goat needs new bars

Crow. Feed it to me.

I've been yammering for months about how great and cool and superior the classic bend road bar is and how foolish and silly and poser these new-fangled ergonomic bars are and now I'm eating crow.

New bike. New bars. The Ritchey WCS Classic Road Bars......and I hate 'em. The problem is the curve. I simply can't ride with my hands in that curve with any comfort. The bottom bit of the bar is comfortable, but I can't reach the brakes from down there. So you get in situations where you'd like to be in the drops, but you'd also like to keep a finger on the brakes--like going down a hill at 50mph, or for the duration of any crit, for example--and you're screwed. And in this case, discomfort --> dis-ease --> s l o w . . .

So...a contest (!) for my readers!

I need new bars. Talk me into your favorite bar and win Hershey (PA) chocolate bar(s)! More succinctly, be the first person to suggest the bar that I eventually buy and you win. When my bars are in the mail so will yours. Ah yeah, baby. Reading this blog just got exciting.

These are my restraints:

(1) I'm not going to spend $200+ on carbon bars, so don't even suggest it.

(2) They have to come in a 40cm width (I don't expect you to know if your favorite bars come small, but if they don't I can't get 'em and you won't win).

(3) My present stem will accept only a 25.8 clamp diameter, but I'm not ecstatic about my stem, so for the right bars I'd be willing to get a new one.

(4) The less expensive the better.

(5) But light is better still.

Submit your suggestions as comments. Comment early. Comment often.

Ready. Set. Go!