The Grand Bois “Promenade” handlebars are a classic, swept-back design for an upright riding position. Similar handlebars were used on the city and porteur bikes of many French constructeurs. Below is a custom Grand Bois equipped with these handlebars.
The “Promenade” handlebars provide an alternative to the “Elysees” model (below), which provides a sportier riding position.
Both handlebars are available in the “road bike” diameter, so they fit bar-end shifters and “road” brake levers, but not mountain bike levers.
All Grand Bois handlebars are made by Nitto in Japan, and they all pass the EN “Racing Bike” standard, which is the toughest test of fatigue resistance. Click here for more information about Grand Bois handlebars, including the popular drop bar models.
The Nitto stem bolt is intended for Grand Bois stems, but now it is available separately as well. The bolt is intended for builders who make their own custom stems, but have a hard time finding stem bolts. We know builders who have bought old stems just to get the bolts! That isn’t necessary any longer. More information is here.
very nice!
The photo of the Elysees bars shows them with MTB brake levers mounted. Were those brake levers reamed out to fit the larger diameter of the bars, or are they a special model that fits?
I don’t know. It’s possible that it’s a “road-specific” lever available in Japan, or that they were modified. I’ll ask Grand Bois what they used. (It’s one of their bikes.)
Do you know the width of the Promenade bars? I am just trying to compare them to the Montmartre and Left Bank bars from Velo Orange…
Width is 405 to 415 mm, depending on where you measure. Full specs are on the Compass Bicycles web site at
http://www.compasscycle.com/handlebars_gb_promenade.html
VO bars are not made by Nitto. Not comparable.
Really? I was under the impression that they were, but perhaps that was just their earlier models. Various sellers of the VO Left Bank bars are claiming that they are made by Nitto, and earlier VO blog posts discuss Nitto making the bars to their design, but I can’t see any current definitive info. Perhaps someone else can clarify.
Nitto handlebars cannot be offered at those prices, so I doubt that these bars are made by Nitto. Why don’t you ask Velo-Orange and report back?
I’ve got the Elysees bars on my Pelican and I really like them. They work (for me at least), for all sorts of riding; from commuting, dirt road riding, to short overnight camping trips. I like them for their somewhat more relaxed position as opposed to drops, but they don’t put one as upright as the promenades. One of these days I’ll give them a go on a 200k.
Do you plan on selling the SunXCD cranks? It looks like they are not (yet?) available with Taiwanese made 50.4 rings. Is this SunXCD company also responsible for the Grand Bois hubs?
We don’t have any plans to sell other cranks at this time. We try to sell the best components in each category, rather than a broad selection at different price points. Basically, we sell the components that we ride on our own bikes. This means that customers know that the components we sell have proven themselves on the road.
Do you know if that stem bolt would work on a Ntto Dirt Drop? I don’t see why it wouldn’t and I’d be interested in buying one if it does work.
Thanks.
– Rolly
Complete specs are at http://www.compasscycle.com/framebuilding_stembolt.html. Measure your bolt and see whether this one will fit.
After a visit to Amsterdam I bought a Dutch Bike for my girlfriend, who has issues with her feet, which are becoming dumb after riding a few kilometers on a usual moderately set up MTB. This problem is gone with the completely upright riding position. Therefore it would be interesting to try such an handlebar on a MTB, provided it has the right diameter and is strong enough for MTB riding. Is there any chance this will be available or do you know of an alternative? (Or anyone else) Thank for your consideration! Alexander
The diameter at the stem is the same as for mtbs. To use the Promenade bars, you’d need different brake and shift levers… The strength of the handlebars should not be an issue with an upright position – you put much less weight on them that way.
I guess you aren’t planning on also making the cone type stem expanders commonly found on Cinelli stems? I recently found a nice vintage 3ttt Touriste stem, but of course it was missing the expander.