WTB: Soba Handlebars

[Johnny Alien]

Every once and awhile I decide I want to search for some Soba bars again. This is the lightweight version of the Noodle handlebars. Anyone have a spare one they want to unload? Not really concerned about width.

[Ken Yokanovich]

Another vote for product re-introduction, re-release.

-Ken who is not as concerned about the weight as much as has a preference for their simpler aesthetics.

[Bill Lindsay]

I've got three of them in my stable, and would buy several more.  I've told Grant at least once that if he got Nitto to make 200 of them, and he did a presale at $150, that I bet he could pre-sell them before any of them actually get made.  That would be a nice $30,000 cash flow exercise.  I'm sure there are barriers to doing such a thing that I don't know, but the $140 MSRP on Rene Herse bars certainly suggests that $150 is a price point that would make sense for all involved.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Johnny Alien]

Look at Bill just strolling in and flexing about his super stash of these bars.  :)

It looks like I might have a line on one but I agree that they would knock these out quick if they did a small release of them.

[Bill Lindsay]

I absolutely snatch them up whenever I see them, and I never sell them.  Buy the good stuff when it's available, before you need it.  That's my advice.  ;)

BL in EC

[Conway Bennett]

Where did y'all read these were a lightweight Nitto Noodle?  They are listed at 380 grams which is inline with other Noodles.  My understanding was they were 50 cm wide--two cm wider than the then widest 48 cm offering.  Then, Riv went all 7 minute abs and released the 52 and 54 centimeter variants.  I recently had a conversation with someone at Riv regarding the widest Noodles who said that Nitto is trying to deprecate the 26.0 clamp diameter.  I personally have had 46 cm Noodles, the Fairweather 174AA short shallow Noodle in 46 cm, and this week I swapped the 54 cm ones off my Hunqapillar in favor of the new Ritchey Corralitos bar which may be my favorite drop bar for a longish top tube bike.  I wanted to like the Noodle, but they have too much drop for me.

[Bill Lindsay]

"Where did y'all read these were a lightweight Nitto Noodle?"  

They were already out of production when I came in 2009.  If I type "Nitto Soba Noodle" into the googler, I get hits to bike forums in 2007 discussing them.   At that time they are talking about how the regular Noodle mod 177 is the heavier cheaper version, and the Soba Noodle is in Nittos "ultralight" flavor.  

There are 9 of them in my garage right now.  8 are on bikes, and 1 is loose.  7 are Mod 177 Noodles, and 2 are the Soba Noodle.  The shape is identical.  I guess you'd just have to take my word for it.  I'm kind of a Noodle zealot.  Most of the 9 in my garage are 460mm and a couple are 440mm.  

The loose bar is the model 177 regular Noodle.  It has 460 stamped in the end and it measures 460mm center to center.  The Soba Noodle that went on my new Roadeo had 460 stamped in the end and it also measures 460mm center to center.  The regular Noodle has a "sleeve" in the middle, with embossed Nitto graphics into the metal of the sleeve.  The Soba Noodle has a bulge in the middle, and the Nitto graphics are black ink or similar printing on the metal.  My build notes indicate I weighed the Soba Noodle at 310g.  The loose regular 460mm Noodle weighs 372g on the same gram scale just now.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA 

[Johnny Alien]

When RIvendell sold them back in the day I think Grant said they were about 60g lighter than a standard noodle bar. That is right in line with what you found, Bill.

[Conway Bennett]

I think the So Bar came out in the fall of 2018.  Here's the intro from Sim Works:

https://sim-works.com/en/news/ramen-nope-i-take-so-bar

They also appear to have a sleeve.  But I've never owned the So Bar, so I don't know what the production model was like in practice.  I had a 50 cm Rando Bar from Velo Orange that I really liked at the time the So Bar was released, and that's why I didn't buy it, but I love 50 cm + drop bars.

It seems as though there is plans for a new iteration of the So Bar.  Sim Works USA wrote, "These were a very popular bar that we've temporarily discontinued while we make some changes to a new version."

I'm a bit of a Noodle/drop bar connoisseur myself.  I currently in use the Crust Nullabar on my Monstercross, Sim Works Wild Honey on my Lightning Bolt, and Ritchey Corralitos on my Hunqapillar.  I wish the Fairweather All Road 174 AA bar was offered in a wider size, but my criticism of the 54 cm Noodle is that it lost the back sweep that enjoyed in the Noodle as it got wider.

Fair winds,

Captain Conway Bennett
239.877.4119

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[Bill Lindsay]

The Simworks So Bar is a handlebar that resembles a Nitto Noodle but in a wide width that was made in the late 2010s and early 2020s

The Nitto Soba Noodle is a completely different handlebar that was made by Nitto and offered by Rivendell in the mid to late 2000s 

Do not conflate the two.  This thread and WTB is focused on the Nitto Soba Noodle -NOT- the Simworks So Bar. 

BL in EC

[Igor]

Retro-Gression sells both the Noodle (Which is the M177) and the Dream (M176). Both, per the description, are designed by Rivendell, and I notice that the M176 is 26mm clamp, has a 140mm drop/90mm reach - is this the Soba or something else? https://www.retro-gression.com/products/nitto-m176-dream-handlebar 

[Conway Bennett]

Bill,

Thanks for the clarification.  My posts weren't meant to be adversarial, just pedantic.  I came into Riv via EcoVelo ~2010, and I didn't own my first Riv until 2013, so the "Soba" predates me, and I thought that y'all were using it colloquially for "So Bar"--the marketing content from Sim Works makes references to literal soba noodles.  I'm curious if the contemporary "So Bar" is inspired by the "Soba".

Fair winds,

Captain Conway Bennett
239.877.4119

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[Johnny Alien]

The Dream bar was the classic standard drop bar made for Rivendell by Nitto. If I remember correctly its what they offered prior to the Noodle. It was sold along with the Noodle bar for a bit before they just dropped it because the Noodle was the drop they would suggest over all others.