rhm

Do you have a link for that? I still can't find it on their website, and they don't answer email.

I'm okay with aluminum, but it has to look right. Yes, please!

I would most definitely like to see Frank's shop some time.

Felix Wankel once gave my father and me a personal tour of his workshop near Lindau on the Lake of Constance, and it was just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen. He had every machine tool known to man in there, along with a crane built into the ceiling with which he could move any of those machines to any place in the building. Because if you're building something big (like a boat, for example) it's easier to bring the tool to the job than try to move the job to the machine. I guess he was a little crazy, but man... what a genius. And what a workshop.

wahoonc

Here is the Soma Link for Lauterwasser bars. For some reason you have to go to the buy now section it isn't listed on the main part of the website.

Aaron

rhm

Thanks, Aaron! Let's take a look. Hmmm...

I'm not sure.

Hey, I see they also have a steel version for $49.99

It looks the same.

Edit... There's now an entry on the Rene Herse blog, with more (and better) photos and more (and better) description of the bars.

And I have ordered a bar direct from Soma. Apparently Herse has them cheaper.

pastorbobnlnh 

I have the Soma Major Taylor bars on my '39 New World Schwinn. They have to be the most uncomfortable set of bars I've ridden, with the exception of the straight pipe MTB bars.

I thought they looked the same as the Lauterwasser's, but now I see they don't.

buldogge

Hey Bob... Don't those Taylor bars need to be turned so the drops are parallel to the ground (basically)???

ColonelJLloyd 

That's definitely how they were designed to be used. I think the pastor moves the beat of his own drum. I mean he's got a Heron bracket on his Schwinn World.

20grit

I disagree. For a 'racing' style position the way Bob has them is appropriate. We're talking Major Taylor here, not Commuter Phil...

jtgotsjets

I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

ColonelJLloyd 

Shaft drive!

buldogge

Really???

ColonelJLloyd 

I beat you, Mark!

I almost ordered a set of the Soma Major Taylors for my fixed gear, but the more I thought about it the more I realized they really weren't going to be appropriate for the type of riding I'd be doing. I ended up getting their track bar (a Cinelli type bend). It was really comfortable for short and aggressive rides, but made a mistake in getting the 44cm version. Too wide.

Velognome 

The older style bars assume a very different riding positon, the stems were shorter, the bars swept back more, you can see it in period photos. The short cockpit of the day is a bit strange to get used to but kinda enjoyable. I think that's why our Pastor is a bit uncomfortable, the bars were designed for a very different riding position.

Like these pics. ^^^^^^^^^^^

You guys type way too fast!

20grit

Note the handposition of the riders in all the pictures. The way Bob has them would be perfectly suited for their position and I'm not totally convinced a couple people don't have them that way, most notably the gent in 3rd in the first picture.

buldogge

Major Taylor is the African-American gentleman in front FWIW...

ColonelJLloyd 

I see your point and mostly agree, but if you position them the way Bob has them, you basically only get that position. Note the last pic in post #34 that allows that hand position AND the position on the grips that gives you better vertical leverage for starts/sprints/climbs. This is all speculation on my part. I do not and have never raced bicycles. And no one here raced 'em in the 30s!

20grit

I'm aware of which rider Taylor was in the picture. I'm just speculating in terms of a racing position. I can't imagine, given the bends I've seen in Lauterwasser bars and a little less so, the Major Taylor bar being a comfortable place to ride. Pastor bob's set up offers 2 positions: upright and a tucked position. That's really all one would need, and more than is offered by many other bars. These positions may not be ideal for the good pastor given his use. He may be better served to have the drops in a horizontal position. From a racing stand point though, I still think his position is better.

And I put no faith in how handle bars are displayed on the bike in a museum. There are far too many self important historians out there who will correct things to the way they believe they were. The shaft drive bike shows the drops at an angle while the others seem a bit more flat.

Solution: let's call up Marshall Taylor and settle this!

20grit

On a side note, I do feel we've turned a thread regarding Frank's fantastic achievement into a pointless squabble. Frank, I am incredibly impressed with what you've done, though I'm left wondering one thing... when this was brought up previously you (or at least I think it was you) mentioned the possibility of crafting your bar from titanium. I had hoped that would be the material of choice and feel that you could handily corner the market if you so chose. Obviously the expense would be greater for a prototype with a failure cost a lot higher. The thought of a titanium lauterwasser bar just seemed.... awesome to me.

pastorbobnlnh 

WOW! I had no idea my Major Taylors would garner so much speculation. I set them up this way because I thought it was the most comfortable. I realized I tipped them "up" a bit further than the standard, but it was all a compromise. I bought the bars because they sort of matched the ones in this catalog page from 1939.



But of course I was challenged by the need to add brake levers, the SA 4 speed shifter, and a few other trinkets.

To date the longest ride I've had it on is about 20 miles and the last 7-5 were such a painful experience I've not ridden it again.

I'm flummoxed about how to build it into a more enjoyable ride. I want to go with upright bars, fenders and a chain guard. I have the fenders and guard from a '64 Collegiate which will work nicely, but they are blue, the frame is black, and the fork is maroon. So do I have it powder coated and call it the day?

This would be more of the look I'd be after.

buldogge

Frank did an awesome job..if he wanted to sell them publicly I would be happy to buy a set.

FWIW...I wasn't squabbling...just having some fun. I know, that you know, etc...etc...

noglider 

You bet. Maybe I should buy an extra-large memory card for my camera. I'm just picturing his shop. I've seen his flickr page, and even that has my mouth gaping open.