Handlebars - 03

HANDLEBARS:
MAVIC 350 - thin wall aluminum alloy - T6 heat treatment - Clear anodized finish - traditional non-anatomic profile - 102 mm wide / 26.0 mm clamp sized reinforced sleeve center section - 43 cm C-t-C / 125 mm reach / 155 mm drop - model 350 : Velox - handlebar tape - vinyl / cotton base with velour cover - lightly cushioned - pre-glued adhesive backing - Black - model Veloute : Kool-Stop - handlebar end plugs - push-in style - flattened ends - nickel plated - model KS-7NBP... [Almost one full year in advance of their announcement of the "tout MAVIC" concept coincident to the 1979 season, MAVIC supplanted their original "Chevalier du Louvat" and "Comte de Coucy" handlebars that had only just debuted a couple of years earlier in 1976 with a choice of yet two completely different handlebars - the model 351 Professional (...having a rather squared profile and a deep drop) and the model 352 Franco-Belge (...based upon a traditional French-Belgian style of bend favored by the likes of Eddy Merckx). By the model year 1984, however, MAVIC had consolidated their offerings to a single model 350 handlebar which they touted as being an entirely new configuration that was "...better adapted to the varied morphologies of...racers" (...ya gotta love that "marketing speak"). In essence, the model 350 selected for use on this particular bicycle was something of a compromise between its two immediate predecessors, having a faster forward bend than either of those and nowhere near as deep a drop as the old model 351. Of course, nothing in the world of competitive cycling is constant excepting change itself, and so it should come as no surprise that MAVIC eventually saw fit to expend their range of handlebars in 1988 with an entirely new model 355 "cowhorn" style apropos time-trial and/or pursuit type endeavors, and then again in 1990 to include a resurrected model 351 which was essentially the same as before, as well as a brand new model 357 supplemental kit consisting of clip-on style aero bars.]