On the subject of steering geometry

[tim_sch]

I can't ride bikes without chicago bars

[Kinchy]

I always ran my bars at the same angle as my forks

[Hank Chinaski]

I always ran my bars at the same angle as my forks

Anything else feels horrible

[JFax]

I always ride 1 or 2 degrees of chicago. That Chicago in the pic is just silly.

[GabeR]

I always ran my bars at the same angle as my forks

Anything else feels horrible

Yup, just ever so slightly forward of being parallel with the forks is where it's at for me.

[ediotism]

I always ride 1 or 2 degrees of chicago. That Chicago in the pic is just silly.

it's probably just "silly" because of how odd it looks relative to the toptube (ane the bike frame). bear in mind that modern frames are a lot more slanted that they were years ago.

but you notice that against the background, it's directly vertical, which makes it only a tiny bit more forward then most riders. i just took my bike to check the bars, which are almost vertical. i've always wanted it a tiny bit more forward for flatland-style stuff but it's at the perfect angle for street/ramps, bearing in mind that i run 18mm offset forks.

if you look at bikes from the Etnies Forward era or even a bit later, most bars are quite vertical. back then, backends were longer and TTs were shorter in comparison, and a rider'd look really cramped on a bike if the bars are pulled back past the fork angle