Drop Bars for Gus Boots & Siblings?

[Mark in Beacon]

 Depending on when the pre-order opens, I plan to have funds available for one of the new Hillibikes. For various reasons, I have been mulling over the idea of running the bike with the nice wide pair of 48 Noodles I've had kicking around since dismantling my old Kuwahara. Coincidentally, the latest Blahg post features the Zero stem from Analog and Riv's experiment with installing a stem backward.

Eventually I see my Hilli with an upright Riv bar, whether the bullmoose Bosco in my parts bin or some other flavor. But as I still do the majority of my longer rides with drop bar bikes, I thought it would be fun to set the bike up this way for a while. I might even try to configure it so I can swap the bar and stem with a minimum of hassle so I can change around when the situation warrants. I haven't done the calculations, but to mimic the reach on my road bikes, I assume I will need to bring the bars in quite a bit on this bike to take back some of the top tube territory, and one of the Analog stems should get me in the ballpark.

Anybody else contemplating a drop bar for their Hillibike? I think a few folks have tried the zero stem, but can't recall if it was here or iBob. Now I just have to figure out whether the zero or the 30 (or a reverse stem!) will work best for me, as it's a pricey piece of kit.

[Wally Estrella]

I'm in for a Hillibike in a Gus flavoring.  YES on the hopes of dropbars on it.  Either 48 Noodles or the 52 Dirt Drop bar.  What's the ETT on Gus? 

[Wally Estrella]

ETT on the XL GBW.

[Johnny Alien]

Since (like the Clem) the bike was completely designed around upright bars I would imagine that going to drops might need something drastic like the zero stem or reverse stem BUT that doesn't mean it can't be done.  For some people the dirt drop might be enough to be comfortable on it.  I am eager to see what people do and how it works out. It's certainly worth a shot.  I am really shocked that mounting the stem backwards did not make the handling feel weird. He claims everyone said it felt normal.

[Bill Lindsay]

Johnny I've let you down.  I saw it and could have ridden it, but got distracted and then forgot.

I was out at Riv on Saturday, and the reverse stem Clem was the first thing I noticed.  I was going to grab it and ride it around, but then Grant said "Hey Bill, perfect timing, grab a bike, I've only got an hour".  Grant took me up the short steep climbs he's been featuring in the Blagh lately.  It was a little longer than an hour.  I rode the size Large GBW prototype.  Those steep pitches were super challenging.  They are that narrow range of steepness and rockiness where they are much easier to handle if you have some speed.  A super low gear has you moving slower so the bike handling part ends up getting you.  You go faster in a higher gear and the handling gets easier but you need the power and fitness all while maintaining traction.  I took them too slowly and the handling part would cause me to stop.  Grant says there have only been one or two riders who could clean these sections on their first try.  He was super interested to know how many of my racers could do it (El Cerrito High School).  I guessed maybe four of them, maybe five.  

Anyway, when I returned to Riv HQ I forgot about trying out Rev-Stem-Clem.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[J Imler]

I rode the reverse stem Clem. It felt good. The only thing that might take a bit to get used to was steering in the flats, but it might take all of 10 minutes worth of riding, to get used to I mean.

The drops felt naturally and comfy.

[Johnny Alien]

Super interesting.  Trust the guys at Analog and Rivendell to think of something out of the box like this.  I read up on that zero stem and it certainly looks like it would work good the the GBW frame.  Especially with some Noodles which come back a notch.

[Garth]

Here's the XL demo that was sold, if the STA is 71.5 as many Rivs have been lately, the HTA appears a bit shallower, maybe 70/71 degrees. Note the front-center too, from the center-BB to center-front axle.... it's by far the longest of any production frame yet by Riv, including the 64/65 Clems.  All in all it appears to be a rather long reach for drop bars, and I'm sure someone will try it, like it or not.

I recall reading in the Blahg about "being complicit" in given frame specs, as if that is a negative or something, which it is not. Yes, for many buyers just going by ETT alone can be very misleading, but there are buyers for whom can discern what they are looking for with more frame specs on the whole. Not everyone can simply "just stop by and ride the bike", so some use overall specs to compare with frames they do have to get some idea of what they buying or not.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1403/7343/products/wsb-gbw-xl-1_1600x.jpg

[Christopher Cote]

Note how the grips on that bike are behind the steerer. A reversed stem and drop bars is just another way to achieve the same thing. Nothing to wonder about.

Chris

[James / Analog Cycles]

We can help do the calc's for the handlebar set up (aka handlebar XY coordinates) if you want.  A (w)Right 0mm stem or 30mm would be a great set up with a short reach, wide n stiff bar.   (our 30mm stems are heading back into production shortly, we have a really solid builder in new england and new prototypes are looking good, with a 4 bolt faceplate, super accurate tolerances, and really clean brazing)   We recommend going 31.8 for the bars, as it really ties the front end of the bike together better.  Stiffer = better steering, esp in the rough stuff.  A steel stem and stiff bars makes a quill stem bike point where you want it to go, not where it feels like going.   We've set those stems up on Clems and Atlantis builds with long top tubes to good results.  Fine handling at all speeds, with or without a load.  We've taken them mountain biking.  Better than a 120mm technomic and floppy swept back bars.  If you want to really ride the bike hard off road, the stiffer set up is the way to go.  The new Spank Flare 25 bars are a fantastic choice.  I helped design them, so I'm biased, but if you want a short reach, stiff, really strong bar, they're hard to beat.  Almost all dirt drop bars are not off road rated.  Nitto and Spank are it.  Spank bars pass Enduro mtn bike testing standards, which means: really tough!  If you have ridden or seen cowchippers, the Spank bars are similar, but more comfortable and stronger.  

I don't get on here much, running Analog and starting our new frame n parts business is a huge time suck.  I'll try to check for follow up ?s, or just email me.  

-James 

On Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 7:09:28 AM UTC-4, Mark in Beacon wrote: