Patrick, Most people have addressed the headwind challenge with upright bars that allow for positioning the hands forward. Assuming you have the flexibility, certainly on the Bosco bars and probably as well on the Albas, you can place your hands on the section next to the stem, rest your elbows on the ends of the bar for additional stability and end up in a real forward lean.
My biggest concern, which I will further explore on the upcoming Rivendell S240 is going downhill on rough dirt with the hands on the straight rear ends where the brake levers are. I find that on the short sections I've done, I feel my hands want to slip forward and I have a harder time modulating the brake levers and holding on to the bars. In my case, I believe this might be compounded by the reverse brake levers which, so far, force me to use three fingers on the levers with my Neo-Retro/Touring brakes (that require a lot more pressure) and just leaves the thumb and index for holding on to the bar. I will have to try some different hand positions or gripping the bar and brake levers differently to see if I can address that problem. It's certainly more of an issue than with regular straighter bars, including the regular Bullmoose where your whole palm rests against the bar to counter your weight. Granted, the proper way to go down rough stuff is to move your weight backwards and put all the weight on your feet and none on your hands, but when you factor the high/wide Brooks saddle and a wide saddlebag, you can't really go as far back as you would on a regular mountain bike. I need to experiment more, but so far, for the occasional rough dirt downhill it's just a hassle. If I were doing rough off-road riding regularly, I'd probably opt for the regular Bullmoose bars (MTB syle) vs. the really upright Boscos or Albas. In my short stint with Moustache bars on my previous Bombadil, going downhill on dirt wasn't an issue due to your hands being placed on the curved part behind the bars, which is where you needed them to access the brake levers. You could do the same brake lever configuration on the Albas, which would then give your the upright position option without access to the brake levers, but access to the brake levers on the more forward position when you're going fast/downhill. René On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 3:03 PM, Jim Mather <mather...@gmail.com> wrote: > Upside down Noodle bars would be very comfortable. > > jim m > wc ca > > > On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 3:02 PM, PATRICK MOORE <bertin...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Interest thread. I've tried upside-down upright bars and they all hurt my >> left palm, so when I try Albatrosses, it will be in the "up" position. >> >> I think this is what I'll do: if and when I sell the Fargo (because the >> Ram does the pavement part so much nicer, and because I really want a ss >> 29er for off road) I'll set up the 29er with Albas. >> >> Just got back from a 3 mile grocery/PO trip + 10 mile detour with winds >> 30-gusting-to-40, on the Ram, coming back the last 5 miles with 34 lbs on >> the Fly/Banjos. Tucked into the hooks of the 42 cm Noodles downhill in the >> 70", outbound, sitting upright (and standing) uphill, in the 70", inbound. >> Yesterday, not quite as windy, but 7-8 miles south into 15 with higher >> gusts in the hooks of the GB Maes Parallels on the 75" gofast. I like hooks >> too much for aero and power in such situations and frankly, I find my drops >> very comfortable. 'Cept my left palm on that Midge. >> >> -- >> 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?hl=en-US. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > -- > 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?hl=en-US. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- 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?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
