Salsa Cowchipper - Key to Happiness?

[Steve]

Determined to run drop bars on my 2025 Sam I have wound up in full $$$hopping mode (my wife has even begun to give me a little side eye when the packages arrive). I've posted a bit about this previously, but thought I'd share what I've arrived at.  For context. my goal has been a setup that competently handles forest roads and moderate trails, and is comfortable for at least several hours of riding.  

Brief recap: 

- Tried a Nitto 132 Grand Rando bar with a 50mm Technomic stem. Comfy but poor handling on chunky surfaces, especially when climbing.

- Swapped in a 52cm Noodle. A too much reach to the hoods and the drops ultimately proved to be too deep. This was with the bar a good 5cm above the rear of the saddle.

The pics show where I'm at currently- and hopefully the endpoint. 52cm Cowchipper with Crust x Nitto "BJ" Stem. The flats are about 6cm above the saddle and the drops 6 below it. (and yes, evidently Crust's name for the stem is as off color as you may have suspected)

Steve in AVL

[Garth]

I must say that current Ritchey bars that have the top middle section swept back 4.6 deg. and ovalized(ergo-aero it's called) feel what I call "just right". Well thought out. To me Ritchey bars have surpassed Salsa for ergonomics in hand in most every way. While I ride Skylines, the Comp Venturemax has the same flare as the Cowchipper but with only 102mm of drop. I have no idea what the Bio-bend drops feel like, but I'd bet it's good. The Classic(Silver) Venturmax does not have the ergo-aero top. With these you won't need any ergonomic aides on the tops, nor will they fit. Do study the details and tech drawings of how they are measured.  ttps://ritcheylogic.com/category/handlebars?page=1

[larson....@gmail.com]

I am a fan of Salsa Cowchippers and the Ritchey drops. I have tried the Ritchey Venturemax and Corralitos and find both comfortable, and as Garth says, the slight sweep of the flats is very nice. I did like the feel of the Bio-bend, not so much the aesthetics. I could probably ride any of these three going forward and be comfortable.

Randy in WI

[Steve]

Garth - that Classic VentureMax does look like it would have worked well for me. Incidentally, it no longer appears on Ritchey's website but is still available from several online vendors. I happen to have a Comp ErgoMax (flat black finish) that I considered trying but stumbled across the Cowchipper at 1/2 price and grabbed it on impulse. So far, I'm pleased with it, both in terms of function and aesthetics.  The Crust stem is a bit funky looking but my ancient and battered shoulders seem to appreciate the short reach it provides. 

Randy, I'm of a similar mind; I could probably be comfortable on any of several "ergo" style bars. The plethora of choices borders on overwhelming, but now that I know what works for me on the Sam I have benchmark for comparisons. 

[atreya...@gmail.com]

The only drop bars that I can ride is Tumbleweed Big Dipper. They have short reach and shallow drop while looking aesthetically pleasing. https://tumbleweed.cc/products/bigdipper

[DTL]

The BJ stem name is nothing compared to their LD stem...

[Jay]

Looks good!  I do have some questions:

- assuming the bike is fairly level in the side pic, how do you find the feel of the ramps pointing down and then the levers sweeping up?  When I do this, and my hands are on the brake levers, it creates pressure around base of my thumb as the transition from bars to hoods isn't straight, and creates that negative space.  Your set up is more extreme than mine, and I really feel mine (in a bad way)

- if the flats are 6cm above, the hoods are maybe a smidge more, I would have loved to see your natural riding position to see your spine angle and arms, as I find if the bars are too high, I shrug my shoulders, how does it feel to you?

I ask not because I think I know the answers, but because I would love to have the bars higher, giving me a bit more upright position, the drops nearly parallel to the ground (which gives the ramps that downward slope), and have all this work...which it absolutely does not for me (we're all different, but sometimes I think I'm doing something wrong!).

Cheers

[Bob Chmara]

I purchased a set of the Ritchey Corralitos last year and I'm quite fond of them.  The slight rise and sweep across the tops is incidental to me, but short and shallow works for me and I particularly like the outward flare of both the bends and the drops.  In terms of how they feel to me, they're the closest thing I've found to the old Ragley Luxy bars, still my all-time favorite drop bar.

-- 

Bob Chmara

Southfield, Michigan, USA

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[Armand Kizirian]

I rode cowchippers years ago for many miles, fantastic bars. I never appreciated Crust's zero reach stems as an option. Glad you found something that works for you.

It is a shame that it seems Rivendell has ceased to care about drop bars. I think there would be sufficient demand for them to update drop bars with an updated design, closer to Rivendell ethos. 25.4mm of course, but straying away from the Nitto noodle, with it's long reach and deep drops, which is frankly a poor fit for a Rivendell. The gravel-inspired trend of shorter reach and shallower drops has inadvertently met the needs of the everyday drop-bar cyclist, who wants the primary benefit of drop bars--namely different hand positions--with little regard to improving aerodynamics or performance. 

[Bill Lindsay]

"the Nitto noodle, with it's long reach and deep drops, which is frankly a poor fit for a Rivendell"

I'll respectfully disagree with that.  I wouldn't complain if Rivendell played around with inventing new Nitto handlebars, like Crust and Simworks do, but for those of us who find home on the ramps, it's the Noodle and the Rene Herse offerings and not much else.  The Noodle is a timeless classic. 

There are definitely cyclists for whom the Noodle is probably a poor fit, but for those cyclists there are a lot of choices out there.  The closest things Rivendell has to an alt-drop bar is the Albastache.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Patrick Moore]

+1. More of the current Rivendell models would appeal to me if they could be set up comfortably with drop bars. Fortunately, I think others have comfortably set up Clems (which has been on my at least distant target list) with drops.

For the record, I like narrow drop bars with long flat ramps for road bikes (38 cm Maes Parallels on 2 road bikes, 42s on dirt road bike), but I’d like drops of some sort on other bikes too, since my left palm can’t tolerate anything else for longer periods.

On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 7:40 PM Armand Kizirian <kiziria...@gmail.com> wrote:

… It is a shame that it seems Rivendell has ceased to care about drop bars. I think there would be sufficient demand for them to update drop bars with an updated design, closer to Rivendell ethos. 25.4mm of course, but straying away from the Nitto noodle, with it’s long reach and deep drops, which is frankly a poor fit for a Rivendell. The gravel-inspired trend of shorter reach and shallower drops has inadvertently met the needs of the everyday drop-bar cyclist, who wants the primary benefit of drop bars--namely different hand positions--with little regard to improving aerodynamics or performance. 

[Steve]

Jay, you asked  "how do you find the feel of the ramps pointing down and then the levers sweeping up?"

Short answer:  So far I'm liking it well enough that I went ahead and wrapped the bars (3rd time for the Ergon tape).

Long answer:  With the BJ stem (Can't help but chuckle every time I see that name, and yep, the LD is just as adolescently profane), but as I was saying, the reach is short enough for me to comfortably rest my entire palm on the long TRP hoods, which also gives me fair leverage on the brakes. Sliding rearward a bit my hands perch on the bend where the flats transition to the ramps, which again, I find comfortable. Owing to short reach the flats allow me to set up fairly upright and finally the near section of the drops provide a very tolerable position for me and permit quick transition into the forward hooks for maximum braking. So, five useable positions.