Sim-Works Wild Honey vs Gran Bois Randonneur bars

[Rob]

Building up my size Large Elephant NFE, and considering one or the other of these bars. 

Sim-Works Wild Honey 

Gran Bois Randonneur bars (31.8 clamp)

I have a Gran Bois bar on my Saluki now, which has served me well for seven years. It's 41cm wide to the centerline at the end of the drops, and 38cm wide at the hoods. I think it's the first generation of the bar. 

Here are the measurements of the various options for the bars. 

                                    GB (cm)          WH (cm)    current GB

Width at bar ends      42/44          41/43/45/47       41

Width at hoods          39/41          34/36/38/40       38

Reach                        115              105                   115

Drop                          140              120                   140

Comparing them:

• The radius of the bend from the tops into the hoods is tighter on the Wild Honey, as is the radius of the drops. 

• The upward rise seems to be about the same. 

• The flare is greater on the Wild Honey. It's like the Nitto Randonneur, except that the clamp is 31.8 rather than 25.4. 

• Because the flare is more pronounced the hoods will tilt in at a greater angle on the Wild Honey bars. 

• Price is close enough to not matter in the long run. 

• Both come in silver, which will fit the rest of the build. 

I'll be using Shimano hydraulic brakes, which (I think) have longer hoods than my current ErgoPower brifters. My shoulders at the centerline of my arm joints are about 40cm wide. 

My inclination is to try the Wild Honey Bar in the 47cm width. Slightly wider than the GB bar, less reach and drop, possibly slightly better for gravel? The bike will be on road 90% of the time, commuting year 'round in Seattle. 

Anyone care to chime in with thoughts on these? 

Thanks. 

Rob in Seattle

[ilter]

Few things come to mind.
I find that I prefer shorter stem with wider bars, perhaps because my arms and/or back aren't very strong. But of course ymmv.
If you will be squeezing between cars, 47 may be too wide? You would expect a few cm should not matter but it somehow does in my experience. Maybe knowing you have narrow bars makes one feel more confident.
Trail might be another thing to consider. If I recall correctly, the (?)convention was the higher the trail wider the bars.

Hope some of that is helpful,
ilter in chicago

[Rob]

Good points. Hadn't thought of the relationship between bar width and stem length.  This will be my first low-trail bike, and I've also heard narrower is better on low trail bikes because less leverage is needed. 

As far as squeezing between cars goes, I am roughly 47cm wide at the hips, so they'd be like cat whiskers. :) 

We're going to mock up the bike tomorrow at the shop so I'll get a chance to better see what'll work. 

Rob

[Justin Hughes]

Note that you mention Grand Bois bars, but link to the Compass model. Maybe they're the same; I don't know. 

I only have experience with one low trail bike (40mm), but the difference is the opposite for me. Low trail requires MORE input at the hands so the idea that less leverage is needed doesn't jibe with my experience. It's not a bad thing, but with my low trail bike I have to steer with my hands in a way I've never had to do on other bikes that are easily steered with my weight. 

Nitto does make a 31.8 version of the B135. 45cm is the widest size. http://www.benscycle.com/p-4308-nitto-b135aa-ssb-randonneur-touring-handlebar.aspx 

I am not aware of a 31.8 version of the B132.

[Kevin M]

A lot of newer lever designs have built-in flare, which can be overboard with a flared drop.

[satanas]

It's getting harder to figure out how wide bars are, what with flare and different companies measuring different things. IMHO, what matters most is the width at the brake hoods - Salsa quote width there, which makes sense given how much some of their bars flare. 3T used to measure outside to outside at the ends, but now it's C-C but they tell you how much narrower things are at the hoods. Sometimes websites or catalogs include useful diagrams, other times not. :-(

I'm not going to try to tell anyone what bars they should use as that really boils down to individual testing, aka trial and error, however FWIW some bike fitters like modern variable radius bend bars (ie 3T Ergonova) if one is going to be on the hoods much. Still, what works will depend on individual anatomy and preferences.

Later,
Stephen

[John Hawrylak]

I looked at the Sim Works site for the WH bar. It's made by Nitto.  It seems to be a B135 with a 31.8mm clamp

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ