>This is where Jan Heine chimes in and says he's
>perfectly happy riding his fully-loaded '48 Rene Herse Camptour with the
>38cm wide Randonneur bars with the low trail front end. So this is where
>I bow out.
>
>Craig Montgomery in Tucson
>Camptouring this 100 degree weekend on a 65" fixed '79 Holdsworth
>Mistral with 46cm wide bars
Wish I had a 1948 Rene Herse Campeur... but the one I rode at last year's cirque was Mike Kone's (and it's a 1952). That said, I did use 40 cm bars on our tandem in PBP, and even with the need to take a hand off the bars to use the lever-operated front derailleur, it never was a problem during the 765 miles - either to breathe or control the bike. I have narrow shoulders, though.
However, on a modern tandem, I prefer at least 44 cm bars to keep the bike in line. (See my previous post...)
Jan Heine
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles
140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com