I decided to ditch LOSCO

[James Valiensi]

I left him by the creek….
Actually, I put LOSCO bars on my Riv custom road frame. I really liked the upright position and the width of the bars. I also have a Joe A but it has Albatross handle bars.
I found the LOSCO bars to be too flexible. I was never sure if they were flexing or slipping in the stem. It was a bit disconcerting.

I need to have my bars higher than I am used too. I ordered a new 60mm Nitto FacePlater stem and a Rene Herse Maes parallel handle bar. The clamp diameter is 31,8mm. The bigger diameter is a stiffer tube and the bars will not flex as much as 25.4 or 26mm bars would.
I hope the bars will be an inch or two higher than the saddle. The reach is slightly shorter than I used before, and that help keeps my upper body straighter.

Traditional shaped bars have some advantages, like many hand positions and if you have them high enough one can use the drops for the headwinds.

I will post a photo when the parts get put on.

The folks here sure have beautiful bikes. I ride in the north LA area and there is no shortage of bike riders out here. But I can ride everyday for a month and never see the kind of stuff posted here.

I was fixing a friends Rivendell and as we were loading his bike on the car rack a doordash guy came by and said “That’s a Rivendell!”. We spent the next 20-min talking about it and Rivendell bikes.

Cheers!

[Brett Callahan]

James, your experience with the Losco was similar to my experience with the Billie bars. I found the Billie's and an 11CM stem on my Atlantis to be too flexy when carrying a load. I ended up going back to albatross bars on a slightly shorter stem. A little flex was fine, but it was just too much, especially on a heavy bike. I've been tempted to try out the Loscos or Toscos on a lighter bike where I don't carry a front load. 

Brett in PDX

[Roberta]

James and Brett.

I got a LOSCO from a forum member for my soon (where soon is defined as sometime this spring) to be Platypus.  Now I'm a bit nervous.  Is it that you ride your bikes "rougher and heavier" that makes the difference?  What about someone like me who will just go riding around town,  with some "as fast as I can go" rides, and only a handlebar bag (Carradice Zipped Roll) up front?

Roberta

[James Valiensi]

I notice the flex from normal riding. I do not ride “loaded” other than my fat ass. I’m not sure how a loaded bike would impart more force to the handle bar, if loads are not placed on the bar.

Hit a few bumps and I feel it moving. I have the longest Nitto forged stem I could get (130mm) That may contribute to it. But the Joe A has the same stem and with the Albatross it does not flex. But perhaps more of the stem is in the steerer tube.

I’ve done a few hundred happy miles with the LOSCO and I just decided to change. 

I’d say try it, you may like it. 

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[Joe Bernard]

Roberta,

One person's "too flexy" is another person's "absorbs some road vibration", I wouldn't worry too much. I didn't notice any difference in stiffness feel between it and the Boscos I ride. 

[James Valiensi]

Its like toe-clip overlap - its no big deal, unless it kills you...

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[spencer robinson]

I agree with Joe, I think you will like them Roberta. 

[Brett Callahan]

Hi Roberta, 

Like others have said, you won't know for sure unless you try, but I suspect your riding on the Platypus may be different from what I didn't care for on my Atlantis. That's a heavier bike, I'm a big guy, (250) and what made me decide I didn't like the setup was carrying a load using lowrider panniers on a camping trip, as well as a decent amount of beer in a handle bar mounted bag. There was just too much flex from the long bars and log stem. It felt like lag in the steering input. 

It's probably partially my fault for not balancing the load better. 

As others have noted, a little flex can be a good thing, so don't judge the bars before you give them a shot! (And if you hate them, I'll buy them and give them a shot on my quickbeam!) 

Here's a photo of the atlantis on that trip... 

Cheers,

Brett in PDX

On Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 1:01:03 PM UTC-8 Roberta wrote:

[John Phillips]

   Never tried the Losco bars, but I liked the stiffness of the bullmoose bosco bars, and not the flex of the regular bosco bars, especially when pedaling standing up out the saddle, and both versions made for a very cramped cockpit. But then I'm most comfortable on my Hunqapillar with a long stem and a the Nitto lugged seat post.

And when I have a front load, I found bars with a grip closer to the load makes for easier handling, like my albatross bars on a 12cm long stem gripped up near the curves, but YMMV cause everyone's different.

John

[Roberta]

All very interesting.  I'm going to start with the Losco's first since there's more real estate on that bar. 

I have an Albatross bar on my Homer and love it!  So, I put one on my Joe A and really disliked it!  I swapped out Joe's Albatross back to the original Choco-moose bar and love it again.  Twp Albatross bars, two bikes and totally different opinion.  (I actually suspect it wasn't the Albatross bar on the Joe A that I was reacting to but the too short stem I used with it).

Brett, love your Atlantis in it's "natural" outfit! 

[Jason Fuller]

Meanwhile I was reading about how flexy they are and it was selling me on wanting Losco's more than I already did!  I like the idea of as much built-in suspension as I can get, provided the steering is still precise enough. 

[Ed Carolipio]

I have the bullmoose Loscos on my Gus so the flex is actually comfortable for me. And I do prefer the flare and width of the Losco over the Bosco since I have wide shoulders. One nit though: I don't like how short the grip area is relative to the Nittos.

I have the Billies on my Homer with an 11cm stem and I also find them a bit flexy when holding on the ends. Mostly an issue when standing up to pedal: just need to remember to move my hands forward over the brake levers before mashing the pedals. I can see how flex would be a problem if I loaded up the bike.

--Ed C.

On Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 5:37:43 AM UTC-8 James Valiensi wrote:

[Kainalu V. -Brooklyn NY]

Bullmoose Loscos!? That's a thing? How did I miss that? And where? Just to be sure, are you possibly referring to the Chocomooses?

Thanks

-Kai

[Ed Carolipio]

Rofl, my bad I missed it not you. I meant *TOSCO*. Reading comprehension fail on my part.

--Ed C.

[John Phillips]

Roberta,

     Riv had built my Hunqapillar up with the Crystal Fellow seat post and 11cm Tallux stem and Albatross bars. I later switched seat posts to the Lugged, giving me about 20mm additional setback, and switched to a 12cm Nitto NP stem moving my Albatross bars about 30mm forward and 40mm lower. My Albas are still about 50mm higher than my saddle.

I haven't found any bars I like as much as the Albas, but it took quite a bit of tweaking and cash to make sure they were the bars I wanted to stick with.

John

[Kainalu V. -Brooklyn NY]

Just found out about the ToscoMooses. Word is there'll be three widths of Toscos (Taiwan Boscos) available soon, maybe at anchor off the California coast! Hopefully some superwide mooses, that would be lovely.

-Kai

[Joe Bernard]

I rode the prototype ToscoMoose at RBW a couple years ago, it's perfect. If I didn't already have the also perfect Boscos on my Rivs I would get one. 

[Jason Fuller]

Pretty ironically, this thread inspired me to order up a Losco bar for my Raleigh Twenty. That bike doesn't carry a front load, so I think they'll work nice.