4/14/14 1:56 AM

I recently fitted a Syntace stem and bars to my Audax bike. The stem has a cut-out on each side of the steerer clamp that exposes the steerer tube, and because this bike has a steel fork and steerer, I decided to protect it from rusting where it is exposed by using some 0.002" brass shim between the stem and steerer. Since doing that, I've had two riders look at it and ask me if the fork has a brass steerer tube...

And BTW, I find the Syntace bars, with a six degree sweep back of the tops each side of the centre clamp, to be about the most comfortable I've ever used for that sort of riding, where I spend most of the time riding on the tops and not much time on the drops.

4/14/14 6:01 AM

The shim is cool. You could have fun with aluminum shims and anodizing!

4/14/14 3:08 PM

I like the raw hide bar wrap. Kinda cool for that bike. Though, spray the fork.

4/14/14 8:22 PM

The bar tape is actually Cinelli gel tape in a cork colour. It's one of the few tapes I've used where I don't get a problem wrapping 46cm bars with finding that the tape runs out before getting to where I want to terminate the wrap - particularly with the Syntace bars, which have a longer extension on the drops than most handlebars:

I've never used their actual leather tape - I suspect it would be much harder to wrap successfully, as the gel tape has far more stretch than one would get with leather.

4/14/14 9:56 PM

Nice touch on the brass bell with the brass shim. ;)

4/15/14 3:07 PM

back in the day i picked this up from aussie honch Phil Anderson (well, i read about him doing it in Winning magazine): trim the last 2-3cm from the ends of your drops. most folks never spend any time on the *very* end. if you're reaching for the drops you're more than likely to be up in the hooks, nearer the levers.

with the shorter drops you have less bar that needs to be covered, no more problem with too-short wrap! also, you end up with lighter bars...ready for the ventoux!



Last edited by walter on 4/16/14 7:22 AM; edited 1 time in total

4/15/14 3:31 PM

quote:

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.....trim the last 2-3cm from the ends of your drops...

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4/16/14 9:37 PM

I've trimmed the ends of the bars for bar ends every time, but also for the bars on one of my Schwinn Varsities, since my knees would hit the end of the bars when I attacked a steep hill or used a "sprinting" position.
Those old electro-forged Schwinn frames had modest top tube lengths, which combined with their very relaxed ~70-degree frame angles to make even the larger sizes of these frames feel short.