Bent Bars!

I noticed last night (for the first time!) that my handlebars are bent. I'm not talking about bent in the standard shape of handlebars.

It makes some sense, the PO had admitted to dropping it on its right side, which is where they seem higher and tighter-angled than the left side.

I doubt it's a terribly big deal -- it's so minor that I didn't notice them until yesterday. But I think it may put the master cyclinder at an odd angle, and I wonder what harm this could do.

I don't have pics yet, but I'll post them when I can.

Carlos

 

My guess ... if the bend is so subtle that you didn't notice ... I doubt the Master Cylinder will notice, too. If its closer to level than bent ... you're good to go.

 

OK, I can notice the bend in mine, worsened when the wind blew her over last fall. Got a replacement set from eBay - also bent! Does anyone have a fool-proof straightening method? Bar in? Pipe over? Heat? I'm ready to push, but don't wanna ruin 'em.

 

New bars are cheap. I would buy some new ones and maybe improve the look of the bike while at it.

But - if you are set on those bars, I have seen the "6ft pipe over the bar while your buddy holds the bike" method. It seemed to work but the bars were never the same.

 

You know, I've since come to the conclusion that in addition to bent bars, I have a slightly bent frame.

When I take both hands off the handlebars, the bike tries to dive to the left. I'm a bicycle mechaninc, and in the human-powered world, when a bike dives a direction going np-handed, it's a bent frame.

It's not severe, and doesn't impede my handling of the bike at all so long as at least one of my hands is on the bars.

 

How about the tubes and the bridge just above the fender?
Any of that gets bent and you could have those results.

Front end parts are still fairly cheap on flebay

 

If I had used my puny human brain to check the Cycle-Re-Cycle link before I'd gone to eBay, I'd have saved some cash on my handlebars (installed today, bend not so bad, thankfully). May still go that way if I bite the bullet on ditching the pseudo-cruiser image.