big chainring 

Wow. 40 years later. Finally I get a bike with criterium bend bars. What a revelation. I get it.

Just over 40 years ago I bought a Motobecane LeChampion. On this bike I would delve into racing. I would take on the likes of Greg Lemond, Ron Kefal, Mark Gorski and a who's who of american cycling greats.

The bike was equipped with TTT bar and stem, Giro d'Italia bend perhaps. From my first race on I noted how my forearms just above my wrist were always bruised after a race. The constant pulling on the bars, sprinting from corner to corner, round and round a closed circuit course, while in the drops and my forearms making contact with the tops of the bars.

I was always fascinated by the Cinelli criterium bend. Like a track bend, they seemed racy and sleek. But in the 70's you took what you could get. Choices were few. Bars were narrow. And at 16 years of age, part time job, I spent my money on tires.

So, yesterday, out for a ride on my recently acquired Bates BAR with GB criterium bend bars, I grab the bars in the drops and charge out of the saddle for a few pedal strokes. My forearms are free from touching the tops of the bars. I get it!!!! The criterium bend liberates your arms while sprinting. Oh how I wish I had these bars 40 yrs ago.

ThermionicScott 

I like my rando bars for the same reason.

lasauge 

Oh! That little tidbit about handlebar design just clicked for me after reading your post, now you have me thinking about whether or not I should switch a few cockpits around...

look171

I was in the exactly same shoe you were in 35 years ago at the tender age of 16. Yeah, tires and shorts. I raced (crits of course) with my TTT crit bars but that was not the reason why I bought them. It was for climbing. I like to keep my elbows bend and naturally the bend on the crit bars fit well where my hand was at that angle perfectly. I raced that bend of bars for 10 years, then went back to lat top bars. When I sprint, I throw the bike around a lot, so hitting the top is not really an issue. You learn to deal with it.

Today's American cyclist are just missing something where I can't exactly put my finger on it. I suppose it was the wild west back then. Those were my true American hero. I went out for a really, really hard 40 mile ride killing my friend my friend after seeing Davis Phinny wining on TV for the first time. It was a race back east with a bunch of Europeans riding it also. This was 1982 or 3? Oh boy Was I excited. I am still excited thinking about it today. Oh yeah, Keifel and then we have Rogers who come to our training rides often and rip our legs off each and every time. Good times.

randyjawa 

These were NOS and thrown in when I bought this Atala for $20.00 US...