Vintage handlebars - drops too short
 

I finished my winter project, a 1987 Trek Elance 400T, and have ridden it less than 20 miles so far. I kept it as original as possible (except the aero brake levers) and decided to keep the narrow, stock handlebars. So far it's not the narrow width of the bars that bothers me, it's the short drops. I ride mostly on the hoods but I use the drops a lot too.

My other two drop bar bikes have bars with longer drops, plus bar-end shifters so there's an extra inch. With these, there's nothing there and it seems short, feeling almost like my hands might slip off. I know they won't, but I just don't feel secure. I'm half thinking about putting a set of bar end shifter plugs in there and taping over them, just to provide a bit of a "knob" at the end. Is this unusual? Will I eventually get used to having such short drops? I really don't want to swap bars, more just for the hassle of retaping two layers. Any ideas?


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1489cbfe5d.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...40e4290969.jpg

Two words: Nitto Noodles.

Extenders for 22mm bars are a thing, they come in various lengths. If your bars are larger a bit of extra tape would hide that.

That would probably be just what I need, if they were made out of aluminum and could be secured tightly. Just the right shape though.

Holy cow!, are you sure you have enough stem in the steerer tube to be safe?
I know they (Nitto?) made long necked stems, but did not think they came that long.....

The only thing I've found is these:

Controltech Terminator MTB Bike Handlebar Bar End Extension Plug

Yep - no worries. I am almost at the limit but that's why I bought that stem.

Jeff, I have experienced exactly the same issue on some handlebars and it seems to me more common on the "ergo" shaped bars. I have wondered if the "short drops" bars were made as a way for the handlebar manufacturers to shave some weight and thus appeal to the weight weenies and also use less tubing in the fabrication process, i.e. cut costs. My solution is to just change out the handlebars, As rccardr suggests, Nitto bars have a good extension on the drops and I have always liked the vintage Cinelli bars (models 64 and 66). You just have to be careful on matching the stem clamp diameter.

I've had a set of Noodles but I prefer the Nitto Randonneur, which I have on two bikes. If I swap handlebars on this thing it will be another set of Randonneurs, but I was really trying to use existing components. And now that it's taped, I really don't feel like changing the handlebars.

Very nice-looking bike!
However, it looks too small a frame with the extended post and stem. Do you like the short reach?
I recently swapped bars from the Cinelli 64 to a more ergo style. I don't like the current set up and may return to the Cinelli.
Wrapping and unwrapping tape with Ergos is significant and is to be avoided. I reused my tape, and it looks bad which is motivation to change the tape and bars.

The sooner you change those bars, the easier it will be to re-use the same bar tape. You will never be happy with those bars so get going on the switch.

Rotate the bars down like they were designed to be and you will have more of the "drop" part of the bar.

When in the drops, it really translates to in the hooks.
rotate them a bit.

check to make sure the stem is at least the minimum insertion line. Just looks marginal.
if for some reason no mark, 55-60 mm inside the steerer.
even better to make sure that the expander is below the threaded portion of the steerer.

Yeah. How's the reach to the brake levers when you're in the drops?

Hmm, ramps in same plane as stem extension, and drops pointed at rear axle; just how I was trained to install drop bars. Maybe there's a different rule for stepladder-height stems?

Like anything, that's just a general rule, a starting point. Those bars were designed to have the flat part of the hooks parallel to the ground, more or less. But yeah, the stem height is exaggerating the "point at the rear axle" a lot.
Straight from the catalog, almost pointed at the rear axle like you say, but much lower stem height. They could be tweaked a little bit up or down depending on rider preference from here.
http://www.vintage-trek.com/images/t...7/87Trek14.jpg

This is on the smaller side of what fits me. It looks exaggerated because I have the handlebars set so high (at seat height), rather than below which is how these were normally set up. This was an unplanned N+1 that I found at a thrift shop. I actually don't mind the short wheelbase compared to my 24" Trek 750 with drop bars. I just bought this for fast fun-riding on smooth pavement and was trying not to put too much money into it.

I'm below the minimum insertion line by a few mm. I have them rotated so the ramps are level, which I agree is not how these handlebars are designed. But with my hands on the drops, I have a very comfortable wrist angle. I just need a little more length.

Fine. I normally optimize brake position for riding on the ramps/hoods but when I'm in the drops I can grab a handful of brake if I need to.

As I mentioned (and as your picture shows) these were usually set up with the handlebars lower than the seat. I'm too old for that.

Shoota nailed it- rotate your bars downward. The brake levers are at a really high angle right now and also effectively high up on the bars. Those bars were not designed to have the ramps be flat, they were designed to have the ramps angle down at 12deg or so. Rotating the bars down will effectively push the drop ends towards you and give you more room on the drops. Also, your wrist angle wont be wonky when it the drops and reaching for the brake levers if you rotate the bars down.

I hate to say it, but this is why I don't wrap bars until I've test ridden a few times to dial in the fit. Like shoota said above, though, you may have a noticeable difference by simply rotating the bars down slightly, and since this is the least invasive thing to do, it's worth a shot. The bar tops will be angled downward a bit more (you may or may not find that tolerable), but the drops will be a bit flatter and extend a bit further back. Again, worth a shot.

Maybe in the 1970s. Later on, the rule(s) of thumb were to have the bottom of the levers level with the bottom of the drop (which it looks like was done), and the bottom of the drops parallel with the ground. Like just about every bike in this catalog:

Centurion 1986

Good point there (oops, a pun). Hmm, never having ridden on a bike with a stem remotely that high, on modern bikes with bars so much higher in relation to the saddle than I am used to, maybe using the ramps is not a common hand position anyway due to the rotation of the wrists needed?

Really nice job on the build, love the tape job. I’ve got two 400s and put Nitto Noodles on both. If you go to the Nitto website, they make a lot of drops, and they also post the dimensions of each, including the drop. That might be a good place to start if replacing the bars, I would wince at undoing that tape job though.
Tim

If anything modern bars are lower than the saddle, and lower than vintage bars. Modern compact bars are designed to create a level transition from ramp to lever hood. Where as vintage bars are designed to have the lever sit lower than the ramp.
If you set up bars/levers with the ramp in mind then you wind up with what the OP has. Nothing wrong with that per se, but it can create other issues, as we see here.