For a real classic bar, the Ritchey Classic or 3T Rotundo. Unfortunately many folks like the drops, but the transition to the hoods is terrible and people end up rotating them up to bring the hoods to a more natural position. The bars are not designed to do this and it looks terrible (please folks, quit doing this. It looks lame). If you find yourself in that situation, I would try the PRO Vibe S Round. Awesome bars. 3T has coppied that exact bar as well and it should be available soon. They both have a classic round drop with the newer style flat transition to the hoods.

I tend to be pretty comfy on the PRO Round, but for a crit of 60-90 mins in the drops my hands sometimes will go numb. Lucky for me, I am on the hoods for the majority of my riding. Honestly, a ergo bar like the 3T Ergonova would be a better fit for me, but I so love the looks of traditional drops. LOL.

Zipp's classic shapes are nice as well, but I think the reach looks long. Correct me if I am wrong.

Good luck.

please...explain? Especially the "bars are not designed to do this" part. Is this one of those bar drops pointed to rear hub VS. drops parallel with ground issues?
EM3

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My 2011 Cervelo R5

Folks tend to "roll" the bar up to get the hoods in a comfortable position, sometimes rendering the drops almost completely useless. Not only that it looks ridiculous. I feel the drop or end of the bar doesn't need to be completely level with the ground but when the bar end is literally facing down at a 15+ degree angle or more it looks terrible and makes putting the hands in the hook difficult. Placing the hoods way up on a classic bar looks terrible as well. If you have to do that to be comfy there are other choices out there.

Pro CXer Todd Wells should try a different bar because this looks like crap! What he is trying to do, is get a flat transition to the hoods. Wrong bar to do this with. Sure he did it, but now the drop is so far angled down it makes reaching the brakes tougher, moves the hook up so much you can hit your forearms on the tops. It doesn't make a bit of sense.



This looks better.



eBut who am I to tell anyone what is right? People need to do what they want to do.

Here is a bit of history of how handlebars these days are almost all angled up.

In the old days, every single bike had handlebars that were the traditional round bar, and almost always, the flats where parrallel to the ground.

In about 95 or so, the new fangled ergo bars came about, with a kink early in the flats which then went flat to the hood clamps. Most bike shops still sold these bars with the last bit of the flats still parallel to the ground.

Pro's started using the new bars, but they found the 'flat part in the drops' was at such a wierd angle that they felt they had to angle their wrists forward just to hold the bar. Loss of power was the result as the riders couldn't pull on the bars in a proper fist/forearm grip.

So, they started angling the bars up by about 15 degrees, allowing the 'flat part in the drops' to be in a more natural, and powerful grip for the fist/forearm.

From there, everyone started copying them, because it was actually a better angle, even though it moved the drops further away, and the hoods slightly closer.

Then, bike shops started selling bikes with the ergo bars always angled up...

And then new riders, who preferred the shape of the old round bar, started copying the ergo bar guys...

urgh

/rant
20 years ago I was riding a round bar, and these days I still ride a round bar. All my bikes have the bars parallel to the ground. I have tried an ergo bar in the early days when the last flat bit was parallel to the ground, and it just felt absolutely awful for sprinting with in the drops.

When I sprint, I really get my hands up in the drops. It absolutely feels awesome for power through my back while braced with my arms in that position.

I also 'track sprint' in a way, even in road sprints, so when I sit down after the jump, and spin up the gear further, my forearms are parallel to the ground, and the back is flat. And even then i'm still pulling on the bars.

I'm glad the round bar is still around, but I too don't get why you would buy a round bar, then angle it up.
/rant

We now have compact bars, which kinda combine the two bar shapes. They actually don't look too bad, and are probably pretty effective for road racing and such.

Anyway, that's my history lesson for the day

Don't get me started on 'compact' frames... 20 years ago, the 'angled down to seattube' frames indicated it was a girls bike. lol

I roll my bars like that and its because I prefer my hoods to be at that angle because it feels right on my wrist. Same way I have always run every set of levers on every setup I've tried so that there isn't undue pressure on my ulnar nerve. Yup, tried different stack and reach combos, but that is always the preference of my wrists.

Also not sure if you've seen Wells race, but he doesn't really use the drops much.

Most CXers don't use the drops much. Still no reason to run that bar if you can't utilize it like it was meant to be used. All I am saying is, there are better options out there than trying to make a bar do something it wasn't designed to do.

Reading this thread reminded me of this page I found with a nice comparison of at least some of the bars geometries.
Maybe you all have it as a reference already though...
http://ruedatropical.com/2009/03/road-d ... -geometry/

Personally, I find the Ritchey Classic and Deda Shallow too tight and constrictive.

I prefer the Deda Newton Deep or 3T Rotundo. The Rotundo is a little shallower (medium drop really) but the Newton Deep has a lovely flat transition into the lever hood.

Cinelli VRC shape bars are also worth a look. They're not a true classic bend but they're not far off.

My classic bar rant is this. Most modern shifters with the exception of campy are not meant to sit properly on a classic bar.
If you set the shifters up with a straight edge off the bottom of the drops- the shifters are too low.
If you raise the shifters up higher, they start angling out way further than the bars themselves.

For reference, my Easton EC90 bars



nice to see my choice confirmed here.

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dangerous curves ahead

I think we're all grown up enough to use/rotate whatever bar we want.

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ciclismo-espresso.com

There is no right way or wrong way to me. There is a way that works best for the individual. If that works and they are happy with it then what the problem.

Quite like Ritchey classic bars and Deda 215shallow bars. The 215 bars are a 26.0mm clamp diameter though which restricts your stem choice though.

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www.thecycleclinic.co.uk

Speak for yourself!

Grazie r_mutt!

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ciclismo-espresso.com

http://velonews.competitor.com/files/20 ... 33x421.jpg

The TdF was just won in bars set up like that.