Take that, bike shop boy

You may recall, and I'm not obsessing over this or bearing a grudge or anything, but back a couple months ago I went to the Bike Mechanic Who Shall Remain Nameless at the Outdoor Store Which Shall Remain Nameless about getting a flat handlebar put on my bike (a hybrid KHS Urban Xpress, if you'll recall) so I could mount an aero bar on it. Said Mechanic (still nameless) called the idea retarded. I then decided I would never darken that store's door again, etc., etc. You can read all the boring history thereof here.

Anyway, the good folks at Cycle Solutions delivered, and for much less than I'd anticipated -- about $70 for bar, bar ends and installation, tax in. Picked it up this afternoon and took it for a spin.

It's a much shorter bar, so the brakes and shifters are pushed more toward the centre, which I find much more comfortable -- there's less twist in my wrist. The bar ends are very low-profile, not like the big horns you see people honking up hills with. (Sorry, "honking" is bike jargon. I think. Maybe it's just an insult.) They act as more of a palm rest at the end of the bar.

As for the aero bars ... well, I had been warned, hadn't I? Your elbows take some weight for your back, and you tuck in more aerodynamically. But because you're steering essentially from the stem of the bike, it's not easy to keep it traveling straight. You have to look it straight: Take a bead on something 20-30 yards ahead, and the bike will track to it. Sight on anything closer, it's a bit of a wobble. Needless to say, this is not for use in traffic.(Looking it straight also works when you're pushing your bike from the seat rather than the handlebars.)

In any event, I feel vindicated. It's a more comfortable ride. The bike even looks a little meaner, a little more lethal, in the way a hat-rack can look lethal, you know, if it's sharp and maybe falls on you the wrong way.