What bars are you interested in specifically? I'm a fan of randonneur bend bars and have vintage unmarked ones that are on the narrow side, but my favorites are the VO Randonneur and the Nitto B132 and B135. The differences in the bends are subtle and it comes down to personal preference in the bend and the aesthetics. Nitto drop bars are sleeved while the VOs are bulged at the clamp area. I do wish the reach on the VO Randonneur was just slightly less.
The only cromoly bars I have are Nitto risers and a Nitto straight bar, but if those bars had been available in aluminum I'd have chosen those. It's possible for aluminum bars to fatigue and crack, I suppose, but unless they are put through substantial abuse that's not a risk you really need to consider. Nitto heat treats some of their larger bars just to mitigate the risk further. Cost of production is another factor with cromoly equivalent bars tending to be less expensive. I have used the cromoly Albatross as well as the aluminum version and the aluminum Soma Oxford. I see no reason for the extra strength of a steel bar for such an upright configuration so I would let your budget determine which to buy for that type of bar. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
