Were 38cm wide bars standard in the 70s/80s?

averagebiker

Retro Guru
Hi, I have a couple of late 70s/early 80s road bikes and both have 38cm ctc drop bars. I would much prefer wider bars. Were they available at the time and were such narrow bars considered "aero" back then?
Cheers Rich.
 
Fashion, fashion ... it comes and goes....

Narrow bar syndrome attacked in the 90s - in road, in mountain biking, in the courier world. Yep, thoughts of aero, lightness, and .... fashion. Couriers ran steel bikes with stupidly narrow bars to get through tiny gaps - I tried it....terrifying over potholes....then mountain bikers started to narrow their bars ... to avoid bar ends hooking up on Trail side foliage ... that didn’t last long ... and then sense took over - a more open position for drops, to encourage better breathing on climbs, losing bar ends and widening bars on mtbs, and couriers....well that business collapsed. Biomechanics rightly now rules....

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Cinelli, TTT and others made wider bars, possibly up to 44cm. At the time I was using 40cm but I'm sure I could have been better with 42 which is what I try and use now. Look at photos of Eddy Merckx in his prime. I'm sure he was using at least 42's. There are generally a wide range of period bars for sale at cycle jumbles (or even e-bay).
 
Lots of today's pro peleton are back to 38s. Especially the lead out trains where squeezing thru gaps is a priority. And for the break specialists to get a better aero position
 
Cinelli, TTT and others made wider bars, possibly up to 44cm. At the time I was using 40cm but I'm sure I could have been better with 42 which is what I try and use now. Look at photos of Eddy Merckx in his prime. I'm sure he was using at least 42's. There are generally a wide range of period bars for sale at cycle jumbles (or even e-bay).
I will have to look out for cycle jumbles although attendance could prove costly!

Are There any notable ones in the South coming up?
Cheers
 
There are but it depends on your budget. A lot of those are worth as much as, if not more than a reasonable starter project bike.
 
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