Originally Posted by B??????????? -
> That we are all supposed to use round bars because these 'Pros"
> use them? That round bars are somehow superior because these "pros"
> use them? That these pros are all using what their equipment sponsors
> happened to stick on their bikes?
> Use whatever kind of bars feel best to YOU. Kinda silly to be obsessing
> about this, atmo . . . sheesh.

that's not true.
anatomic bars are a product manager's nightmare gone awry.
the pros choose what they want, and while i haven't taped
them, i have hours of chats 'tween me and 2-3 component
makers about this very issue and each brand manager to a
man said that the pros' stash of bars are made once/twice a
year and they pull from that. otherwise (they said), since the
market from oem makers for ana bars is so strong - the reason
being folks perceive them as new and improved - that the big
consumers of bars, the treks, giants, specializeds, and cannondales,
of the world have called the tune that the bar makers play. as a
result, to stay in biz, said makers make these ana's. when i would
grill them about the short supply of non ana's despite 7 of 10 pros
are seen with them, the reaction, again, was that pros use the
trad bends but what keeps them in biz is the oem market, not
the aftermarket.
i agree - use what you want. but don't fool yourself into thinking
that pros use what they are given. their bicycles don't come from
the local mall atmo.