if you need more stopping power swop it for a dual pivot type, though do make sure your brake levers are compatible.

BikeRyder

Thanks for the response. Being new to road, i didnt know there was a major difference in drop bars other than a difference in makers. What makes a bar "compact" and i will tell you if theres a difference. I will try to find links and post them as soon as i can to help with a difinitive conclusion. I just had no idea there were subtle differences that meant sooooo much.

As for the brake question, i ask because i will probably getting rid of the cannondale and wanting to keep the better components on one bike. The 600's are great brakes., i can lock the wheels with little effort. Id say performance wise, the seem to feel very similar. Im just wanting to get the best components on one bike. Ive read that shimano has a tendency to take their newest designs and put them on their top groupset then hand down the rest to the lineage. I was curious if the 89 600's were just that far outdated that everything newer was far better, even if its in the lower groupset. Btw, a carbon road bike nearly rearended my neighbors parked car yesterday.

BikeRyder

So its called the Nitto Olympiade 115 and by appearance it is very classic and very round. The drops dont protrude behind the top bar much at all and is 3 cm deeper in the curve than the specialized which appears to either be ergonomic or compact, id bet ergonomic just based on picture examples as comparisons. So its 3cm deeper and its 3 cm taller. The height i dont think is an issue but the depth i think is the primary culprit for it not seeming to fit my arms comfortably from both the depth AND that flat part of the 'ergonomic' section of the bar, when in drop i have to reach far less. AmaZing what a few cm's can change.

dj58

Edit, when I said ergonomic shaped bars I meant anatomical shaped bars. Take the Ritchey brand as an example, here are the different shapes.
A. Classic http://ritcheylogic.com/wcs-neoclassic-blatte-road-bar
B. Anatomical http://ritcheylogic.com/wcs-logic-2-blatte-road-bar
C. Compact http://ritcheylogic.com/comp-curve-bb-black-road-bar

Is this the bar? http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified- ... s_22557535 it is a pre-oversize traditional bar, 25.4mm bar clamp, does the bike use a quill type stem? http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/ST3TSTAT/3 ... quill-stem

BikeRyder

Yes to the olympiade bar, yes to the quill.

The specialized bar appears to be anatomical, in that it has that one flatter section on the curve and it appears the compact has a less pronounced flat area and more of a horizontal curve. Also, after my ride this morning in the wind, i decided to flip the stem back to original, granted it only dropped it 1 inch, im hoping it makes me slightly more aerodynamic up top and dramatically more aerodynamic on the drops. What a miserable morning ride. Almost wish i had aerobars.

Anyway, im going to pick up a compact bar this week to compare to my anatomical bar to A. See if its actually anatomical and B. See which i like better. I notice the compact has alightly less of a drop, and i gotta say, im liking being on drop.

g00se

I imagine the Nitos will be designed to be installed with a slope down to the levers. Whereas modern bars are designed to generally keep the tops flat (either compact, ero or round).

Old style:



New:





Lever positions:

BikeRyder

Well it looks like the noodle or classic, but when i look at the lever position, i cant decide which it represents. I will say this, the brake levers have small hoods, think old school here. I have them mounted as high on the curve as i can while i still have enough on top so my hands dont slide forward and off but still can get 1 or 2 fingers when in drop and i mean my hands are just at the uncomfortable level high of high in the curve. It looks and feels more like the deep drop in the image but id rather it feel like either of the two others. I will update once i get new bars.

marcusjb

Noodle Bar curves slightly back towards you on the tops and a very slight flare. Noodles are old school with a massive reach and drop.

I like them, but I am old school and never really ridden anything much different, but most of my framesets are fairly old school geometry as well, so suit the bar well.

BikeRyder

I missed that curve, definitely not that. Its gotta be classic. There is no flare it is very square. I seriously have to really dig to find a difference, apparently i have a very untrained eye.

BikeRyder

Out of those compacts above, excluse the super expensive ones, which would you prefer/recommend

dj58

The Deda Zero 100 RHM are recommended a lot on here and are not an expensive option.
http://www.dedaelementi.com/en/portfolio/zero-100/

There are also these which are less expensive than the Zero 100
http://www.dedaelementi.com/en/portfolio/rhm-01/

BikeRyder

So my limitation was the 26mm clamp. I needed a new front derailleur so while at the LBS i asked "uhh got any 26mm clamp, compact drop bars?" After a few minutes the moat helpful guy comes out with a few options and i settled on the deda 310 for $5. It was only that cheap because it had tape adhesive on it and had a few scratches. I think he just wanted to get rid of them, truthfully. Screaming deal on a bar but it is considered anatomic not compact, but the measurements are leaning in the right direction. Does anyone else find the sharpish angles on anatomical bars very uncomfortable? Anyway, due to the older brakes, i cant get the brakes/hoods to be an extension of the flats on the bar, they are mounted on the curves a little lower than a newer model would appreciate, but it works. Next thing i need to contend with on this oldie but goodies sr800, do i get a new longer quill to raise the bar enough to make riding on the hoods more comfortable? The only thing holding me back is, appearance. That bike just has me hunched over a bit too far. Riding on the hoods is similar to riding on the drops of my allez. Then when i drop, i feel almost up-side-down. But at least i can easily see whats behind me.

dj58

How long is the existing quill stem and how much rise does it have?

BikeRyder

It has no rise, it is parallel to the ground, and is currently raised to the limit line and measures 95mm from that line to the top of the stem, not real sure how to measure it but that measurement is right. The stem is 110 mm in length. Its a nitto, and ive found nitto makes the same one in 225mm but that seems too long. Im either going to do a use a quill adapter to use 1 1/8 threadless stems for more choices, but i know i wont like the look. Oh decisions, decisions.