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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.