Soma Fabrications Brings Back the Jack Lauterwasser Handlebars
photo by Soma Fabrications
I just read on the Soma blog that they are now manufacturing handlebars based on the ones made popular by Olympic cyclist, Jack Lauterwasser. Lauterwasser won double medals at the 1928 Olympics and soon after opened a bike shop where he designed and built the bars that carried his name. The originals are still coveted by collectors. Soma based their design on actual vintage bars that they bought off of Ebay.
“I fill a standard pair of bars with sand and then bend them to the style I want” – Jack Lauterwasser
“Moustache” style bars like these are known for performance and not comfort. You’re in an aggressive/aero riding position that’s ideal for going fast. I wish they had these back when I was assembling my first single speed (that was later eaten by pool chemicals), in fact I looked everywhere for a pair but none could be found.
photo by Soma Fabrications
When I build a replacement bike these will be the bars I use. Put them on a bike with 27″ wheels and it feels like you’re steering a bus. A really fast and nimble bus that is.
Soma is offering a chrome plated CroMo version for $49.99 and an alloy (polished 6061-T aluminum) version for $73.99. Kudos to Soma for bringing this historic handlebar design back into production.
-Chris
edit: I just read a nice review and brief history on these by Mike Kone on the Rene Herse Bycle blog. It’s a good read.
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Tags: Jack Lauterwasser, Lauterwasser Handlebars, moustache handlebars, soma fabrications
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