fixednwinter
12-18-2007, 10:10 AM
Hi all;
I have a Merckx MX Leader frameset that I'm going to build-up. While I'm putting current DA 10sp components on it (I have no interest in going back to 90's-era DA or Record), the general look will be old school by sticking with alloy - no carbon components.
The steering column is threaded, so that means quill, so I might as well set it up with Belgian style Deep Drops (e.g. Cinelli 66-42). It fulfills the 90's look, but more importantly, the top-forward reach section (from the tops to the levers) can be set up with less of a forward-sloping ramp than the old style Shallow drops (e.g. Cinelli 64), with the drops at a reasonable angle (not pointing down too much). My contempoary bars on my other bikes have the tops totally flat, so the 66 would not be too far away from that.
All of that is fine - my main concern is the length of the forward reach. Looking around on the web, the measurement of the forward reach of those Cinelli 66 bars is over 11cm. My bars on all of my current bikes are all FSA Compact Shallow (both carbon & the cheaper aluminum), which has a reach of only 7.8cm. That's over 3cm in difference. I'm using a 10cm stem on all bikes, and the Merckx MX Leader is of similar size, SA and TT length.
So there's obviously a huge difference in forward reach by going to old school 66 bars. I see three possibilities -
1. Use a super-stubby stem to maintain similar overall reach (not ideal)
2. Use less of a saddle to bar drop, and maintain the reach further out (additional bar height will compensate for the extra reach). I would probably push the saddle back 5mm from my baseline fitting too. Not a bad solution, as I hear the MX-L is best with the rider a bit further behind the BB anyway. The higher bars would also encourage me to use the very deep drops more often.
3. Try to find a Belgian style Deep Drop with less of a reach than the Cinelli's - possibly the Deda 215 Deep's? They are supposedly 9.5cm in reach, but I've never seen one to directly compare to a Cinelli 66.
Any advice would be appreciated...
I have a Merckx MX Leader frameset that I'm going to build-up. While I'm putting current DA 10sp components on it (I have no interest in going back to 90's-era DA or Record), the general look will be old school by sticking with alloy - no carbon components.
The steering column is threaded, so that means quill, so I might as well set it up with Belgian style Deep Drops (e.g. Cinelli 66-42). It fulfills the 90's look, but more importantly, the top-forward reach section (from the tops to the levers) can be set up with less of a forward-sloping ramp than the old style Shallow drops (e.g. Cinelli 64), with the drops at a reasonable angle (not pointing down too much). My contempoary bars on my other bikes have the tops totally flat, so the 66 would not be too far away from that.
All of that is fine - my main concern is the length of the forward reach. Looking around on the web, the measurement of the forward reach of those Cinelli 66 bars is over 11cm. My bars on all of my current bikes are all FSA Compact Shallow (both carbon & the cheaper aluminum), which has a reach of only 7.8cm. That's over 3cm in difference. I'm using a 10cm stem on all bikes, and the Merckx MX Leader is of similar size, SA and TT length.
So there's obviously a huge difference in forward reach by going to old school 66 bars. I see three possibilities -
1. Use a super-stubby stem to maintain similar overall reach (not ideal)
2. Use less of a saddle to bar drop, and maintain the reach further out (additional bar height will compensate for the extra reach). I would probably push the saddle back 5mm from my baseline fitting too. Not a bad solution, as I hear the MX-L is best with the rider a bit further behind the BB anyway. The higher bars would also encourage me to use the very deep drops more often.
3. Try to find a Belgian style Deep Drop with less of a reach than the Cinelli's - possibly the Deda 215 Deep's? They are supposedly 9.5cm in reach, but I've never seen one to directly compare to a Cinelli 66.
Any advice would be appreciated...