Keith: interesting observations. I'm curious about the differences between the Midge (which I've recently found to the be ne plus ultra of flared, offroad drops) and the Woodchipper (which I disliked at first sight: wish I had one to compare to the Midege).
My own objection to the Woodchipper was the feeling of immense width. I gather that the Woodchipper's hooks are angled more steeply than the Midge's, making the flat wider and therefore the hoods further apart -- the Midge puts the hoods at about 42 cm apart (c-c) which is just right for me. Just noticed that the Woodchipper comes in a 42 cm width -- perhaps **that's** the ideal off road bar??? At any rate, I wonder if you can't get a Woodchipper or Midge through a Nitto Dirt Drop stem using that neat little Nitto pry tool that opens the clamp up? I agree that the right brake lever hood makes such flared bars even better -- the long-hooded Tektro V-brake levers give me a hoods position on the Midge that is as comfortable as that on any road bar that I've used. .... 42 cm Woodchippers: wish I'd tried those instead of the 46s which were just too damned wide. I had 42 Noodles on the Fargo which felt just right -- except that they gave wholly insufficient leverage off road. A 42 cm bar with shallow and short hooks as default might be just the right thing. Anyone have a 42 to get rid of? On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 9:43 AM, iamkeith <[email protected]> wrote: > > I've got similar projects going on, but in the opposite direction. > Like you, I've been preferring to ride my cross bike lately, on single > track mostly. It has Woodchippers on it now, and I've uploaded some > photos at the link below. Meanwhile, I'm about to take the moustache > bars off of my (slightly too small) XO-1, replace them with some > traditional-style dirt drops on a tall stem, and then put the > moustache bars on my new All Rounder. Other than getting each bike to > fit and perform as well as possible, my real goal is just to retain > enough variety and differences between the bikes that I'll continue to > ride them all. So for that reason alone, I'd be reluctant to > completely take the moustache bars out of rotation, if it were me. > Something to think about perhaps. I also think your bike is > beautiful, just as it sits. But here are some thoughts on the > Woodchippers: > > - I used the new ergo TRP levers from Rivendell, and they're > fantastic. Even though the bars angle inward at the bends, the curve > is more "vertical" than other dirt drops, so the hoods are actually > usable as a 2nd hand position. And because of the lever shape, they > are easy to reach from the drop postion, too. I was also able to add > interupter levers at the top, though I had to replace the clamp screw > with a slightly longer one, because they are just barely affected by > the bulge in the center of the bar. (I have the normal 25.4 version. > The oversize 31.8 version probably wouldn't work.) So this actually > gives me three hand positions! As noted above, get the wider version, > because I don't think the narrower one would give you as many hand > positions > > - That said, for any kind of technical or off-road riding, you will > absolutely want to have you hands in the drop position for control. > No way around it. The problem, at least for me, is that these are > the same circumstances when I want to be sitting more upright. Going > down a steep, bumpy hill can be pretty uncomfortable when you're > hunched over, and I've had more than one endo because I couldn't get > my weight back far enough. They're not as bad as most road-style > drop bars for off road use, because the drop is shallow and the > forward bend is small, but the unique angles have a completely > different feel to them, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. > > - With all this in mind, I feel like are really designed and best > suited for a bike with a very tall head tube, like the Fargo, which > would put the top of the bars ABOVE your saddle. My own bike doesn't > lend itself to this, but I HAVE recently switched to a taller stem, as > you can see in one of the photos (with the trail in the background.) > I still like the bars enough to not want to get rid of them, but I'm > not taking the bike in the mountains any more. > > - You COULD possibly use a taller stem but NOT the Nitto Dirt > Drop!!!!!!! (This is important!) Because of the way the bar bends > and the angle that the quill will pass when you rotate it, it is > impossible to fit them in without having to cut about 1 1/2" off the > ends, at which point you've completely ruined the nicest thing about > the bars - the nice, wide, angled lower section. Even if you do get > them cut down and installed, you might put a huge gouge in your stem > and score the bars to the point that you wouldn't trust them not to > break. Go ahead... ask me how I know. (If you want to try a free > cut-down pair in a dirt drop stem, just to see if you like them, send > me a note.) > > Uploaded some pics here: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/87152838@N05/sets/72157632696827760/ > > -- > 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 http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- ------------------------- Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW http://resumespecialties.com/index.html ------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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