Noodles uncomfortable? Was: [RBW] Re: Nitto M151F bar story behind it on all those riv builds lately?

[olof...@gmail.com]

Grant wrote:

I THINK the consensus here is that a Noodle still wins (my vote, but that's to be expected, I'm sure).

 

I had a Nitto 176 aka Dream Bar I bought from Riv and loved. Read the praise for Noodles, bought them and tried to love them but found them to be murder for my wrists. They are now adorning my cellarfloor while I had to search ebay for my second and third Dream Bar as Riv had taken its hand from them. IS there a concensus and I the peculiar outlier or what? Just asking.

 

Olof Stroh

Uppsala Sweden

 

[Ryan Fleming]

I have Dream bars and I like them

[Wally Estrella]

The Noodle has worked best for me on all the drops I've tried.  I have them on 3 different bikes.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AaD2apK6asw/maxresdefault.jpg

The 176 looks like a nice bar too.

[Bill Lindsay]

Noodle still wins for me.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Patrick Moore]

I found the Noodles quite comfortable, once I ditched the wide ones and went back to 42s. I found I had to use a stem 1 cm longer, as they curve back a bit from the flats. The drop is deeper than I personally like, but the ramps are adequately long to be useful. At any rate, my wrists felt fine.

However, I swapped my Noodles out for the Maes Parallel, which I find better in just about every way -- reach, ramp, drop, hooks, flats.

Is the 176 the same as the 185, except with a bit of flare at the bottom? I used to think that the 185s -- same 140 mm drop and short 90 mm reach -- were comfortable, until I discovered bars with longer ramps and shallower drops. 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews.

By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching.

Other professional writing services.

http://www.resumespecialties.com/

www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique,  Vereinigte Staaten

****************************************************************************************

The point which is the pivot of the norm is the motionless center of a circumference on the contours of which all conditions, distinctions, and individualities revolve. Chuang Tzu

Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. (The cross stands motionless while the world revolves.) Carthusian motto

It is we who change; He remains the same. Eckhart

Kinei hos eromenon. (It moves [all things] as the beloved.) Aristotle

[Brewster Fong]

On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 11:08:59 AM UTC-7, Olof Stroh wrote:

Grant wrote:

I THINK the consensus here is that a Noodle still wins (my vote, but that's to be expected, I'm sure).

 

I had a Nitto 176 aka Dream Bar I bought from Riv and loved. Read the praise for Noodles, bought them and tried to love them but found them to be murder for my wrists. They are now adorning my cellarfloor while I had to search ebay for my second and third Dream Bar as Riv had taken its hand from them.

Rivendell isn't the only source for the Nitto 176/Dream bars as they are still available!

Somafab has them listed on their website, albeit only in 42/44cm:

http://store.somafab.com/nittom176dream.html

Further, any shop should be able to order them via Merry Sales as they're listed in their catalog on page 96:

http://www.merrysales.com/merry_catalog_2016_pricefree.pdf

Good Luck!

 

[Eric Norris]

I've had trouble with long-term comfort on Noodles; I came away from PBP in 2007 (ridden on Noodles) with hand numbness. I generally have better luck on long rides with more traditional (flatter) bars. 

However, my Singer came with Nitto randonneur bars, which are like Noodle bars on steroids, with much more pronounced flaring, and have enjoyed them very much.

I still like Noodle bars, but my experience hasn't matched Grant's enthusiasm for the design.

--Eric N

www.CampyOnly.com

CampyOnlyGuy.blogspot.com

Twitter: @CampyOnlyGuy

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.

[iamkeith]

I like the noodle, but it's predecessor - the RM 13 dirt drop - is my favorite.  I had the former on my Rambouillet until this summer, and the later on my Quickbeam.  Every time I got on the Quickbeam, I was struck by the contrast of how comfortable the bars were, and regretful that I didn't spend more time on it.  So I finally just moved the bars over. 

Both were designed by Grant as far as I know, and Riv used to sell the dirt drop before they designed the Noodle.  The drop and reach are similar between the two.  Both are nice and wide, so I feel like my chest cage can open up and allow me to breath.   The dirt drop is straighter across the top, so both that grip position and the one at the hoods feel like more of a natural angle (less elbows-in / less twisted wrists). The dirt drop feels more rigid and direct.     The two things I really like though, are:

1) The flare at the drops of the RM-13 allows me to sprint and climb without bumping my wrists.  

2)  Something about the downward curve of the Noodle made it really hard for me to ever mount the brake levers in a position where I could reach them comfortably from the drop position, and still have the hoods high enough to feel correct too.  I always had to lean way over and contort my wrists uncomfortably upward in order to brake.

One thing that I HAD to do with the dirt drop, that I SHOULD have done with the Noodle, was to add bar end extenders.  Both bars seem to be intended for use with bar end shifters and, without them, the grip is too short.   I'd suggest  them to anybody for either bar, if you're not using bar ends.  It's so much more secure and confident when moving from top to bottom quickly, and it gives you some space to move around a bit. 

I should add that, as with most of my preferences, this all comes from the fact that I have a mountain biking background and am really inelegant and clunky on any road bike.  So YMMV.

[Lungimsam]

I've always loved my noodle bars. they been great for me.

[JohnS]

Hello Olof,

 

I'm in the not a big fan of the Noodle bar club as well. I have a pair laying around in the garage which had come on the QB when I bought it last February. I've been riding the VO rando bars at the 50cm width for the past few years. They rise up from the stem, which is opposite of the Noodle. I suppose it's what you find comfortable. My first 10 speed was a Schwinn Le Tour which had rando bars, so maybe I'm predisposed to them. I also really like mustache bars, I've been riding them since the spring. I find that both offer very good out of the saddle hand positions and that they are comfortable on long rides. 

 

JohnS

[pb]

Since people seem to be voting, I'll cast my vote. I want a couple of simple things in a handlebar. I want a flat and short top that blends seamlessly into Ergo levers and I want a hand position in the drops that's comfortable.

I guess I have to admit that I can't recall whether or not the ramps work on Noodles. I liquidated mine about 5 years ago and I don't remember. The curve of the drops is so tight as to make it impossible for me to ride with my hands in the drops.

Soma Highway 1 in a 46. The perfect drop bar. Softly ergo, almost classic looking. Fantastic hand position in the drops. Perfect ramps. Perfect.

-pb

[Richard Rios]

I like the noodles. I like the dirt drop to. Both great bars as far as drops go. They look good and make my bike happy. What else could you want.

[Don Compton]

I rode noodles for years using Campy Ergo Shifters. On my latest Roadeo, I installed a Shimano 6800 group ( with Shimano std reach brakes). The brifters are longer and I needed a shorter reach bar. If I had used a shorter stem, the tops of the bars of the Noodles would have been useless. So, I went with Soma Highway One bars.

On any bike with Campy shifters the Noodles would be perfect for me.

On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 11:08:59 AM UTC-7, Olof Stroh wrote:

[drew]

I love my noodles, though I don't go into the drops that often and am mostly on the brake hoods.
I'm intrigued by dirt drops, but Do you lose some of the comfort of the hoods position when the levers are angled inward like that?

[olof...@gmail.com]

Thanks to all who answered! I have found your answers quite interesting and they clearly show how individual bar comfort is, almost as much as saddles (and I would call my Dream Bars the B17 of bars and my first DB replaced my old Cinelli - slightly more narow - which also is a classic).
Regarding the Noodles my problem has not as with some others been the ramps but the corners and the part near the clamp where the Noodle has its backward curve. The same regards randonneur bars, I´ve yet to find one I like. Things are changing though, I had Riv´s Dirt Drops on my Heron used for loaded camping and commuting with bars a bit higher than saddle and Sprint/Silver barends and found that combo comfortable. After koosing 20 pounds I ride my Dreams a lot in the drops - and like it - and prefer down tube levers (or as Grant read in an intervue transcript described in an old Reader ' Don´t You Believers').
Used the drops of the Dirt Drops a lot as well but they were more shallow and with bars higher still gave a more upright position, bars are now level with saddle and deeper. The width of the Dirts was good, but I ride 46 cm Dreams (and is 6'1.6").

But, YMDV. Interesting.

Olof Stroh
Uppsala Sweden

[Richard Rios]

@ drew. On the riv RM13 no / no so much. On something like the nitto RM3 yes, good position ain't so comfy in my oponion.

[Philip Kim]

if set up correctly they are very comfy in the hoods.

[Dave Johnston]

I used dream bars when they came out but switched to noodles and sold off the dream bar, I like them very much. I also use Nitto B115, which seem similar to me without the sweep back and a tad of flare. I can't really tell the difference when I switch back and forth on various bikes but I would say I like the Noodle better. Back in the day you could get B115's for half the price of noodles, but that may not be the case any more.

-Dave

[Scott G.]

Switched from Noodle to Nitto/Compass Maes Parallel,
they work well Ergos.

For vintage non aero levers, Strata Bailey bars.

[Rod Holland]

I have Noodles on 3 bikes: a 700c LHT, a 26" LHT, and Rawland Nordavinden. The bars on the Nordavinden are relatively narrow (42cm?), which seems to work very well with the low-trail (33mm) geometry of that bike: they are absolutely comfortable over any distance I've managed so far. I have larger Noodles (47cm?) on the two Surlys, with further differences: the 700c was originally a complete-bike build, and I swapped the Noodles into the existing stem at the existing position (level with the seat). The 26" LHT was a custom build on a Trucker DeLuxe frameset, and there's a noticeable drop between the seat and the bars on that bike. For either of the Surlys with the wide Noodles, I can find comfortable hand positions for long stretches of riding, but I can tell the difference between the three bikes in terms of cockpit comfort. I find myself fantasizing about raising the bars on the 26" LHT to seat level; I mull making a stem modification on the 700c LHT to bring the stem perhaps a cm closer to the seat. Thus far, I've done neither of these things, and tell myself I have desirable biomechanical diversity across the different bikes in the herd. So far, I'm buying that, possibly because I'd rather spend the time riding than wrenching... I've got another bike build queued up for the Winter months (older Ebisu AP), and haven't made a decision about bars for that yet... Might go with the same width Noodles as on the Rawland, might try the Maes Parallel bars... We'll see.

rod

On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 2:08:59 PM UTC-4, Olof Stroh wrote: