visually proper bikes

[RickM]

The red Toei just kicks the shite out of everything else here. Nice work.

[AntLockyer]

apart from the pommel this appeals to me visually.

[Fourflys]

Mined from the depths of a three year old post on the serotta forums, thanks be to swoop.

"Etiology of the term Gay Bar"

a flat bar is also called a straight bar. its common in mtn biking and city bikes.

a classic bar is sometimes called a belgian drop or a classic bar.

an anatomic bar is sometimes commonly called a gay bar. you see, it is the opposite of a straight bar.

its a play on words.

That steelman is hot.

I was in one of the coffee shops (Lestat's) in the more "eclectic" part of San Diego a couple of weeks ago and was ordering my coffee when I noticed what looked like a rice crispy treat, only different... I asked the barista was it was and he said "a gay bar"... I said "really?" and he proceeded to tell me it was fruit loops covered in white chocolate (with a rainbow candy on top), a gay bar... I said what the hell and bought it, damn thing was rather tasty...

kinda off topic, but somewhat fitting none the less....

[Fourflys]

that Coco above is hot!

[Fourflys]

this is one of my favorites of Garro's...

[boots2000]

What bars are those? They are perfect-

[AntLockyer]

Who me? They are Oval R701 classic bend. In I believe the shallow drop (135mm)

[stewie]

Can we see more mtb's? What is the "definition" of "visually proper mtb"? you "experts" plz define.

[Cookietruck]

Who me? They are Oval R701 classic bend. In I believe the shallow drop (135mm)

they look kinda like the deep drop to me.
but yeah, the r701 bars are awzm.

[Jason Musgrave]

Who me? They are Oval R701 classic bend. In I believe the shallow drop (135mm)

Those are the deeps. Nice bike btw...

[Jas0n]

apart from the pommel this appeals to me visually.

To my eye (and mind), there is something particularly offensive about a traditional deep drop (round) bar whose drops aren't parallel to the ground. Perhaps its the suggestion that vanity drove the decision more than utility.

[mimbresman]

Can we see more mtb's? What is the "definition" of "visually proper mtb"? you "experts" plz define.

See my Merlin post. I still stare at that bike. Its is a 1996 model, last of the Vandermark Merlins (second warranty frame from my original 1990 purchase).
When I walk into a bicycle shop now, there is not much that turns my crank. Nothing jumps out. Carbon fiber bikes are nice because they are light, but visually they all look somewhat the same. I think a lot of 29er bikes look kind of out of proportion...again just my personal opinion. Many mountain bikes are made of aluminum which I find fairly ugly with the big toothpaste like welds (again, that's just me). The one exception were the old Cunningham Indians. They looked like they were made from irrigation pipe. Very industrial looking. Very cool.
There is too much going on with full-suspension bikes with all their linkages and struts to make them visually attractive to me. I like classic looking bikes, steel or titanium. Garro (Coconino) is making some really sweet fillet-brazed frames, which make for some really sweet looking mountain bikes. He made one the other day (for Bammy) which I called the P-51 (when it was unpainted). Beautiful frame! Beautiful for its elegance. You can see this frame painted and built on his blog.
And on raw frames, I've owned a Merlin since 1990. I've never gotten tired of the looks, the welds are perfect. The color of raw titanium is beautiful in my opinion. I've never run a suspension fork on the Merlin for any length of time. I like the way it looks with a rigid fork. I also have a 2000 Litespeed Toccoa (w/ S & S couplings) fitted with a SID fork. Atheistically, it doesn't look as nice as the Merlin in my opinion, but it rides super...so looks aren't always everything.

[karesz]

I'm new here, but this is the best forum I found in a long time.
Let me know what you guys think of this bike.

Wilier Izoard:

izoard_edited.jpg

[davids]

Swoop may have thought himself clever, but he obviously wasn't too bright.

Something can't be both "sometimes" and "commonly". That's almost an oxymoron.

A classic bar is curved, as is an anatomic bar. Therefore both bars are the opposite of a straight bar.

I'm sick of this gay/ghey shit. Would we banter around racial epithets in place of homophobic terms?

You may be disgusted by the use of the expression. I get that. But you don't need to be insulting someone who's not around to defend himself because of some awkward wording in a three-year old post. M'k?

[Mat]

We'll have to agree to disagree on a couple of points (I see a lot more complexities at play here, but this isn't the proper venue for a discussion about them), but I hear what you're saying and in the higher and more important interests of civility and respect, I regret some of the content and tone in my earlier post and apologize.

[ineff]

To my eye (and mind), there is something particularly offensive about a traditional deep drop (round) bar whose drops aren't parallel to the ground. Perhaps its the suggestion that vanity drove the decision more than utility.

You must not ride very long or low bikes. I love to run my round bend bars angled up. I also like to have the bike long and low with my hoods nice and hi! I usually like to have the ends of the bars pointing toward the dropouts. I think this is a great way to set up a race bike.

[chasea]

deleted

[AntLockyer]

To my eye (and mind), there is something particularly offensive about a traditional deep drop (round) bar whose drops aren't parallel to the ground. Perhaps its the suggestion that vanity drove the decision more than utility.

Setting the drops parallel to the ground would be vanity over utility for me.

[Rico]

To my eye (and mind), there is something particularly offensive about a traditional deep drop (round) bar whose drops aren't parallel to the ground. Perhaps its the suggestion that vanity drove the decision more than utility.

That was one school of thought. The other was the bars should point to the mid section of the seat stays as these do.
Then parallel becomes visually offensive.
Pick one. I don't think either method trumps the other.

[karesz]

I agree, I think the traditional bars (the ends) are supposed to point towards the rear brakes to give a relaxed wrist position when in the drops.
I prefer the round bars, but I have this semi traditional (Ritchey Evolution) on this bike, works well though:

izoard_edited.jpg