I recognize a few segments from Jørgen Leth's "A Sunday in Hell" (1977) film on Paris Roubaix. Can you list the other films that you sourced the racing footage from?
Sure, I'm happy to try and list some of the footage I was able to find. I found most of these searching TH-cam or Google for Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx. Here's the list as best as I can recreate (some of these were listed since I watched them but may not have used any of the clips): 1. 1949 Tour d' France by British Pathe 2. 1952 Giro d' Italia Maglia Rosa "Fausto Coppi" 3. 1960 Giro d' Italia Jaques Anquetil 4. 1949 Giro d' Italia Cuneo Pinerolo 5. The Stars and the Water Carriers 1973 Giro d' Italia 6. 1972 Tour de France Stage 13 Eddy Merckx 7. Eddy Merckx 1969 and 1970 during the Tour de France
@@Henrywildeberry Thanks for ID-ing the race footage, all those long, low stems!! Lol. "Stars and Water Carriers" is also a film directed by Jørgen Leth, fyi.
Mark Eastman Thanks for pointing out the name of the original director. I found most of these clips on unrelated TH-cam channels, with the few noted exceptions, and wasn't able to figure out who created the original work. Thank you! I'll pin this comment to the top for others reference in the future!
A lot of the Merckx footage is from Joel Santoni's beautiful 1974 documentary La Course En Tete - music by David Munrow (of the Early Music Consort of London).
Regarding getting bars in and out of a quill stem, we used to remove the stem clamp bolt and then put a coin in the slot to hold it slightly more open. Less likely to mess up the engraving on a nice Nitto or Cinelli bar.
@db8556 With your coin trick, you can screw the bolt in from the back, hit the coin, and then turn it just a snidge more, so as to slightly open the clamp interface too.
Thanks for the vintage video it takes me back to the days when we raced in wool jerseys and shorts. I have to chuckle when I see the progression of your bicycle. Its looking more like my 1973 Holdsworth with great Britain bars. I paid $ 125. New in 73. I haven't felt a need to buy a bicycle since. On of my many blessings.
@RollinRat Reynolds five three one mag- moly tubing is all I have ever ridden ( except my huffy). Very strong durable and nimble. Do they even still make it.
You said something interesting about wrist angles and comfort. I also noticed the old films and the riders wrist angle. I am an older rider and struggle with discomfort in the wrist, feet, back, shoulders. I would like to hear more, from you prospective, about wrist angles, Seat heights, stretch, and back positions for long distance, climbing and down hill.
I love the rando bars. I had a really comfortable cockpit setup on a modern compact bar with TRP Hylex brakes, which have an insanely long hood. When the caliper wore out, I decided to switch to mechanicals and then an ultra modern GRX Di2 on a semi-custom frame, and just fought hand numbness on the same bars I had run for years with the TRP hoods. I tried a few different types of compact bars and my hands would just fall asleep after 30 minutes no matter what I did. I went for a casual ride with a friend and noticed how much more room he had to move his hands around on the rando bars. Got to thinking about it, and the reason the compact bar with Hylex hoods worked, is the hood is so long it opened up a lot of hand positions for me. I switched to the rando bars, with their nice long ramps and hand problems solved. Beyond that, I spent so much time and money working with no less than 4 professional fitters, two of whom were physical therapists, and the last one used a lot of high speed motion capture equipment, to address some minor knee pain and it totally exacerbated a back pain issue I have fought the last ten years. It ruined the late summer for me as I just couldn't ride more than 20 miles without being in pain. I was looking at some photos from 2018, from right before I started seeing bike fitters again (a coach fit me when I raced years ago), and noted how much less saddle setback I had. Like probably 1-2 INCHES less saddle setback. Bike fitter/high speed camera brought me from straight seatpost with saddle a tad forward to slammed back on a set back seatpost. I kept moving the saddle forward and forward, went back to a straight seatpost, until the back pain went away. It felt like there was more pressure on my knees then there needed to be, so I experimented with moving my cleats back and that fixed the pressure on my knees. I know I am not in a totally optimal position, I could put out more power if I were further back, right until my back gave out. Anyway, my point is your spot on in this video, a little experimentation is sometimes what we need to find the best position for us.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope it helps to give some others out there who might be reading this some ideas on how they might fine tune their own position. It's great to hear you've found a comfortable position. None of the other aspects of a bike make any difference if you can't ride it because you're suffering from too much pain.
This is your finest work yet. I think it's the old Merckx scenes that win me over. Also, totally just did this exact thing and switched back to the Nitto rando bars. I think I use a slightly different one than you though, same one's that Ms. Cools is using. But in my case, it was a matter of getting my quill stem low enough. I've had to chop a few centimeters off the bottom of my quill stem, one of the issues with having such a short head tube, the stem will bottom out on the butted steerer. Anyway, loving the bars now, so much room to move around and find the right spot for the given effort. Thanks for the presentation, and the music rules as always, keep it wilde!
Thank you! 🙏🏼 I spent the whole evening searching through the old race footage and in doing so, grew even more fond of the classic riders like Merckx. His style and relaxed deemer on and off the bike makes him seem so humble and down to earth. I'm inspired by that, and I really enjoyed seeing him holding the tape measure up against the quill while the onlookers behind were just absolutely blown away to be there. I know I would have been. After riding John's gravel bike it helped me to rethink how I wanted this bike to feel and do. I think I was being stubborn with the Maes bars hoping I'd adapt to them even though they're more of an aggressive fit. They're nice bars and would work well on a bike with different goals and positioning. I remember when my quill stem was bottomed out on the Expedition and it was also seized into the fork. Somehow you figured out a way to get it loose! Ever since then I pull my stem out every few months, clean it, grease it, and put it back together.
Eddy Merckx, now that was one of greatest riders back in these days. Super cool how he is cooling is rear tyre/rim in the descent with water from his bottle. Like te Fitz bikes, they really look retro chic and classy. Kind regards, Eric.
Got the Nitto B135 too : great and comfy ! I have adjusted like yours to have a flatter top. There is the VO "Grand randonneur" I really like too (a bit less flared on the drops) The only problem I've founded is the Berthoud's Rearviewmirror is a bit loose on it ;)
If you get fatigue the best aerodynamic position counts nothing. Especially on everyday rides and if the only one you challenge is yourself. Enjoying the landscape, air and yourself does not necessarily need the highes speed. beautyful bike and bar and if there are "Velominati rules", do not give a f... . I am not sure but i guess the rotationangle of the bar is not in the Velominati rules, or is it? Liebe Grüße
Thanks for the video. I’ve adjusted my bars for hand comfort at the hoods. If I tilt the bars too far forward I get excessive pressure on the heel of my palm and it causes hand numbness. As I’ve become more cycling fit I no longer have hand numbness issues. Never had a bike fit. I ride an 80s steel lugged bike but have gone to modern single speed ergo brake levers for more comfort. I use bar end friction shifters. Thanks again.
I'm using the same bars, same size, with the same DiaCompe shifters only as bar ends. Favorite drop bar ever is the Soma Brevet Randonneur 130'ish drop and 80'ish reach. Discontinued as well. Very hard to find similar spec bars for 25.4 quill stems but available galore in 31.8 clamp size. Nitto's B135 seems to be the closest but with a longer reach.
Some of the minor features of a HB can be the crucial factor. Like a straight/sweep back top, top diameter, ramp length, or the slanting/flat drop section you mentioned. I personally prefer fatter top section, with sweep back, and short ramp. I find it much more comfortable for long ride.
I watched you threading your bar through the clamp and it reminded me of a time I tried to thread a drop bar through a stem clamp that was probably not intended for a drop bar. I splayed the single bolt clamp open with a flat blade screw driver just enough to fit the bar through.
Love the great Eddie Merxx! I still have the same model and width bars he used on my '78 Moulton. My everyday ride a fixed track bike has 42cm shallow drops. The saddle to bar drop measurement is slight. Hands touch at stem for headwind with elbows bent. Over speed, hands move out to imitate having brake hoods for control- about 110 rpm. Elbows out above that. 42 cm bars for leverage uphill. Stand at 10mph. Uphill into a headwind use the drops. Eddie Merxx had a choppy style made neccessary due to th narrow gear range available in his time. Unless you seek a challenge this isn't necessarily.
Take care with 12 year old fit numbers. I found with age my numbers have changed though I was stubborn about it. I now fit for my high endurance low wattage reality. Of course you are still to young to worry about that. BTW you should include one day the opening bike service scene from A Sunday in Hell.
On the retro 1975 Gitane I am using a 44cm Cinelli deep drop(150mm) bar and 130 stem. I had to file the original stem slightly to fit the fork and the bar would not fit the 25.4 diameter. I set the bar drops close to perpendicular to the head tube, so not quite parallel.The Dia Compe aero brakes levers were changed to modern Tektro which are beefier. The original MAFAC levers are torture devices with no padding! I am used to 30 deg flared bars on the gravel bike about 42cm at the hoods and 62 at the drops with shallow drop. These are comfortable as well.
The old Dia Compe non-aero levers do look uncomfortable! A square box and no padding? I haven't personally ridden with them, but when I look at the historical racing clips, it seems the riders spent most of the time in the drops, unless they were climbing. The Fausto Coppi clips show him switching from the drops to the tops. Rarely could I find him riding on the ramps, and I had to scour over lots of old video clips to find a few examples. With the lower saddle position, it may not have been necessary to position your hands on the ramps? Then again with the cost of filming back in those days, they likely only recorded portions of the race where things were actually happening, such as a climb or an attack. We may not be seeing the hours of riding where they were just cruising along on a flat road in the group? Maybe then they did ride on the ramps? I personally like having my hands on the curved part of the bars where it bends from the flats to the ramps.
@@Henrywildeberry With some of the vintage bars, one could find four different hand positions. As for cruising along when nothing is happening you may be right. But Merckx's philosophy of "I hurt therefore this is a bike race" applied equally to others(putting on the hurt) as to himself. If I am suffering the others are suffering more. Modern compact bars do not have much corner to place your hands, hence the default to the levers. But I do like the idea of a flat or oval profile on the middle of the bars. Have not tried that yet. Would you consider a comparison of the Paul Mini Moto brakes and the VO double pivot brakes as alternative rim brakes? How much difference does having post mount centre pull brakes make vs the centre bolt? What about tire and fender clearance? Keep up the good work. Much appreciated.
Thank you! It's the same camera with a new lens. I have a few different cameras, and sometimes I use an action camera, but the quality is pretty grainy.
The Grand Cru Randonneur bar splits the difference between the Maes Parallel and the Nitto Rando, with the flare, upswept tops and parallel ramps and drops.
nice old clips too love the flares on the trousers not the handle bars 😂🤣🚲 although my last bike had flared HB and I liked it got a Marin Larkspur 2 now as my only bike gone to comfort
This is the only way I have to ask this ? How did Ms.Cools get her 11-46 cassette to work on her bicycle I tried to put mine on and broke the bolt that holds it on now I have to re order one it has to have a special link hook up to it but the metal is so weak what is the best way to install this on my bicycle?
I'm sorry, I wish I could help you, but Ms. Cools doesn't have an 11-46, she has an 11-32 cassette. I'd check with a local mountain bike shop to see if they can get you sorted out. They typically work with larger rear cassettes and could have the correct derailleur for your application. Good luck!
If your elbows can’t flap like wings while holding the handlebars while riding more then likely you will have wrist problems, lest that’s what I have learned motorcycle riding , so I have integrated that onto my bicycle as well
It's a nice mirror. The field of view is small and you have to get the angle just right, but it's mostly out of the way. I have bumped my knee on it a few times climbing out of the saddle and had to readjust it, but overall it's very high quality. Ms Cools has one that's slightly larger and has a better field of view and much less expensive, but it sticks out more and gets bumped around when you lean the bike against a wall.
I really wish that G.B. bar end mirror was domed slightly. I bought a $5 plastic version for another bike on ebay and it's sooo much easier to adjust than the $80 GB. Just need to aim it in the ballpark and you can see everything. With the flat mirror you need to be very precise.
It has a pretty small field of view. I'm not sure I'd want it doomed personally, because then the objects start to look distorted. A slightly larger disc would help open up the field a little more without the fish eye effect.
@@Henrywildeberry Fair, it does make objects in the middle look smaller. But for just glancing back to keep an eye on traffic domed still more useful in my opinion. Hunt for the perfect bar end mirror haha :)
I rode with a 45cm Noodle for two years on my touring bike. I put about 8,500 miles on them. Good overall, I liked the swept back feel with my hands on the tops. The width was a tad wider than I prefer on that particular bike, and I would have liked a slightly narrower 42cm or so. Choice of bars for me comes down to a number of factors including stack height, reach, and how I plan to ride the bike. Nitto makes fantastic stuff, something for everyone. Thank you!
Very, cool! I hope you like them. I continue to experiment with mine and how "level" to make the ramps. Right now, I've got the ramps just slightly downward, but I've pulled the brake levers up a bit to compensate. We'll see how that goes...Let me know how you set them up.
Why not dispense with drop bars altogether? For many, myself included, they are terrible -- hard on wrists, back, neck and shoulders. And how people struggle to make them fit, to find the right variables, the right calibration. Time to recognize drops are a bad design with a great legacy. How good are they for your body? You might be much happier and ride better and healthier with a set of mustache bars. (I hear the groans now.)
I tried a set of mustache bars on my Gitane but could not quite get along with them. The aero levers did not work so well but a set of forward facing levers might. Choice and style is why there are so many different set ups. Just need to find what works for you.
A friend toured cross country with flat bars and swore the entire way because they were so "hard on wrists, back, neck and shoulders!" Despite using bar ends, the pain was unrelenting. He quickly realized how dumb he was to forgo drop bars his long ride. Do you really think drop handlebars were designed to be UN-comfortable? No, their very design is to do exactly the OPPOSITE of what you describe. Now if you're in your 80's, then fine, ride mustache bars. Better yet, flip your drop bars up like in the 70's (you know, when you were in your 50's!!!) and have fun! But for the fit, experienced and long-distance cyclist, there's nothing better than drop handlebars. They allow multiple hand angles as well as different upper body elevations to relieve discomfort in all the regions you mention. And every time I give mustache bars a try, I'm amazed at just how many TERRIBLE hand positions they offer! Virtually useless. Then again, if they work for you, great. Good that there's a choice. But you're in a tiny minority of cyclists.
I agree with you about flat bars. Terrible for their inflexibility. I replace them with "allrounders" and other ergonomic variations. What I do not agree with and find offensive is your reasoning. You are bigoted against older people, associating them with weakness, physical failure and worse. And where is your evidence, your facts that I am part of a "tiny minority of cyclists"? What does it matter if I am? All you've accomplished is to reveal your contempt for others.
It's to avoid a tight radius in the cable housing. I'm using a very short steel cable hanger that provides good stiffness, but it means the cable routing is less than ideal. There are some decent looking deeper drop cable hangers made out of aluminum, but I haven't experimented with any of them to know if they work well. For now I've just come to accept the bozo cable routing to ensure I have nice braking feel.
@@Henrywildeberry Traditional looking everything else. Why not non aero levers. You've already got the inferior in every way threaded headset. These actually do work better. Hold onto meaningful advances but question added complexity.
I recognize a few segments from Jørgen Leth's "A Sunday in Hell" (1977) film on Paris Roubaix. Can you list the other films that you sourced the racing footage from?
Sure, I'm happy to try and list some of the footage I was able to find. I found most of these searching TH-cam or Google for Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx.
Here's the list as best as I can recreate (some of these were listed since I watched them but may not have used any of the clips):
1. 1949 Tour d' France by British Pathe
2. 1952 Giro d' Italia Maglia Rosa "Fausto Coppi"
3. 1960 Giro d' Italia Jaques Anquetil
4. 1949 Giro d' Italia Cuneo Pinerolo
5. The Stars and the Water Carriers 1973 Giro d' Italia
6. 1972 Tour de France Stage 13 Eddy Merckx
7. Eddy Merckx 1969 and 1970 during the Tour de France
@@Henrywildeberry Thanks for ID-ing the race footage, all those long, low stems!! Lol. "Stars and Water Carriers" is also a film directed by Jørgen Leth, fyi.
Mark Eastman Thanks for pointing out the name of the original director. I found most of these clips on unrelated TH-cam channels, with the few noted exceptions, and wasn't able to figure out who created the original work. Thank you! I'll pin this comment to the top for others reference in the future!
Another good one is Vive le Tour, a Louis Malle film of the 1962 race: th-cam.com/video/2nLxAKwtBb4/w-d-xo.html
A lot of the Merckx footage is from Joel Santoni's beautiful 1974 documentary La Course En Tete - music by David Munrow (of the Early Music Consort of London).
Regarding getting bars in and out of a quill stem, we used to remove the stem clamp bolt and then put a coin in the slot to hold it slightly more open. Less likely to mess up the engraving on a nice Nitto or Cinelli bar.
Excellent nuggets like this are the reason I still read TH-cam comments!
@db8556 With your coin trick, you can screw the bolt in from the back, hit the coin, and then turn it just a snidge more, so as to slightly open the clamp interface too.
Thank you very much for the video about handlebars. You have dispelled some of my doubts. All the best!
Thanks for the vintage video it takes me back to the days when we raced in wool jerseys and shorts. I have to chuckle when I see the progression of your bicycle. Its looking more like my 1973 Holdsworth with great Britain bars. I paid $ 125. New in 73. I haven't felt a need to buy a bicycle since. On of my many blessings.
@RollinRat Reynolds five three one mag- moly tubing is all I have ever ridden ( except my huffy). Very strong durable and nimble. Do they even still make it.
You said something interesting about wrist angles and comfort. I also noticed the old films and the riders wrist angle. I am an older rider and struggle with discomfort in the wrist, feet, back, shoulders. I would like to hear more, from you prospective, about wrist angles, Seat heights, stretch, and back positions for long distance, climbing and down hill.
“Bike rules” the ones I love are the unwritten rules.
Seeing Fausto Coppi @9:29 made me smile, Miss Cools riding style reminds me of him.
I love the rando bars. I had a really comfortable cockpit setup on a modern compact bar with TRP Hylex brakes, which have an insanely long hood. When the caliper wore out, I decided to switch to mechanicals and then an ultra modern GRX Di2 on a semi-custom frame, and just fought hand numbness on the same bars I had run for years with the TRP hoods. I tried a few different types of compact bars and my hands would just fall asleep after 30 minutes no matter what I did. I went for a casual ride with a friend and noticed how much more room he had to move his hands around on the rando bars. Got to thinking about it, and the reason the compact bar with Hylex hoods worked, is the hood is so long it opened up a lot of hand positions for me. I switched to the rando bars, with their nice long ramps and hand problems solved.
Beyond that, I spent so much time and money working with no less than 4 professional fitters, two of whom were physical therapists, and the last one used a lot of high speed motion capture equipment, to address some minor knee pain and it totally exacerbated a back pain issue I have fought the last ten years. It ruined the late summer for me as I just couldn't ride more than 20 miles without being in pain. I was looking at some photos from 2018, from right before I started seeing bike fitters again (a coach fit me when I raced years ago), and noted how much less saddle setback I had. Like probably 1-2 INCHES less saddle setback. Bike fitter/high speed camera brought me from straight seatpost with saddle a tad forward to slammed back on a set back seatpost. I kept moving the saddle forward and forward, went back to a straight seatpost, until the back pain went away. It felt like there was more pressure on my knees then there needed to be, so I experimented with moving my cleats back and that fixed the pressure on my knees. I know I am not in a totally optimal position, I could put out more power if I were further back, right until my back gave out.
Anyway, my point is your spot on in this video, a little experimentation is sometimes what we need to find the best position for us.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope it helps to give some others out there who might be reading this some ideas on how they might fine tune their own position. It's great to hear you've found a comfortable position. None of the other aspects of a bike make any difference if you can't ride it because you're suffering from too much pain.
Your videos take on a very original style, I really love that!
This is your finest work yet. I think it's the old Merckx scenes that win me over. Also, totally just did this exact thing and switched back to the Nitto rando bars. I think I use a slightly different one than you though, same one's that Ms. Cools is using. But in my case, it was a matter of getting my quill stem low enough. I've had to chop a few centimeters off the bottom of my quill stem, one of the issues with having such a short head tube, the stem will bottom out on the butted steerer. Anyway, loving the bars now, so much room to move around and find the right spot for the given effort. Thanks for the presentation, and the music rules as always, keep it wilde!
Thank you! 🙏🏼 I spent the whole evening searching through the old race footage and in doing so, grew even more fond of the classic riders like Merckx. His style and relaxed deemer on and off the bike makes him seem so humble and down to earth. I'm inspired by that, and I really enjoyed seeing him holding the tape measure up against the quill while the onlookers behind were just absolutely blown away to be there. I know I would have been.
After riding John's gravel bike it helped me to rethink how I wanted this bike to feel and do. I think I was being stubborn with the Maes bars hoping I'd adapt to them even though they're more of an aggressive fit. They're nice bars and would work well on a bike with different goals and positioning.
I remember when my quill stem was bottomed out on the Expedition and it was also seized into the fork. Somehow you figured out a way to get it loose! Ever since then I pull my stem out every few months, clean it, grease it, and put it back together.
The vintage racing footage was aces, as well as your info on handle bar tech and how it relates to body positioning. Thanks Henrywildeberry.
Eddy Merckx, now that was one of greatest riders back in these days. Super cool how he is cooling is rear tyre/rim in the descent with water from his bottle. Like te Fitz bikes, they really look retro chic and classy. Kind regards, Eric.
He "is" the greatest of all time. No discussion on it.
@@ciccioformaccio7527 I agree completely.👍
Hi Henry, I thought I might have saw you on my way home on Hwy 101 going south in a brown VW Westfallia van. Great video! 🤘🏼 keep riding.
Got the Nitto B135 too : great and comfy !
I have adjusted like yours to have a flatter top.
There is the VO "Grand randonneur"
I really like too (a bit less flared on the drops)
The only problem I've founded is the Berthoud's Rearviewmirror is a bit loose on it ;)
If you get fatigue the best aerodynamic position counts nothing. Especially on everyday rides and if the only one you challenge is yourself. Enjoying the landscape, air and yourself does not necessarily need the highes speed. beautyful bike and bar and if there are "Velominati rules", do not give a f... . I am not sure but i guess the rotationangle of the bar is not in the Velominati rules, or is it? Liebe Grüße
Thanks for the video. I’ve adjusted my bars for hand comfort at the hoods. If I tilt the bars too far forward I get excessive pressure on the heel of my palm and it causes hand numbness. As I’ve become more cycling fit I no longer have hand numbness issues. Never had a bike fit.
I ride an 80s steel lugged bike but have gone to modern single speed ergo brake levers for more comfort. I use bar end friction shifters.
Thanks again.
I'm using the same bars, same size, with the same DiaCompe shifters only as bar ends.
Favorite drop bar ever is the Soma Brevet Randonneur 130'ish drop and 80'ish reach. Discontinued as well. Very hard to find similar spec bars for 25.4 quill stems but available galore in 31.8 clamp size. Nitto's B135 seems to be the closest but with a longer reach.
Some of the minor features of a HB can be the crucial factor. Like a straight/sweep back top, top diameter, ramp length, or the slanting/flat drop section you mentioned. I personally prefer fatter top section, with sweep back, and short ramp. I find it much more comfortable for long ride.
Hey. Love the bar tape you put on. Looks beautiful
I watched you threading your bar through the clamp and it reminded me of a time I tried to thread a drop bar through a stem clamp that was probably not intended for a drop bar. I splayed the single bolt clamp open with a flat blade screw driver just enough to fit the bar through.
Comfort is key to happiness.
But if you can get a few tenths with the same comfort and effort, why not. A walk is as good as a hit!
Love the great Eddie Merxx! I still have the same model and width bars he used on my '78 Moulton. My everyday ride a fixed track bike has 42cm shallow drops. The saddle to bar drop measurement is slight. Hands touch at stem for headwind with elbows bent. Over speed, hands move out to imitate having brake hoods for control- about 110 rpm. Elbows out above that. 42 cm bars for leverage uphill. Stand at 10mph. Uphill into a headwind use the drops. Eddie Merxx had a choppy style made neccessary due to th narrow gear range available in his time. Unless you seek a challenge this isn't necessarily.
Great observation of the positions set on the bikes while they are in motion.
I have the same Nitto bars! Super comfy and it feels really nice in the drops, I think.
Nice video with a good sound track :)
Far out dude gnarly video and I like the trippy cool hat bro
The whole reason for the video was to show off the hat, but that's only between you and me.
Take care with 12 year old fit numbers. I found with age my numbers have changed though I was stubborn about it. I now fit for my high endurance low wattage reality. Of course you are still to young to worry about that. BTW you should include one day the opening bike service scene from A Sunday in Hell.
On the retro 1975 Gitane I am using a 44cm Cinelli deep drop(150mm) bar and 130 stem. I had to file the original stem slightly to fit the fork and the bar would not fit the 25.4 diameter. I set the bar drops close to perpendicular to the head tube, so not quite parallel.The Dia Compe aero brakes levers were changed to modern Tektro which are beefier. The original MAFAC levers are torture devices with no padding! I am used to 30 deg flared bars on the gravel bike about 42cm at the hoods and 62 at the drops with shallow drop. These are comfortable as well.
The old Dia Compe non-aero levers do look uncomfortable! A square box and no padding? I haven't personally ridden with them, but when I look at the historical racing clips, it seems the riders spent most of the time in the drops, unless they were climbing. The Fausto Coppi clips show him switching from the drops to the tops. Rarely could I find him riding on the ramps, and I had to scour over lots of old video clips to find a few examples. With the lower saddle position, it may not have been necessary to position your hands on the ramps? Then again with the cost of filming back in those days, they likely only recorded portions of the race where things were actually happening, such as a climb or an attack. We may not be seeing the hours of riding where they were just cruising along on a flat road in the group? Maybe then they did ride on the ramps? I personally like having my hands on the curved part of the bars where it bends from the flats to the ramps.
@@Henrywildeberry With some of the vintage bars, one could find four different hand positions. As for cruising along when nothing is happening you may be right. But Merckx's philosophy of "I hurt therefore this is a bike race" applied equally to others(putting on the hurt) as to himself. If I am suffering the others are suffering more. Modern compact bars do not have much corner to place your hands, hence the default to the levers. But I do like the idea of a flat or oval profile on the middle of the bars. Have not tried that yet.
Would you consider a comparison of the Paul Mini Moto brakes and the VO double pivot brakes as alternative rim brakes? How much difference does having post mount centre pull brakes make vs the centre bolt? What about tire and fender clearance?
Keep up the good work. Much appreciated.
Thanks for the video. Did you get a new video camera? The H D is super sharp and vivid colors.
Thank you! It's the same camera with a new lens. I have a few different cameras, and sometimes I use an action camera, but the quality is pretty grainy.
The Grand Cru Randonneur bar splits the difference between the Maes Parallel and the Nitto Rando, with the flare, upswept tops and parallel ramps and drops.
Great old footage. What is Merckx trying to do with the water bottle (10:19)? Cool off the brakes or his foot?
Cooling off the tire/rim combo - to keep the tubular glue from softening or melting and rolling a tire!
nice old clips too love the flares on the trousers not the handle bars 😂🤣🚲 although my last bike had flared HB and I liked it
got a Marin Larkspur 2 now as my only bike gone to comfort
This is the only way I have to ask this ? How did Ms.Cools get her 11-46 cassette to work on her bicycle I tried to put mine on and broke the bolt that holds it on now I have to re order one it has to have a special link hook up to it but the metal is so weak what is the best way to install this on my bicycle?
I'm sorry, I wish I could help you, but Ms. Cools doesn't have an 11-46, she has an 11-32 cassette. I'd check with a local mountain bike shop to see if they can get you sorted out. They typically work with larger rear cassettes and could have the correct derailleur for your application. Good luck!
Are these the Nitto B132AA, B135AA or B136AA? Thank you!
2:08
If your elbows can’t flap like wings while holding the handlebars while riding more then likely you will have wrist problems, lest that’s what I have learned motorcycle riding , so I have integrated that onto my bicycle as well
You happy with that little bar end mirror?
It's a nice mirror. The field of view is small and you have to get the angle just right, but it's mostly out of the way. I have bumped my knee on it a few times climbing out of the saddle and had to readjust it, but overall it's very high quality. Ms Cools has one that's slightly larger and has a better field of view and much less expensive, but it sticks out more and gets bumped around when you lean the bike against a wall.
@@Henrywildeberry thanks for the info. Who makes it?
@@waytall9213 it's made in France by Gilles Berthoud company ; it's a great mirror
Indurain for me. Great video
Such a nice psychedelic cap! What's the brand ?
Thanks Nicolas, I got it from The Rough Stuff Fellowship.
I really wish that G.B. bar end mirror was domed slightly. I bought a $5 plastic version for another bike on ebay and it's sooo much easier to adjust than the $80 GB. Just need to aim it in the ballpark and you can see everything. With the flat mirror you need to be very precise.
It has a pretty small field of view. I'm not sure I'd want it doomed personally, because then the objects start to look distorted. A slightly larger disc would help open up the field a little more without the fish eye effect.
@@Henrywildeberry Fair, it does make objects in the middle look smaller. But for just glancing back to keep an eye on traffic domed still more useful in my opinion. Hunt for the perfect bar end mirror haha :)
Great video! What is that song at the end??
Thank you. It's called "Living in a Dream", by Twin Guns.
@@Henrywildeberry Cool stuff!!!
Somebody is a Merckx fan!
Swoopy Bars?
The Nitto Noodle is a the perfect compromise...
I rode with a 45cm Noodle for two years on my touring bike. I put about 8,500 miles on them. Good overall, I liked the swept back feel with my hands on the tops. The width was a tad wider than I prefer on that particular bike, and I would have liked a slightly narrower 42cm or so. Choice of bars for me comes down to a number of factors including stack height, reach, and how I plan to ride the bike. Nitto makes fantastic stuff, something for everyone. Thank you!
In Randonneuring, long distance would be 750 miles!
True! I think that’s just a warm up ride for most rando’s:)
I just got these bars and I was thinking that the drops can’t meant to be parallel to the ground. So they won’t be😉
Very, cool! I hope you like them. I continue to experiment with mine and how "level" to make the ramps. Right now, I've got the ramps just slightly downward, but I've pulled the brake levers up a bit to compensate. We'll see how that goes...Let me know how you set them up.
Why not dispense with drop bars altogether? For many, myself included, they are terrible -- hard on wrists, back, neck and shoulders. And how people struggle to make them fit, to find the right variables, the right calibration. Time to recognize drops are a bad design with a great legacy. How good are they for your body? You might be much happier and ride better and healthier with a set of mustache bars. (I hear the groans now.)
Groan! Ban the brake hoods but keep the drops. Are we not men? D-E-V-O!
Are we not men? D'E-V-O!
I tried a set of mustache bars on my Gitane but could not quite get along with them. The aero levers did not work so well but a set of forward facing levers might. Choice and style is why there are so many different set ups. Just need to find what works for you.
A friend toured cross country with flat bars and swore the entire way because they were so "hard on wrists, back, neck and shoulders!" Despite using bar ends, the pain was unrelenting. He quickly realized how dumb he was to forgo drop bars his long ride. Do you really think drop handlebars were designed to be UN-comfortable?
No, their very design is to do exactly the OPPOSITE of what you describe. Now if you're in your 80's, then fine, ride mustache bars. Better yet, flip your drop bars up like in the 70's (you know, when you were in your 50's!!!) and have fun! But for the fit, experienced and long-distance cyclist, there's nothing better than drop handlebars. They allow multiple hand angles as well as different upper body elevations to relieve discomfort in all the regions you mention.
And every time I give mustache bars a try, I'm amazed at just how many TERRIBLE hand positions they offer! Virtually useless.
Then again, if they work for you, great. Good that there's a choice. But you're in a tiny minority of cyclists.
I agree with you about flat bars. Terrible for their inflexibility. I replace them with "allrounders" and other ergonomic variations. What I do not agree with and find offensive is your reasoning. You are bigoted against older people, associating them with weakness, physical failure and worse. And where is your evidence, your facts that I am part of a "tiny minority of cyclists"? What does it matter if I am? All you've accomplished is to reveal your contempt for others.
why would/did you route the cable over the top of the bar ? it's bozo looking , just sayin'
It's to avoid a tight radius in the cable housing. I'm using a very short steel cable hanger that provides good stiffness, but it means the cable routing is less than ideal. There are some decent looking deeper drop cable hangers made out of aluminum, but I haven't experimented with any of them to know if they work well. For now I've just come to accept the bozo cable routing to ensure I have nice braking feel.
@@Henrywildeberry Traditional looking everything else. Why not non aero levers. You've already got the inferior in every way threaded headset. These actually do work better. Hold onto meaningful advances but question added complexity.