Rumor has it the bar was made by Cinelli in the 80’s for Pope John Paul II’s white Colnago and generally referred as the Pope or Priest bar for that reason. They’ll pop up on ebay every now and then but Cinelli now makes the Vallencia which only comes in a matte black finish (womp womp) and a 31.8mm clamp. Until I find a pair I’ll continue to stand by the Velo Orange’s more backswept Porteur bar.
cork grips 
http://www.jitensha.com/eng/flatbar05.html
I meant to mention the Nitto Jitensha as well, it’s pretty damn close! A bit wider and the shape of the bend isn’t quite as subtle.
Jitensha bar, 3TTT townie bar, MAP Sll Rounder bar and Nitto B2522 (it is the exact same as the Jitensha bar.
I’ve never heard the pope story, and it sounds like bullocks considering that 3TTT was making a similar bar in the 70’s.
The pope story just applies to the Cinelli bars specifically;this little anecdote from Ernest Colnago is about the bike they initially gave him but doesn’t say much about the bars unfortunately.
Yeah but the story is that Cinelli invented the style for the Pope. It has been around longer then 1980, hell even Cinelli was making that style bar (with an integrated stem) before then. The interviews with Ernesto just say he built a more upright white bike when The Pope said he would prefer something more comfortable over the gold race bike they presented him with. In none of the interviews I’ve read has Ernesto claimed he invented a bar for the pope.
Maybe keep an eye out for when these hit.
Not bad at all..
very cool!
There are also these handlebars made by Ahearne/Map!
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