Racing fits are bloody uncomfortable, with the bars often as much as 5" below seat height. It's very aerodynamic and restricts breathing. Racers run them because most of them need the aero improvements to keep up with the guys with incredible lungs. I run midway between the 'French fit' (bars at seat height, typical for a touring bike, hybrid or many MTB's as well as almost all long-distance riders, the fit most people should be getting when the shop sells them a road bike) and an 'Eddy' fit (Bars around 5cm below seat height, aero enough to race but allows you to breathe fully, popularized by Eddy Merckx and used to devastating effect by Lance Armstrong). If I was to do any real long distance riding I'd flip my stem to ease up on the back, but my rides are rarely longer than 3-4 hours so I go for the more aggressive setup.
Bar shape and 'race' type uncomfort are very seperate things. And those 3-speed bars are better than modern riser bars for general riding as they put your wrists and forearms in a more natural position. Note these are also known as 'Priest' bars. I still wouldn't want to ride more than an hour or two with them at one go. -Adam graywolf wrote: > Well, I use the 3-speed style handlebars myself. Of course I only started > riding when I was 9-10. I used to believe all the bull put out by the > hardcore enthusiasts, but now I go by what my old fat body tells me. > > > Adam Maas wrote: >> John Sessoms wrote: >>>> From: >>>> "Bob W" >>>> The costume certainly has; spandex & aerodynamic helmets, and >>>> >>>> bicycle >>>> >>>> >>>>>> engineering has made incredible improvements. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> I'm not so sure about that. I don't wear spandex or a helmet. My >>>> bicycle is a steel one and wouldn't look particularly out of place in >>>> that film (except for the 21 indexed gears perhaps). I have a Brooks >>>> saddle and a Carradice saddle bag, same as them. >>>> >>>> British cycle touring is a bit of a time warp. >>>> >>>> When I was in my 20s I used to sneer at the sort of middle-aged man >>>> who was a member of the CTC, carried an old camera and was in the RPS. >>>> >>>> >>>> Now I'm almost 50 and a member of the CTC and the RPS and have a Leica >>>> of my own I switch between sneering at my younger self, and horror at >>>> what I've become! >>>> >>> Spandex is the greatest thing since sliced bread as you get older. Helps >>> keep certain parts of the anatomy from rubbing and producing friction >>> burns. >>> >>> And I do use the helmet. I was a teenager in the 60s and I'm trying to >>> hang on to what little bit of my brain survived that experience. >>> >>> Your bike may be similar in many respects to those, but I expect the >>> engineering that went into producing it is greatly improved, even if the >>> appearance hasn't changed all that much. Most modern "touring" bikes are >>> a "hybrid" design with straight handlebars that allow you to ride in a >>> more upright than the curved under handlebars used in racing bikes (even >>> if it is called the Tour de France it's a race, not a pleasant day's >>> ride in the country). >>> >>> The materials and methods of fabrication create a much more durable >>> bike, generally a lighter weight, and lower cost than those old touring >>> bikes. It may look the same, but it's a whole lot better piece of machinery. >>> >> Actually Hybrid bikes don't give you any more (and often less) of an >> upright position than drop bars, as the bars are no higher than the tops >> of a drop bar with a good touring-suitable fit. Most real Touring bikes >> use drop bars or some older style (Moustache, bullhorns, priest or >> similar) as riser bars or flat bars are unsuited for long-distance >> cycling due to the single hand position. A set of drops has 4-5 >> different hand positions allowing you to move around on the bike and >> prevent numb/sore hands, arms or shoulders. Hybrid bikes are intended >> for short to medium distance riding on pavement or trails. Lots of >> people tour on them, but mostly due to not being aware of superior >> options or due to the one real weakness of road-diameter bars (lack of >> brake options due to there only being one set of linear-pull compatible >> levers for road bars and no hydraulic disc/rim brake options to fit road >> diameter bars. Road and MTB bars are different diameters so brake levers >> can't be swapped between the two). >> >> Personally I ride Bullhorns, which can be seen here on my bike: >> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/mawz/498672032/ >> >> That gives me 3 different hand positions (flats, sides and stretched out >> to the tips. I switched from Drops because I'm currently too fat to ride >> in the drops and bullhorns are more comfortable than riding on the brake >> hoods. You'll notice my bars are only a couple centimeters below my >> saddle, I could easily bump them up to match saddle height and have the >> same position as a Hybrid with risers, but I like the lower position better. >> >> -Adam >> >> > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
