I'm a big fan of Brooks tape which, of course, matches the honey saddle perfectly. They are expensive but I bought them after my third set of corks crapped out in less than a year. I bought one pack of Brooks 9 years ago and have moved them across three different handlebars. I only had to clean off a little of the adhesive with Goof-off. They feel great and age in a similar fashion as the seat (although not quite as quickly).
The new-to-me Hillborne I recently purchased came with Albatross bars. I've thought about swapping them for Albastache bars because I miss having the mustache-style bars I had on a Surly. Initially, I have considered at least flipping them upside-down (as David said he tried) to achieve the more ergonomic down drop on the front curve. I fear I would lose the upright quality at the bar ends that is nice to have when commuting through the city. If I did switch to Albastache, I would probably go back to a shorter stem. 'Stache bars really increase the reach. Has anyone flipped Albatross bars over or is that just a ridiculous idea? As for the quicker steering on the 'stache bars, I believe that has more to do with the hand position being in front of the pivot point of the headset. More of your weight is further out so the steering action is more of releasing of your weight from one side to the other. It uses your weight more in the steering. With the upright bars such as the Albatross and Bosco, your hands are more in line with that pivot point and less of your weight is on the bars. Steering becomes more of a push/pull relationship. At least that's what I've been able to surmise from a basic ergonomic comparison between the drops, bosco, albatross and older mustache bars I've had. This is also why I think that flipping the Albatross bars will not achieve a similar feel of my old mustache bars. Hi, I'm John and I'm a bar-swap addict. On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 8:08:47 AM UTC-8, SeanMac wrote: > > Hi folks, > > I am contemplating a winter project that would convert an early 1990 Trek > 520 touring bike into an around town "grocery getter" and/or bike trail, > easy cruising bike. My plan is to swap out the Noodle bars on my Trek for > Albastache bars. > > From what I have read, this looks to be a pretty easy conversion. The bar > end shifters that I have on the Noodles should work on the Albastache > bars. I should also be able to swap over the brake levers from the Noodle > to the Alnbastache (I've got the original levers - non-aero, > non-brifters). Is there something that I am missing? Will be cable > lengths be similar or will I likely need new cables? > > For as long as I can remember, every bike that I have ever ridden has used > drop bars, so I contemplate this shift with both excitement and a bit of > apprehension. After all, why mess with something that works? On the other > hand, I think that this conversion will bring new life to a bike that does > not get used very often. > > One other thought, what color Newbaum tape do you suggest to best match an > Brooks B-17 honey saddle that has some years on it? > > Thanks for your thoughts. > > Sean > EA, NY > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
