if it works, it works! :) I did the wide bar thing for a few years as I bought into the whole "it opens up your breathing" mantra and just found it to be more uncomfortable and make me feel like I was trying to hug a tree.. as far as the Riv ad copy.. well, Riv says a LOT of things that don't make a lot of sense to me and I've long said Riv is notorious for putting folks on frames, etc that are too large for them.. at least in my opinion/experience.. but it's fun to play around with the different bars.. happy hunting!
On Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 12:56 PM Ben Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > > 1. Well, the original plan was to replace the stock Albatross bars, > which are 550 mm c-c at the ends. According Riv's copy: "That's not as wide > as it sounds. My daughter has been riding hers since she was 14. Try it on > a good bike. It's worthy of the best bike you own." The 480 mm PNW Coast > bars also measure 550 mm c-c at the ends. Of course, most of the time she > will be on the hoods, which measure to the 480 mm. So, overall it's > narrower than the stock configuration. Which apparently is approved by 14 > year old girls. > 2. Regarding that 550 cm bar-end position, I asked Stephanie about it > after the ride. Her response: "I usually don't ride in the drops, but I saw > you doing it and tried them out. Very comfortable in the grips!" Oury grips > on drop bar ends are indeed deluxe :) > 3. Stephanie is also 5'9". Prior to the Platypus her main bike, a > Crust Bombora, measure 440 mm c-c at the hoods. So the Platypus is only 40 > mm wider overall. Not sure which Salsa Cowchipper's you might be > recommending, since they range from 520 mm to 380 mm in size. Nor am I sure > how Salsa sizes/measures their bars. On Whatbars.com they have 420 mm Salsa > Cowchippers which you can compare to Albatrosses. Visually it appears the > 420 mm Cowchip's also are ~550 mm at ends, but they also have more flare, > reach, and drop than the PNW Coast Bars, all things that she was trying to > minimize. > 4. I did suggest to Stephanie that she try wider bars on this > experiment, just to try out and see if she liked it. But if she had thought > they were too wide, we'd definitely would have sized down (maybe to the 440 > mm PNW Coast?) I am 6'3" and I definitely prefer wide bars. My all time > favorite drop bar is the Crust Towel Rack v1. Those are now discontinued, > but they are 560 mm c-c at the hoods. I have 2 sets. I also have a set of > current production Towel racks, which are narrower at the hoods (500 mm) > and have less drop and less reach, all things I do not prefer. My current > favorite production drop bar is the Crust Shaka bars in the largest size > (540 mm at hoods). My narrowest bars are 480 mm Rene Herse Randonneur's on > my rando bike (too me the one downside to wide bars is the aerodynamic > penalty, so for longer rides dialing that down a bit can really make a > difference to me). My widest bars are 820 mm Oddmone Riser bars, super fun, > but terrible for long rides. > > > On Sunday, September 21, 2025 at 8:14:03 AM UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: > >> I think some of the Salsa bars are coming in a silver now.. something >> like the cowchipper maybe? I guess I'm just a little taken aback at someone >> still riding a 48cm bar, especially a woman (unless she plays in the >> WNBA).. to each their own for sure, but the wider you go with bars, the >> longer the effective reach is.. it also slows the steering waaaay down.. >> not saying everyone needs to be on 36 or 38cm bars like some of the latest >> cycling media would have you believe, but 48cm would just feel HUGE to me >> and I'm around 5'9" and not a tiny guy by any means.. >> >> Chris >> >> On Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 7:17:19 PM UTC-7 Ben Miller wrote: >> >>> Y'all, >>> >>> We went with the PNW Coast Gen 2 bars. Super nice bars: nice shot peen >>> finish with contrasting polished graphics. A bit wider than advertised: >>> went with the 480 mm but they're essentially the same width as the 510 mm >>> Wild Honey bars they are replacing. Much shorter drop and reach though, >>> which corrected the fit! >>> >>> [image: 1000002143.jpg] >>> [image: 1000002144.jpg] >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/ulDYN3tLoHc/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/17594307-4dd2-4030-b4be-ac1d4134e4ffn%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/17594307-4dd2-4030-b4be-ac1d4134e4ffn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Be the Reason Others Succeed! -- 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 view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAJ15Mhkd%3Dr%3DjSzA-Yv2JxVO0dEEohLv7Wyc%2B67zWjB5SeX5KMQ%40mail.gmail.com.
