This guy seemed to do OK with his handlebar selection.
As cycling becomes more and more popular in mainstream American culture, we are presented with more and more options to improve, enhance, and generally spend more money on our beloved bicycles. This is at times wonderful, but also detrimental if you are at all like me: I consider myself an incredibly average cyclist, but one with some ridiculously precise requirements for what I choose to hang on my personal bikes. Handlebars are probably what I am most critical about.
Choosing the proper saddle, pedals, and even tires are critically important to having a good time with your bicycle, but if you and I suffer the same disease then you understand that not just any handlebar shape is appropriate for you. There are hundreds of drop handlebar options on the market right now, and yet I’m still not sure if even one of them is “just right” for me. Over the last several years (I have no life), I have experimented with shallow, deep, short, long, round, flat, and even jumbo-sized handlebars in search of the perfect steering mechanism. Much of this time I would have been better suited to simply riding my bike (equipped with a more than adequate handlebar that I can both hold and steer with!) and enjoy the outdoors and all of its benefits. Every ride though I would find something new to worry about with this or that bend or shape of the bar. So now that I have ordered yet another handlebar for my cyclocross bike (I’ve only got four more months to figure out the “perfect” bar for this season, after all!), I’ve decided that enough is enough (after this new bar arrives, of course).
We cyclists live in a wonderful, modern world full of new fangled electronic this and carbon fiber that (which reminds me, I need some carbon bars for my road bike…) which will allow us to have more fun on our rides. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Cycling should, above all, be about having fun, meeting people, and arguing with new friends about which handlebar will make them a better cyclist. When I find that perfect bar, I’ll let you know - but you probably shouldn’t hold your breath for it, I may still be a few years off.
In the meantime, enjoy some quality Japanese handlebar construction from our friends at Nitto!
Till next time,
-New Tim
