Beach cruiser geometry doesn't usually find its way onto modern cockpits, but Ritchey's Classic El Camino handlebar borrows the relaxed wrist angle of those old swept bars and reworks it into a 31.8mm clamp standard with a 750mm width that keeps steering inputs precise. The high-polish silver finish slots it into the rest of the Classic lineup, so steel builds with polished cockpits or restorations of older Ritchey frames get a cohesive look without hunting for NOS parts.

The 35° backsweep is the defining number. Most riser and alt bars live in the 9° to 27° range, and stepping up to 35° rotates the wrists into a more neutral grip, drops the shoulders, and shortens the effective reach to the grips. Plan on rechecking your stem length before committing — what felt right on a flat bar will likely pull you too far forward once the sweep pivots your hands back. The 50mm rise stacks on top of that, lifting the grips up and toward the saddle for a genuinely upright position better suited to long days on mixed surfaces than chasing segments.

Construction is double-butted 6061 alloy, with extra material laid in at the high-stress sections of the bar and thinned where loads stay low. The 200mm clamping area gives plenty of room for a computer, light, and a small bikepacking bag or feed pouch without crowding shifters and brake levers — that wider platform was a deliberate design choice for riders who actually carry gear on their bars. The 31.8mm clamp works with any current stem, so dropping this into an existing build doesn't require chasing down a matching cockpit.... Read More