Understanding Randonneur Bend Bars
 

I have seen that a number of posters here like rando bend bars. I only rode a few minutes on a pair on a too small bike a number of years ago but did not like them. My complaint was that the flair which produces more space and comfort while riding on the drops makes riding on the lever hoods uncomfortable. On rando ones hands rest on the transition between the top and the side of the lever hoods which is less comfortable. This seems to be an unreasonable sacrifice as the lever hoods are nice place to rest ones hands. They are well padded and allow access to at least the brakes and possibly the shifters. It seems to me that if one is going to spend long hours on the bike, the top of the hood hand position is one that should be optimized which rando bends do not do. I also found the brake levers less accessible although that might have been from habit.

What am I missing here, where does the love for this bend come from?
thanks,
bobscott

Aren't those the bars where the tops actually have a slight upward ramp from the stem to the bend? I never liked that because riding on the tops which I do quite a bit of causes my wrists to twist in an unnatural way.

I think they were invented to fill the idle hrs. of British Brevet riders who langish inside during foul weather which is most of the time. Finding a setup that makes sense with these is a non-starter ;)

Nitto Noodles however are just fine.

Can someone name some of the bars we're denigrating here? I ride 3T Morphe Randos and love them, wouldn't swap them for anything else.

http://www.velo-orange.com/haandst.html

handlebars are a personal thing.
one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

-g

I gotta agree with the OP
 

I was a big-time Riv guy in the late '90s and tried pretty near everything they pushed for a while. I loved the dirt drop bars and then tried the Rando bars, thinking they'd be as good or better. Hated 'em. Less room on the flats, too narrow on the ramps, less comfortable on the hoods and up in the hooks, and ok on the bottom of the drops.

The dirt drops, otoh, are like a traditional drop bar down to the bottom of the hooks and then just the flat bottom part of the drops flare out about 7 degrees, I think. These bars are perfect for me. Plenty of room on the flats, comfortable on the hoods, fine in the hooks (all just like a typical drop bar so far), but just sub-friggin-LIME on the bottom of the drops. That flare allows you to sprint or climb in the drops with MUCH more leverage and a much more natural hand position than normal drops. Also, it lets your wrists clear the ramps when you're out of the saddle in the drops and rocking the bike back and forth. Once I got used to those, I couldn't happily ride any other drops, and I've tried a bunch of 'em. Then Riv stopped selling the narrower ones I liked and then dropped the dirt drops altogether. And Nitto stopped making them. So I horded a bunch. Those bars just friggin ROCK. But rando bars? I don't see the appeal either.

-Ray

I've always thought it might be cool to try the nitto dirt drops, but where does one find a pair? I like drops that flair out a bit, and I have some Salsa moto ace flared drops (ergo) on my commuter.

The Salsa's (I think they make two different bars that flair - flare?) are the closest thing still made. I don't like them near as much because they are, after all, gay bars. But they do have that flair thing. Except that, IIRC, the whole hook flares out, not just the bottom flat part. Which doesn't do it for me.

I don't think you can still buy the Nittos anywhere. Unless you keep your eyes open on the IBOB list for old ones for sale. But I think I may have bought all of those up and haven't seen any come up in a while.

-Ray

Correct, it's FLARE - not flair.

Uma Thurman's got flair. Rando bars have flare.

All things Nitto

http://www.jitensha.com/eng/nittorandbar.html

Rando bars etc.

Fuji Toshi cloth tape too, mmmm good.

French Rando bars
http://www.velo-orange.com/beraba.html

Sort of interesting comparing the two. The Nittos have a lot more flare, which means that for a given width (measured at the ends), they're a lot narrower at the hoods and, particularly, on the tops. The stated intent of the design is to make using a handlebar bag easier since the bar sweeps back from the center and out on the hooks to let your hands clear the bag more easily in each position. But if the center portion is narrower, it somewhat defeats that purpose. The French ones have a lot less flare, so they're wider everywhere but the ends for a given size, which I would think would make them more useful in more positions. And the hoods should be more comfortable. That said, they don't look terribly different from Nitto Noodle bars.

-Ray

Ray
 

It is 3:00 AM and you are still up. Aren't you too old to stay up so late? I KNOW that I am. Time for me to go nighty night. :)


Nighty Night Sandy

A traditional rando bar doesn't have much flat and starts flaring before the drop so it tilts the levers out. The Nitto rando bar is like this. Because they flare out at the top, the drops are mostly perpendicular to the flats like a traditional bar. These are a nice problem solver for people who keep stabbing their knee caps into their barcons, but I find otherwise uncomfortable.

Then you've got Dirt Drop or Bell Lap style bars where the flare happens mostly down at the drop. This allows you to maintain a vertical lever position. The Dirt Drop is almost identical to a Nitto 176 except for the flare and the heavier guage tubing (I'd wager to say they're a solid 100g heavier than their 176 equivalent).

Then you've got a bar like the Nitto Noodle. They have a sweep back on the flats and very slight flare at the bottom, post drop. 3TTT Morphe bars fall into this category too except they have an ergo drop. I too love the Morphe.

The Dirt Drop and Morphe are both discontinued :(

I rode the Morphe for several years, and consider it an all-time favorite. I didn't like the double cable grooves, but in retrospect I think I made too much of that in my mind. I'm often sorry I didn't hold on to them.

the ergo flat wasn't a problem for me. The ramp was quite perfect.

best,
mw