I ordered up some Nitto Noodles for the girl bike. She didn’t like the moustache bars. I’m eager to see if they live up to the (Rivendell) hype.
I like my 44cm noodles a lot.
I’ve been a fan of shallow drop ergo bars lately. I’m just trying to find one that doesn’t bang my wrists when sprinting (maybe I have bad form though.) This is for the Cannondale, which has been relegated to strictly race duty, so even some shallow crit bars would work. Any suggestions? Clamp size not a factor.
And even there, their usefulness is questionable.
I’m salty that Nitto refuses to adapt to the modern clamp diameter standard.
Just make it fit anyway.
I love shallow drops (less than 130mm in my book) for non race bikes. Major Taylor and walker racer bars from soma are both great although they are a bit on the heavy side. I was going to get some custom bars bent to be even shallower I wanted a track bend with about 100mm of drop, like an old pathway racer style bar. But BTI has picked up Charge bikes for 2009 and so they will be selling the “racer” alloy bars, 110mm drop, track style bend, exactly what I’ve always wanted. I’m very excited. and I’ll have a set as soon as they come into stock.
just my two cents =)
b123s are the prettiest drops of all the drops
i hate drops, but for distance they’re practical…i haven’t tried distance riding with bullhorns, though. i should.
anyway, i was going to say, randonneur bars are nice for distance. lots of hand positions.
otherwise, i hate the way drops feel. sure, they can look nice, but, uggg…i can’t stand riding on them.
And even there, their usefulness is questionable.[/quote]
this is a guy I could kick it with.
BC, what do you like on the track?
And even there, their usefulness is questionable.[/quote]
I was being polite, but I agree.
[quote=“grindmaster flash”]i hate drops, but for distance they’re practical…i haven’t tried distance riding with bullhorns, though. i should.
anyway, i was going to say, randonneur bars are nice for distance. lots of hand positions.
otherwise, i hate the way drops feel. sure, they can look nice, but, uggg…i can’t stand riding on them.[/quote]
Do you ride in the wind much? About half of my 10 mile commute runs near the SF bay. Even on an otherwise calm day, it can get pretty gusty. My bars are a bit lower than I prefer, but I still get down in the drops fairly often. Being in the drops allows me to maintain a consistent average speed and mitigates the need to shift too often when I get smacked by a strong gust.
Riding along the Alameda shoreline yesterday made me truly appreciate drops. Fucking headwinds.
I used to be anti-drops, but only because i’d never ridden 'em on a properly sized and fitted bike.
Now I’m pro-drops, and I vote.
[quote=“halbritt”][quote=“grindmaster flash”]i hate drops, but for distance they’re practical…i haven’t tried distance riding with bullhorns, though. i should.
anyway, i was going to say, randonneur bars are nice for distance. lots of hand positions.
otherwise, i hate the way drops feel. sure, they can look nice, but, uggg…i can’t stand riding on them.[/quote]
Do you ride in the wind much? About half of my 10 mile commute runs near the SF bay. Even on an otherwise calm day, it can get pretty gusty. My bars are a bit lower than I prefer, but I still get down in the drops fairly often. Being in the drops allows me to maintain a consistent average speed and mitigates the need to shift too often when I get smacked by a strong gust.[/quote]
yeah, i mean, i used to live in the midwest. i did like bullhorns with a bit of drop for the aero position…drops sort of compressed my lungs too much. but i also didn’t really feel i had much problem with risers in order to run a basket for work.
i did do a century that had hella wind, and i did use the drops then, but i sort of wish, i retrospect, that i’d gone with some bullhorns.
from day to day riding, though, i do prefer my risers, though that is largely because i’m able to use my basket. still, i’ve gotten used to them, even in some of that more intense wind like you mentioned. i do have to work a little harder, but it’s never been hard enough to bother me.
Do you mean 31.8 or 26? Because I don’t think that 31.8 is the market that Nitto’s chasing, and 25.4 is more practical than 26 since you can always shim your bars to make up the difference. Also, 25.4 is the NJS standard, and since Nitto is the only NJS bar maker, it’s likely just what Nitto has always tooled for.
Every now and again I try to race my Nitto 123s, and then my hands get sore and the next week I’ll be back on conventional road drops. A few years ago, I was using 3TTT Prima 220s, and then I switched to traditional bend road bars. They’re some Sakae knock-off of the Cinelli 66.
Are you planning on riding the track with these? On the road, they seem like they’d be pretty limiting and uncomfortable. Gotta have hoods, man… gotta have 'em.
no hoods and no real tops = horribly uncomfortable much of the time.
Which is the shortcoming of the moustache bars, I believe.
Exact reason I just put some aero levers on my IRO.
No they’d be for my steamroller, only used on the street. I like the hand position in a drop bar, with traditional road bends the flat hits my wrist during climes and sprints, so track bends are my best friend. However I don’t like being 150mm or more deep on the street. On my bikes with drop bars (not all track style) I seldom use the flats if at all. I haven’t had a bike with hooded levers on it in at least five years, noodle bars are bad ass for that sort of setup.