Aero Albatross

[A. Douglas M.]

Has anyone had any luck putting aero extensions into albatross bars? I love my upright position 80% of the time, but on long hauls I sometimes like to lean into it and spin. Grips just forward of the bend would help immensely with this.

Thanks!

Aaron in El Paso

[Garth]

  I've placed my forearms over my Alba bars a few times and it just feels too odd from the width, so bar ends placed there would be mute. A real set of aero extensions that are placed @ the middle of the bars feels a whole lot more intuitive and natural, but I have no desire to do this on any of my bikes. The only times I've ever felt the need for extensions was with my ol' Stumpjumper that was waaaayyyyyy too short of top tube/front center. No amount of extending could ever help that, as going further forward on too short of bike only threw off the fore/aft balance within the frame. My Bombadil is nice and long and the Alba bars offer lots of fore/aft room as I have bar end brake levers so I can move my hands all the way to the curves unfettered by clunky brake lever mounts.

[A. Douglas M.]

Yeah that’s what I do, Garth (placing my forearms on the forward bend of albas). The problem with this isn’t width for me but that it’s awkward to control the bike with my forearms. Just a little something to grab onto would give me control and subsequently more comfort. So I was thinking aero bars or maybe those nubbins like Bridgestone used on their XOs.

The top tube is good for me on this bike (58cm) for me at 5’10”ish. I’m using the steel hi rise Nitto quill stem that Riv sells to get the bars up over my saddle height.

Thanks for your insight!

Aaron

[Pancake]

I wanted a bit more reach with my Albatross bars too. I put bar end “horns” into the middle of the curved section of the bar ... took some doing because the curves don’t leave much space to get them on.

I really enjoyed the additional position, like riding on the hoods. My plan was to wrap them in cloth tape but I switched to drop bars so these still sit on the Albatross bars.

There are fake brake hood bits that they use for the rear rider in a tandem, but they’re costly.

[Garth]

I would think if you're gonna place some extentions there they ought to be as large as your hand so you could really grip securely. Resting the elbows, even with something to grab hold of, the bony forearms on top of the bars is still unstable as to really be effective the forearms would literally need to "be the bar", meaning securely on top of the bars by means of some sort support/security. I have this image of the Movie Breaking Away where the guy tapes his feet to the pedals, but in this case elbows to the bars, so they don't fall off..... hilarious !!!!!

Then again, there's always "just try it for the helluva it" !!!!! That's why we're here and there's no place like Home 😀




Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 6:10:33 PM UTC-5, A. Douglas M. wrote:
> Yeah that’s what I do, Garth (placing my forearms on the forward bend of albas). The problem with this isn’t width for me but that it’s awkward to control the bike with my forearms. Just a little something to grab onto would give me control and subsequently more comfort. So I was thinking aero bars or maybe those ubbins like Bridgestone used on their XOs.

[Bill Lindsay]

Albatross bars are 22.2mm and take mountain bike controls.  Moustache bars were 23.8mm and took road bike controls.  Albastache bars are 23.8mm like Moustache.  The dummy levers that were on Bridgestone XO bikes are still around, but they are 23.8mm.  My personal favorite dummy levers are the cylindrical dia compe ones.  Velo Orange used to sell them and the replacement hoods for them. 

IF you had 23.8mm bars, I'd recommend googling for "tandem dummy levers" and pick ones you like. 

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Joe Bernard]

Another data point: Dummy levers will clamp down tight enough on 22.2 bars. Grant put them on the '93 XO-3 which used that size Moustache Handlebar.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1993/pages/33.htm

[tc]

Aaron, if you haven't already, you might try flipping your Albatross, and possibly switching out your stem for something a tad longer.  I found that a flipped Albatross still allows a close-enough grip position (raise your stem a little higher than when you run it in the normal position...or use a dirt drop), but to your point, also offers the more aggressive position when you move up into the curves to crank it.  And the downward slanted curves of a flipped Albatross are actually very comfortable ... more so than when not flipped.

Tom

[jtallman]

Aaron,

I have Bosco bars on an old Nishiki mountain bike with bar-end extensions just ahead of the curve of the bar. It looked like this when I had them on my Hunqapillar - https://flic.kr/p/e2PjbY

Jon Tallman

On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 5:07:35 PM UTC-5, A. Douglas M. wrote:

[Rick Thompson]

These are not Albatross, but I added Origin8 bar ends to Milan bars so I could stretch out a bit in a headwind. It works pretty well, my elbows land on the flat of the ergo grips. I tried adding actual aero bars originally, with elbows tucked, but that's just not a comfortable position for me. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ricks_boats/32660130788/in/dateposted-public/

[A. Douglas M.]

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. Lots of good options it seems. I’ll look for a pair of cheap bar ends to try and go from there. I’ll update if anyone’s interested.

Best,

Aaron in El Paso

[Paul Richardson]

i'd love to see an update and a photo of what you come up with, aaron.  this is something i've thought about a lot and never acted on.

paul

takoma park, md.

[Lester Lammers]

I have these on a MIT Atlantis with Billy bars. I get 3 positions with them. http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=6dfccf4e-6cc7-4ae2-a975-10c1df2be28d&Enum=118

On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 5:07:35 PM UTC-5, A. Douglas M. wrote:

[anniebikes]

So many good options! I'm planning to swap my boscos for albatross bars and now I don't have to worry about fit.

[Patrick Moore]

FWIW, I've used aero brake levers -- the body and the hoods, with
levers proper removed -- on various bars for addtional hand positions.
I've not had any problem with the road-bar-width clamps slipping on
the "tourist" bar diameter, especially when installed at the curves.

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Patrick Moore
Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum