I've used several riv bars and some similar bars including some wide-ish dropbars. My thoughts on each:
First bars were *Albatross (56cm steel)* and they're still used on my Cheviot (with bar ends mounted at the most forward point making a sort of "aero" reach position that's like riding on the hoods of drop bars). 56cm wide feels good, hand angle is good, but not as many riding positions as I originally figured.* If I could replace them with Tosco bars I'd do it now. * Second bars were* Bosco (58cm)* on a Hillborne, now used on my Rosco Baby bike - perfect for the baby bike where long reach back and pretty darn wide leaves room for the kid in the front seat. Flexy on a 11cm nitto technomnic stem, they were nice on the Hillborne as a commuter but they shine on the Rosco Bebe, they were also good on the Cheviot which is a commuter, but a bit too much sweep back and rise making too big a difference between the forward flat position and the super upright grips position. The extra width was great. Switched the Hillborne to *Nitto Dirt Drop RM-013 bars (48cm at hoods, 52cm at bar ends)* - very nice for long rides but ultimately not quite right for me - too much drop and not enough flair at the hooks to make the hoods angled a bit more which feels better for me on longer rides. Very comfy in the hoods. Shortened to a 6cm stem (was 11cm with the Boscos on it before). Nice and flexy, but not quite right for my wrists (which bare plenty of weight as I'm a heavy fella). To get more flair at the hooks and a bit more width at the ends switched to ... *Soma Portola (56cm at ends, 45.5cm at hoods*) - much less drop that the RM-013 dirt drops, more flair angle at the hooks sets the hoods at an angle so I can put more weight on the hoods comfortably. Still figiting with the setup (no tape yet but I think I'm set now) after raising the stem quite a bit (compared to the dirt drops). Biggest difference: Suddenly I use the hooks! Never really felt good in the hooks before but seems very natural position with these bars. The hoods are also more comfy (vs. RM-103) because of the additional flair at the hook. The wrist angle in the drops is not ideal but it's good, it's a little steep (not as close to flat with the ground as the RM-013) but good - if I could modify these to have a be flatter here while keeping the hoods/hooks in the same spot these would be ideal for me. Lots of additional options if you have a 31.8mm clamp stem (including the Junebug which is just the Portola but in 31.8, both quite similar to the Midge) but these are my fav's in the 25.4/26mm variety. Honestly, I'd be happy to try the Towel Rack in 610/615mm because of where it would setup the hoods, but 660 or 670mm seems past the point of diminishing returns for my body unless I was on dirt only setup. So vary VERY happy with the Portola bars as a compromise for wider, better wrist hood position bars. My main hand position is usually 1-2" above the nose of the seat. I also angle the seat so it points at the stem clamp or main hand position and that consistently works nicely. There are so many small changes in brake lever position and drop angle and stem height that I would be hard pressed to tell you any bar fits well or poorly until trying tons of different positions. Any by the time my fit seems perfect my body changes enough to make it a constantly moving target to get the fit just right. But mostly* I just ride as it is whenever there's time!* May you find your happy handlebar place! On Wednesday, 27 January 2021 at 09:25:00 UTC-8 John G wrote: > I'm thinking of a set of the Spank bars for my next project. Right now I > have a set of the VeloOrange Dajia Far Bars (48cm) on the Stump Puller, > paired with a Cigne stem to get the bars way up there. (585mm overall). I > spend a lot of time in the hooks and they feel pretty good. > https://flic.kr/p/2kj72a1 > > I also have a set of original WTB Dirt Drops on the Quickbeam. They feel > good too. :) > https://flic.kr/p/sr927L > > Cheers, > John G > Union Bridge, MD > On Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1:56:22 PM UTC-5 wboe...@gmail.com wrote: > >> I am quite fond of the Ritchey Venturemax I have on my CaadX - just the >> right amount of drop and flare, with long drops with plenty of hand >> real-estate. What Bars lead me to believe that Midges were similar, which >> is true of flare, but to my mind, they need more length in the drops. I am >> using them happily and find that stem height was the key to making that >> work out. I have not tried a set of ultra-wide drops and probably won't >> because I'm cheap. >> >> On Friday, January 8, 2021 at 4:02:33 PM UTC-5 Gabriel Bruguier wrote: >> >>> Another angle of the 112 that better illustrates the wide drop glory. >>> >>> -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2d2b897e-c98d-4e23-893f-8b019ef0ec92n%40googlegroups.com.
