20140211

In Pursuit of Pursuits

For as rare as handlebar-attached-to-fork style bikes are, I often feel as if the specialized pursuit handlebars made for them are even rarer.  I've seen a few Takhion, Rossin, and Textima frames, but I'd guess for every three frames I've come across online or in person, I've only seen one pair of these bars.  

That silhouette.
At first glance they look like normal pursuit bars, but then you realize the angles don't quite match - instead of a drop there's a rise that gives a distinct silhouette to the beautiful bikes that adorned them.  

This set of 3TTT Moscow bars is in impeccable shape - not NOS, but perhaps only used in a race or two before being shelved somewhere.  My guess would be they were mounted on a Rossin pursuit frame like this one at some point in time, though the lack of marks on the clamp area makes me wonder if they were ever mounted at all.  

Москва!
Even more interesting is that 3TTT Moscow bars came in two styles - the typical pursuit and the rarer pursuit style pictured above.  3TTT's style is much more angular than the Takhion bars, and with a dark grey anodizing gives a bit of a harsher look to whatever bike it is mounted on.  

Better get those bar ends made...
It is a bit puzzling that in my experience the bars have been so much more rare than their respective bikes, and I have to wonder why.  Were these as custom as each of the bikes they were paired with, like the Takhion bars?  Were they difficult to produce for whatever reason?  Could they not be ordered in just any bike shop? 

Either way, they're a fascinating piece of cycling history, and another item on my list of what I'm always seeking! 

4 comments:

  1. Hi! Great blog. Enjoying the Takhion posts. I have a Rossin, with these moscow bars. Here is a link to my restoration that you may be interested in:

    http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=268065

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been following your restoration for a while now! I was actually really inspired when I saw how you recreated the handlebar clamps, as I'd love to try to make a similar style fork in the future.

      Incredible bike and amazing job so far...I cannot wait to see it built up. Thank you for sharing the process!

      Delete
  2. are these bar on sale? I have a collector friend asking for this 3ttt!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These are not for sale, but if I find a pair that are I'll post them here. A lot of people are searching for these bars these days, it seems!

      Delete

Tell me your bike related thoughts!

Template developed by Confluent Forms LLC; more resources at BlogXpertise