New Bars on the Appaloosa

[Erik]

I was in an accident on my Appaloosa back in January and ended up having to replace out some of the parts, including the brake levers and shifters.  I decided to swap out the bars while I was at it.  I had several options already in my garage (albatross, bullmoose bosco, choco, etc.), most of which I've had on this bike at some point over the past few years. I had flared drops on it up until the accident.  

I decided to try something new this time and picked up some Jones Loop H-bars.  I wasn't using the drops on my previous bars very much so decided to go with a flatter-style bar that still had a lot of hand positions.  

The bars aren't the best looking things I've had on this bike, but I'm really happy with them so far.  I've put in several rides on them now and really like the width (710!) and variety of hand positions.  I've leaned into more off-road riding with this bike and am prepping for some short multi-day camping trips on it this summer.  These bars seemed to fit the bill nicely.  

Anyone else out there with more miles on these bars?  Any experiences or thoughts to share?  Tips on set up / angle / grips, etc.?     

[Jason Fuller]

I feel that on the Jones bar not really jiving with the classic Riv look (except perhaps the Hillibikes!) but can't argue it's a great bar.  Love the leverage of a wider bar when you get into rough stuff, too!  Being that beauty tends to derive from function, at least around these parts, I'm sure after an initial period of getting used to it, it's going to look natural and great

[Chris L]

I've run the Jones bar on both my Karate Monkey and my Hunqapillar and thought it was great on both.  For my typical "just riding around" style of riding, I prefer a regular MTB bar with a modest amount of sweep, but if I started riding further from home or hauling my bike out to the local gravel roads, I would probably put the Jones bar back on.  

Jeff Jones recommends the bars be setup with a downward angle of 10-15 degrees (he specifically notes 11 degrees but gives a suggested range) and I found that suggestion to work really well.  I can see that you have have some downward angle on your bar, but it's hard to tell from these photos how much.  As an experiment, you might tilt them down a few more degrees and see how it feels.  Sort of like Grant's start with the saddle too high and work your way down to the perfect height approach.  I did this and there was definately a specific "sweet spot" for me.  

I bought the 710 specific clear Jones grips and although I really like them (I have a 660 cm pair on my stationary bike, which sees far more use than my real bike), they can get VERY slippery when wet.  I don't know if this is true for the black ones.  

I also mounted my controls as far up the bar as they would go, without overlapping the weld, as Jeff recommends, and that worked very well for me.  

[Joe Bernard]

Personally I think they look cool on Rivs. It's very individualistic, like "I wanted exactly this frame and exactly those bars." 👍

[Erik]

I just went out and tweaked the angle into the recommended range.  It's interesting in that it brought the loop in the front up a bit, putting it into a more comfortable, upright spot for stretching out. Thanks for the tip! 

[Joseph]

Really cool looking Bike Erik and looks like a fun trail

[Joseph]

I tried the Jones bars on my Gus and felt to stretched out. 

 I settled on the 60 cm Tosco and haven't looked back

On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 8:31:02 PM UTC-5 Joe Bernard wrote: