FSA non-anatomic bar?

[Xyzzy]

Right now I have a FSA K-Wing, and it is killing my wrists. I need a non-anatomic bend. I have a FSA OS115 stem so I figured, to play it safe and to match colors, I'd stick to the FSA line. I found a non-anatomic bar on their web site but nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever seen or heard of one or can order one. On FSA's web site (http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=41&pid=426), they call it an "Energy T" but every "Energy T" I find is anatomic. In my local shop's QBP catalog it pulls up a very low end non-anatomic bar. I want the one that says "RD200" on it.

I emailed FSA about it and they responded with this part list:

185-1180 40cm
185-1182 42cm
185-1184 44cm

But that pulls up that low end bar in the QBP catalog.

Anyways, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place or the wrong way. Can anyone provide guidance?

[Grant McLean]

It's not a "low end" bar:

HB8032

Quad-Butted, tapered and shot-peened AL7050/T6
Traditional road bend
Double-width single cable groove design improves stiffness and fatigue life

Bar Clamp Diameter: 31.8 mm
Bar Width: 42 cm
Bar Reach:
Bar Drop:
Drop Bend Style: Round
Aero Bar/Cross Lever Diameter: 31.7/31.8
Material: AL7050/T6
Color: Black
Weight:
Catalog Page: 408

Invoice Description: FSA Energy T 42cm 31.8 Traditional bend Black
Manufacturer Part Number: 185-1182

[coylifut]

i've seen it offered a few places including here

http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=119451&cat=20&brand=91

[Xyzzy]

Weird. I guess the second picture (The QBP one) is wrong, because that description sounds exactly like it.

I'll order it pronto!

Thanks!

[coylifut]

there may be more than one bend/drop/reach. I've seen em with a really tight shallow drop and one with a more generous bend.

[Grant McLean]

Weird. I guess the second picture (The QBP one) is wrong, because that description sounds exactly like it.

I'll order it pronto!

Thanks!

I ordered some for our shop from QBP, i've held it my hands,
it's a high end bar, not a thickwall cheap bar. On the digital scale, it
was something like 240 grams.

I can't for the life of me recall graphic, for some reason, i don't think it's
either of those pictured, but it was a couple of months ago, there could be
a running change to '07 graphics. It's a nice bar for about $80 retail.

g

[Xyzzy]

I received the bar yesterday. It is pretty nice. Unfortunately it doesn't have that cool RD200 honeycomb graphic. Turns out the QBP picture is spot on.

The question:

I've never had non-anatomic bars before. My brifter (Campy) manual tells me to line the bottoms of the levers with the flat of the bar. The FSA manual tells me to put the bottoms of the levers 3-5cm higher than the flat of the bar.

Which do I do, and what angle to I put the bar on the bike? The stem is a 13cm -17 degree FSA OS-115 and the headtube angle is 73 degrees. I can provide pics if needed.

I ride on the hoods a lot. The drops are for sprints, downhills and for when I feel frisky, which isn't too often.

Perusing the pictures on this forum and a lot of other places, I have seen bars pretty much in every possible position. I'd like a servicable position that doesn't look dorky.

For the record, I have played around with the angle a bit and they all feel great, and immensely better than the old K-Wing.

Thanks!

[coylifut]

point the ends of the bars at the brake bridge for the correct angle, put the hoods where they feel most comfortable.

[dgauthier]

Which do I do, ( . . . ) I'd like a servicable position that doesn't look dorky.


You'll only look dorky twisting your body into a position it doesn't like. You bought new bars to be comfortable, didn't you? Arrange your brifters and bars the way you dang well like 'em. Maybe you'll start a trend. (There are no rules. There's even one pro - whose name I can't recall - who puts one brifter higher than the other. We are all little snowflakes.)

[Xyzzy]

I'm comfortable with the positions in either of the two attached images. Picture 1 is with the drops level and picture 2 is with the drops at 17 degrees. In picture 2 I lined up the shift levers with the drops.

I got the idea for picture 2 from the third picture.

My body is very adaptable. I can handle changes in most measurements +- 2cm with no problem. Some of my friends get freaked out by 1-2mm. I feel like I can make almost any bike or position work.

My goal right now is to get my back lower and flatter and to stretch out. So far I've replaced my non-setback seat post with a setback model, increased my stem 2cm and dropped the step from -6 to -17 degrees. The stem angle change dropped the bars quite a bit, plus the old K-Wing bars had risers so the total drop is even more. I have no more spacers to remove although I could swap the cone on the top of my headset with a flat one. Saddle to bar drop is roughly 12cm. I was surprised that this position is more comfortable than what I had before. I ride quite a bit so I have decent flexibility.

Anyways, so which setup looks best? (Yes, I am victim of the fashion police!)

:)

[Grant McLean]

Anyways, so which setup looks best? (Yes, I am victim of the fashion police!)

:)

Somewhere between the two pictures, IMHO.

Lever tips just at the straight edge of the bar, and the drop of the bar
tilted just slighly up. The "flat" of the brake lever should be very close
to parallel with the ground.

Here's my 'dale... we're practically twins!

You could do a lot worse than to set up your bikes using a RichardSachs
as a template....

g

[Xyzzy]

Here's my 'dale... we're practically twins!
Awesome! I love red. Did you use the BB insert to get the Campy crank in? I have been very tempted to put one on mine, just to get 177.5 cranks.

You could do a lot worse than to set up your bikes using a RichardSachs
as a template....
I will try this today. Thanks!

:)

[Climb01742]

your last photo looks good to me (not that that matters really) but to me, the biggest advantage of campy hoods is getting a flat ramp more easily than you usually can with shimano. your last photo has a nice flat ramp, which i find very comfy. hope it works for you.

[Xyzzy]

I finished it up just a few minutes ago. I rode it around my parking lot and I think I'm really going to like it. Especially my wrists.

I experimented with crossing the cables under the downtube. It seems to shift a bit better but that is probably the placebo effect. My old setup had inline adjusters, very tight bends going through the K-Wing bar and pretty tight bends in front of the head tube. Man I hate those inline cable adjusters!

So anyways, thanks for all the tips and stuff. I like how it feels now but I'll carry a 4mm allen wrench on my ride tomorrow in case I need to rotate the bars down a bit.

Tomorrow is going to be awesome. Nice weather. New bike crap and I got my first "real" pair of bibs in the mail today. Up till now I have been using Volers but the pad is just too thick and doesn't fit me right. I had the Boure people sew me up a set of Elite bibs with the Pro chamois. Delivered for $100. I can live with that!

[manet]

You could do a lot worse than to set up your bikes using a RichardSachs
as a template....

g
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e61/easterncaster/IMG_1984.jpg

[manet]

sweet!
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e61/easterncaster/IMG_1984.jpg

[coylifut]

that's a vey nice looking round handlebar, that's why i bought 4 of em.

[manet]

that's a vey nice looking round handlebar, that's why i bought 4 of em.


http://am1340.com/Gallery/pictures/DCP01015.JPG