What kind of handlebar is the right one for you?
The handlebar must allow for a grip or support of the natural hand, it must not create conflict, if you push too much on it, the position is not the right one. The naturalness of the grip is the prerequisite for a correct driving of the bike and to reach the brake levers and the gearshift controls well.
It’s implied that for a large hand it’s preferable to have a wider fold handle while for a smaller hand is better a more closed fold. However, in both cases, the handlebar can also be seen as the extension of the horizontal tube and of the height of the head tube, it must allow to achieve the right corners of the position of the trunk and arms with hands aligned correctly on the fold.
Who needs the compact, the anatomical or the classic?
I would not speak of necessity but of ergonomics between the hand and the various types of handlebar and grip differences. There are, so to speak, “advantages” or “disadvantages” in using a handlebar by shape and size compared to another. For example: the anatomical fold will “force you” when you are in the low section to stay in that precise segment, unlike both the classic round and the compact, which allow you to move your hand slightly forward or backward to “adjust” the position in length. In the upper position, this ergonomic obligation is fell less even though the different dimensions of Drop and Reach move away or approach our position in length and difference in height saddle-handlebar on low grab. It’s interesting to note that if we overlap the three folds side by side, the Compact will look like a Classic curve review that is still very much used at the professional level.
The portion of the lower curve less round comes better in contact with the palm of the hand.
If you use a Compact fold, does it mean that you can hold the lower handlebar (have a higher saddle-handlebar gap) like the professionals? And what are the pros and cons of a higher gap?
Changing the type of fold changes the position for the same length (horizontal tube and attachment) by changing Drop and Reach we stretch and we lower or vice versa.
The most important thing for us it that in all three grips (high, at levers and in low position) there is a correct position of the framework and comfort in reaching the brakes and gear controls; we do not have to be in the high gear lever and shift levers and can not get in the low reach to reach the brakes we shouldn’t be comfortable on the high grip and on the gearshift levers and fail to reach the brakes in the low grip. Excessive or slight gap can cause problems on the neck, shoulders, and even the hands. At the base there must always be a proper position on the saddle that takes into account the age, weight and the use that everyone wants to make of the bicycle.
What are the elements you consider when you choose the handlebars for your customers?
I always consider the handlebar as an important component for the correct position on bicycle. Next I consider the proportion of hands and shoulders but also the perceptual habit of using a handlebar type compared to another.
Very often, I observe badly mounted handlebars (often side up) this is a bad habit to bring the levers closer in the high grip, which causes the removal of the brake levers in the lower grip!
– Giuseppe Giannecchini
cicliservizi@gmail.com