Short reach bar for Campagnolo levers

[Lightweenie]

Hi all,

I am using a Ritchey WCS Logic II bar for quite some time and am perfectly satisfied with it, except for one thing: It is quite hard/impossible to operate the thumb levers while sprinting. When seated I can operate them fine from the drops, it's just when i'm in the drops and standing that I cannot reach them properly.

I was wondering if a different bend bar would help with this? Does this make sense? If yes are there any bars that you would recommend? It would have to be a shallow bar with a short reach, say between 70 and 75mm (the Logic 2 has 72) in size 40 c-c.

thanks!

[kytyree]

I think the Deda bars with the RHM bend are 75?

As far as the thumb levers, it depends how flat you like the bar to ergo transition, at least for me. If I set them up flat, the thumb levers are a tad high for me, down just a bit and they're fine. If you like the ergo's in a more classical style where there is a distinct curve between top and the ergo then the thumb levers will be easy to reach. But I'd probably go with their shallow drop bar if you prefer them that way, I think Calnago has a bike or two one here setup that way.

[corky]

Zipp sl70....can get them with flat tops (ergo) or round tops....... the flat tops have a touch of backward sweep....... they have a rea h of 70, but does depend how you mount your shifters which is true of all bars

[blaugrana]

Traditional drop bars are a bit better with this, because they put the hoods lower compared to modern compact bars with flat transitions. Of course it will depend on the exact bars and how you have them setup (both the angle of the bars and the exact hood mounting position), but I have a set of 3t Rotundos (discontinued now, but still available) set with the flat part of the drops almost perfectly horizontal, and that puts the hoods about 2cm lower than the tops of the bars, which makes the thumb levers pretty easy to reach from the drops.

[Alexandrumarian]

but I have a set of 3t Rotundos (discontinued now, but still available)

I have a set of alu Deda zero 100 deep bars on my backup bike - got them because i needed the longer reach and it happened that i fell in love with the flat parallel to ground drops. I am not yet 100% friendly with the deep hood thing but still I am thinking about trying a carbon trad shape for my main bike which has a compact Fizik 00 now. Would you say the 3T is reasonbaly stiff? I just saw one for cheap. My Fiziks are a bit lacking, at over 95Kg I often feel them bend and twist a bit too much.

[blaugrana]

Would you say the 3T is reasonbaly stiff? I just saw one for cheap. My Fiziks are a bit lacking, at over 95Kg I often feel them bend and twist a bit too much.

I have the aluminium ones and haven't noticed any lack of stiffness (probably being the narrower 40cm version also helps), but I don't know about the carbon version.

[kytyree]

Zipp sl70....can get them with flat tops (ergo) or round tops....... the flat tops have a touch of backward sweep....... they have a rea h of 70, but does depend how you mount your shifters which is true of all bars

Had a chance to try these out with Campy levers since you posted this, but I do think I'd like them. Better as far as reaching the thumb levers than the Deda ones I posted from what I could tell.

[kytyree]

oops

[silvalis]

I can't reach them either and have trouble reaching them from the drops seated anyway. Have been wondering (for a long time) whether short drop classic bend bards like ritchey neo classic would make it easier.

[Lightweenie]

@corky & kytyree: Do you think the ergo's or the normal zipp sl-70 would be a better option? The "normal" ones would probably move the hoods slightly lower than the ergo and therefore I assume make the thumb lever a bit more reachable. On the other hand, I wonder whether this makes my position on the hoods too low (and I don't have enough steerer tube to compensate this with spacers...).

[kytyree]

I've only had my hands on the ergo version but I thought the bars were the same in the drops. Zipp shows them both as being 70/128, I think.

I thought the "ergo" part, and the difference between the two, was the slightly ovalized top section on the ergo version? With the other having a traditional round shape?

I liked that ergo SL70 enough that I'm going to give them a go myself. Not radically different than what I was using but they felt a like an improvement to me.

[Lightweenie]

Maybe I understand this wrongly, but my understanding is that the ergo ones are flat for longer and then turn down more aggressively so that the hoods are level with the tops, whereas the “normal “ ones start turning down a bit earlier so that the hoods are a bit lower. I think this should be better for reaching the thumb lever from the drops when sprinting but I probably still have to go with the ergo ones due to fit reasons...

[Calnago]

I think the term “ergo” can cover a pretty wide range of bars, like all of them really, depending on what you define “ergo” as. For instance, for me personally, my Deda Zero 100 Shallows are “ergonomically” perfect, with a “Classic” shape, and “classic” to me means a ramp from the top of the bars downward before the curved radius really begins with a nice flat section on the drops. That Deda calls these bars “Shallow” is a bit funny since at 135mm deep, that’s hardly shallow by today’s standards. I couldn’t even ride with a 125mm drop bar without my wrists banging on the corners unless there was a significant flare from the hoods to the drops.
This is what I like, and I’m sticking’ to it...

With a setup like the above I basically have 3 distinct heights to work with, each one successively more aggressive... on the tops of the bars (climbing, cruising, whenever I feel like it), hoods (a little more aggressive, comfy, can stay there a long time, bend elbows as needed to get more aggressive if wanted), then the drops (most aggressive position, yet sometimes just cruising along in a paceline they’re a nice place to be just as a change of position for awhile. But they are all very useable.

[Lightweenie]

I was not talking about ergo as a general term but about the zipp sl-70 ergo bars vs the non-ergo model of the same bar.