Drill NOS Cinelli top 64 bars for internal routing

[thirdgenbird]

Alright, before everyone thinks I've completely lost it, this is the later model 64 made from heat treated 7000 series aluminum and it was made for internal routing.

The exit holes are already stamped on the bottom side of the center sleeve. The entry hole needs drilled by the installer. Would you consider it a big safety concern to do this? I plan to use them with 8spd ergo levers and they are not grooved. I thought it would feel nice to run one cable internally and the other on the front. I would rather this than two cables on ungrooved bars.

[ultraman6970]

It can be done, seen it several times, the issue is to measure 3 times before drilling the holes at the lever area.

[thirdgenbird]

I've got no qualms about actually drilling and finishing the holes. I'm worried about riding bars with holes in the ramps.

[jds108]

Back in the day I did it. No big deal. Like said above, just measure 2x, 3x and drill once.

[zmudshark]

I've used ungrooved Cinelli bars with Ergo's. Not an issue. I would do that before I drilled.

[zennmotion]

Yep, the cables disappear on mine once properly wrapped. It was good enough for LeMond et al of the day. What price vanity, you gonna ride it or gawk at it?

[11.4]

The old soft aluminum Cinelli bars (the ones with the 26.4 mm clamp diameter) were very resistant to cracking. In falls they would bend rather than break, and they were very good for drilling because you didn't get cracking failures. The heat treated ones were stiffer, but at the expense of more brittleness. They supported drilling them for a while, then stopped because of the breakages. There were several obvious points to pay attention to such as radiusing any hole, but even so, they weren't quite as reliable. Will they break on you? Probably not. But were there enough breakages to make Cinelli stop doing it? Yes. Your call.

[thirdgenbird]

I've used ungrooved Cinelli bars with Ergo's. Not an issue. I would do that before I drilled.

Yeah, I've done it several times but didn't find it ideal. I like the feel of my ungrooved bars with just brake cable and this is what drilling the bars would replicate.

My favorite ergo setup has actually been single groove bars with both cables up front. The brake cable in the groove and the shift cable just above it. It feels similar to no groove bars with a single cable.

The old soft aluminum Cinelli bars (the ones with the 26.4 mm clamp diameter) were very resistant to cracking. In falls they would bend rather than break, and they were very good for drilling because you didn't get cracking failures. The heat treated ones were stiffer, but at the expense of more brittleness. They supported drilling them for a while, then stopped because of the breakages. There were several obvious points to pay attention to such as radiusing any hole, but even so, they weren't quite as reliable. Will they break on you? Probably not. But were there enough breakages to make Cinelli stop doing it? Yes. Your call.

That's sort of what I was guessing.

[thirdgenbird]

you gonna ride it or gawk at it?

Both thank you. The frame was originally my fathers and he gifted it to me when his health prevented him from riding it. I've sort of built it up with a combination of both of our favorite parts. The bike is ridden, but I'm not embarrassed to say that it hangs on the wall much more than the other two bikes. It is a good weather/road bike for longer causal rides with friends/family.


If I could deal with a 40cm width or a cinelli 66, I could get a double grooved set.