I've been slowly using up my stock of crit bend bars - I'm down to a couple Mavics and some "use last" 3ttt. Like many riders I started out on Cinelli 65's but their insistence on a 26.4 clamp diameter dropped them from favor a long time ago.The Mavics were discontinued about 10 years ago and I got as many as I could when that happened (a grand total of.... two), and I have both mounted on current bikes. I saw a used one on eBay go for $75 or so. The 3ttt is, I think, the Felice Gimondi model. I also have two of those, but both are sketchy after crashes, being the superlight aluminum. They both creak (indicating a probably internal crack) so they are not mounted. In the off season I've been switching to a square bend bar just to "save" my crit bars.
I also have some Cinellis but I cut them all for my bar end (in those pre-STI/Ergo days) and they are somewhat unusable - the right side of the bar is about an inch shorter than the left. Plus they're that 26.4mm clamp diameter.
My body geometry and riding style are such that even with crit bend bars I will bruise my forearms in sprints. With "square" bars, I bruise them whenever I use the drops aggressively. So I really want the crit bars.
I have been unable to find any source of new crit bars. With the bars being unavailable for something like 10 years, I think there is a HUGE pent up market. Just check out eBay and the like - they sell for a boatload of money. But there must be some out there. There are pictures of pros, esp those who sprint, and they have sets - they must be getting them from somewhere.
When something that works is discontinued, it seems that the users of the product have to find these things and hang onto them. I remember reading about Alexi Grewal and how he hoarded the Dura Ace AX cranks and pedals (they had sort of a negative axle to foot height since the ball of the foot was next to the axle). I'm sure the pros that use crit bars are doing the same.
Anyone listening? Deda? ITM? 3ttt? Ritchey?
Oh, and if you are listening, make them in aluminum please.
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I'd love to help you, but what's a crit-bend bar look like? What makes it good for crits?
crit bend bars look like track bars - the bit between the stem and the brake lever is curved instead of an "L". Basically the bar curves forward as soon as it leaves the stem area.
They're nice because if you are sprinting aggressively and are way over the bars, your forearms don't hit the bar as much.
Climbers/road racers typically don't like them because they offer less positions for climbing. Some better known users are now-retired racers like Gilbert Duclos Lasalle and Eric Vanderarden. If you go to a criterium with some veteran racers, you'll see them there as well.
The only bar similar would be the Easton EC90 SLX Ergo Road Bar. I dislike the Ergo bend but the top part is just like a crit bend bar.
I agree...bring em back! I used MOD 65's in the 80's. I also used a crit bar made by specialized back in 89-92 or so. They were called "Model II", or something like that. I drilled them for Grip Shift, and they snapped after about 3 years use (no crash, thank god)! I read that ITM has a special bar made to order for pro's that ask for it....
I know this is an old post, but figured I'd mention it. Have you tried the nitto B125AA bar? It has 150mm of drop; Cinelli Criteriums, I believe, have 144mm. They're track drops, but they're shallow(er) track drops, so they might hit that lovely middleground that Crit bars fill.
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