boscomoose - pictures, experiences, comparisons?

[Paul Richardson]

howdy folks

i've been doing the best digging i can and cannot seem to wrangle very many pictures of rivs with boscomoose bars.  have you tried them?  did you like them?  i ride big bikes, so i'm not too concerned about knee strike on the bar-ends, which i gather can be a drawback for some.  their fixedness obviously makes for a riskier purchase than separate stem+bars, so i'd love to hear your experience before i take the plunge!

thanks in advance

paul

takoma park, md.

[iamkeith]

I had them on my clem, and now on my susie.  I got rid of the clem to get the susie, but am gettingthe clem back and will move the boscomoose back too.  I have a love/hate relationship with them, but went through a half dozen other bars on the clem, always going back to the boscomoose.

On the plus side, they are the only version that's stiff enough.  The aluminum ones were so flexy, I wasn't even comfortable using the bike while standing out of the saddle.  Comfort-wise  they are "almost" ideal.

I regularly wish they had a longer stem reach and, especially, that the ends pointed down toward the back more.  It's a bit wheelbarrow-like, and hard to keep from sliding forward.  I also wish they had less rise, were quite a bit wider, and had more flare as well. (Or "less" flare?  I wish that they were a bit less  bent back, or turned out more.)

All of these things - except the ideal moose construction - are solved by the steel Tosco.  I so hope they'll do a moose version, but its not made by Nito unfortunately.  I'll kerp both bars for variety but, if I only had one, it'd be the Tosco.  I actually bought a second one so I never have to worry about losing it.  The only problem is that it's 31.8 and it is VERY hard to find stems that are long enough.  150mm +/- .

Ill find and post pics.

[Brian Turner]

There was a Tosco-moose version for a short time, and I’m not sure if it was only that one production run… but they do exist.

I would snag one of those in a heartbeat if they ever made them again, because I love the Tosco bar. Would love to try a bit stiffer version too.

On May 20, 2023, at 1:03 PM, iamkeith <keith...@gmail.com> wrote:

I had them on my clem, and now on my susie.  I got rid of the clem to get the susie, but am gettingthe clem back and will move the boscomoose back too.  I have a love/hate relationship with them, but went through a half dozen other bars on the clem, always going back to the boscomoose.

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[Jay Lonner]

I had them on my Hunq when I first got it, and liked them well enough. Also experimented with non-moose Boscos and like others have mentioned found them way too flexy. When I went back to the mooses I found myself sitting more upright than I wanted, which maybe would be less of an issue for current stretched-out Riv designs. I have since settled on Jones bars and find them to be a great match for the Hunq. I would also consider Tumbleweed Persuader bars. I like wide handlebars and I do not lie (h/t Sir Mix-a-Lot). Whatbars.com is a helpful resource.

Jay Lonner

Bellingham, WA

Sent from my Atari 400

On May 20, 2023, at 9:41 AM, Paul Richardson <pjrich...@gmail.com> wrote:

howdy folks

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[Richard Rose]

Hi Paul. I have Bosco bars on both my Clem L & Gus. Love the look of the Boscomoose so searched for & bought one. It was a no go for me. Length was fine but not being able to adjust the tilt did not work for me - they were just too “flat”.

On my Clem I have a 135 FacePlater stem & get zero slippage unless I start doing some drops.

On the Gus (threadless) I have the Nitto V5 stem & it is very solid - unless I do drops. On the Gus I have tried a few drops & there is just too much leverage - the bar slips. So I just don’t do drops. I might be persuaded to try one of the Boscomoose for threadless bars on the Gus, but those are even more hard to find than the quill version.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 20, 2023, at 12:41 PM, Paul Richardson <pjrich...@gmail.com> wrote:

howdy folks

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[Richard Rose]

Also, unlike others I am not bothered by the flex of either the 550 wide steel Bosco on the Clem or the 580 wide aluminum one on the Gus. But I only weigh 170 lbs. and have virtually no weight on my hands. The Boscomoose I had was noticeably stiffer which I did not necessarily like.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 20, 2023, at 12:41 PM, Paul Richardson <pjrich...@gmail.com> wrote:

howdy folks

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[iamkeith]

About to take Susie out for an evening ride, I just remembered that the slope of the bars is better than when it's on the Clem   because the slightly slacker headube angle.  When I had the adjustable kind, I still liked them a bit more sloped than this though

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:41:14 AM UTC-6 Paul Richardson wrote:

[iamkeith]

One more thing to illustrate with that picture, that I also just remembered:  my "primary" hand position (when just riding along) wants to be in front of those grips, almost on the curved part of the bar.  I haven't taped it or anything, but I operate the brake levers with my pinkies and hook my thumb in front of the shifters.  This bike even has a long-by-rivendell-standards top tube, so you can see why a much longer stem would be better.

[Eric Marth]

Hi Paul — The Bosco-moose appear side by side with the traditional Bosco bars in Rivendell catalog no. 20 from 2014 on page 10. 

I know they're pricey but I say just go for it, you can always resell them here. 

http://notfine.com/rivendell/Catalogs/Rivendell%20Catalog%202014%20No%2020.pdf

[Eric Marth]

Blue Lug has a few photos, of course. Always a great source for Riv builds. 

Clem, Homer, Appaloosa below. 

[Eric Marth]

Oops third pic is another Clem!

[Paul Richardson]

thanks to all for taking the time to respond.

keith--tosco certainly looks nice but i'm really looking for moosebars--maybe choco, but probably bosco.  i'm surprised to see yours sloping down as much as they do.  the angle looks like the cheviot picture on the riv site, and (to my eye) a lot steeper downward than the photos on bluelug.  but gee gah maybe it's all an optical illusion, or a result of headtube angle?!

jay--sitting "more upright than i wanted" is...exactly what i want!

eric--bluelug is a treasure trove of photos--totally forgot to look there first.

time to start saving my allowance!

paul

takoma park, md.

[Jared Wilson]

Paul,

The Cheviot on the Riv site was I believe Casey's bike, feature what are known as the "wrong angle" boscomoose bars. 

Somehow a small batch was done with more tilt than Riv had requested, resulting in a better product for some people.

My wife has a pair of "normal" boscomoose on her Platypus and loves them, I actually bought them for myself but didn't like the "flatness" of them, I prefer more angle.

At the Riv garage sale earlier this year I picked up another pair because I do love the stiff quality they offer, but yet again I didn't jive with the fixed angle and moved them along to another group member.

I'll try and dig up a couple photos this evening.

Best,

jared

[Mackenzy Albright]

I really like the bullmoose boscos. I find them quite comfortable. I don't mind the angle given their height. Ive tried a few other bars including the loscos and toscos which all have their perks and preferences, but these have stayed on the clementine. 

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

I have them on my Clem H, and added the stoker nubs. (Dia Compe) Pretty good without, but much better with! I have this set up as a single now, but can also convert to a 1X - in which case the rear gear lever goes on the downslope ahead of the right nub. 

[Jennings]

A little late to the game but here are mine on my Hunqapillar.  

[Garth]

Hey Keith I was looking at stems today and was reminded that Zipp makes 140mm and 150mm 31.8 threadless stems +/-6d. Black only, but those can be altered if you really want silver. I'm not into playing with chemicals myself so I'd seek out a auto/moto paint/body shop that has a media blaster for aluminum.

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 8:29:27 PM UTC-4 iamkeith wrote:

[iamkeith]

Thanks, Garth.  Funny - this thread isn't even that old, and I've changed several things since posting.  I guess I really am a chronic cockpit tinkerer.  Related to the original question, I did move my boscomoose back to my Clem, now that I have it back.  Even though I'd still like the stem to be longer, they continue to be the best bar on that bike.  [I did have a 140 ritchey stem (25.4 quill) and aluminum boscos years ago when I first built that bike and it fit better, but the stiffness of the moose version still makes it the best compromise.]

I moved my tosco to the Susie pictured above with a 130mm faceplater stem.  Once again, a longer stem would be even better, but this was still a huge improvement on that bike relative to the boscomoose.  Wider, less bent back, less rise (on a frame that has a super-talll headtube  already.)  Thumbshifters work better in the normal/outer position  on toscos than boscos, but I left them inside and reversed for now.

I put some Ron's Orrtho bars on the bike that previously had toscos.  In this case, black/threadless is actually ideal.  But... 31.8 doesnt work without a shim.  I might try this anyway.  The best 26.0 stem I was able to find was 130mm.  Somewhere, I posted pics showing how similar the ortho ant tosco are.