I think what's interesting here, regarding the varying responses and levels satisfaction with the Boscos, is that it probably has much less to do with individual preferences for riding position (how "upright" someone likes to be) than it does individual body types and proportions. I think this is the case more often than people realize, but the effect is very exagerated on the Clem because of the limited number of frame sizes, and the huge range of rider heights they have to accommodate. I'd guess that MOST people probably don't have an ideally sized Clem, but rather the one that is "closest" to fitting.
For someone like me, who is at the smallest end of the rider height range for a given frame, the bars are going to start out really high relative to the saddle height to begin with. For someone at the taller end of the fit spectrum for a given frame, not only are the bars lower, but they also quickly get further away as the seat post is extended upward and rearward, due to the relatively slack seat tube angle. But even for those for whom the bike happens to be sized appropriately, a bar like the Bosco is going to highlight body differences. Someone with a short torso, relative to their leg length/saddle height, is going to feel like the bars are higher than someone with a long torso who's shoulders and arm sockets are way up in the sky, and the huge backward reach of the bar doesn't allow you as much ability to adjust your forward "lean" to compensate for those differences. My point of all this is: Knowing I was at a disadvantage but also having determined that I wanted to use Boscos, I consciously made some compromises in order to make it all work. And now, I don't even see them as compromises. In addition to the longer and lower stem that I mentioned above, I also slid my saddle back further than I'm normally used to, and angled the grip ends downward a bit more so they were effectively lower. In regards to the former, this is something I've started experimenting with more often lately and I wish I'd done more of earlier. It makes no sense that my saddles should be located the exact same way, relative to the cranks, on every bike I own, when they are all set up differently and are used for different types of riding. In regards to the later, I feel like the angle is what made the third hand position, on the curve forward of the brake levers, viable. On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 7:26:15 PM UTC-6, Jeremy Tavan wrote: > > I'm fairly delighted with the long-reach bullmoose bars on my 52cm Clem - > super comfy. I'm not riding that bike very might these days and need to > re-imagine its role, though, so a handlebar change might be part of the > process. Maybe it needs to be less upright - some short-reach drops perhaps? > > /Jeremy > > On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 6:13:10 PM UTC-7, Bill M. wrote: >> >> I'm currently using Alba's on my 52 cm Clem, but have also used On-One >> Mary's for a little more forward position. I like the Alba's in town, but >> would probably use the Mary's if I spent more miles on fire roads or >> unpaved trails. I have only test-ridden the Boscos at Riv, as I bought >> mine as a frameset, but they were a bit too high and close for me. >> >> Bill >> Stockton, CA >> >> On Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 6:48:02 PM UTC-7, mike smith wrote: >>> >>> Has anyone changed handlebars on the CSJ? I like the current bars but >>> I'm too upright? 59cm Frame. >>> >>> -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
