Homer cockpit options and fit considerations

[Taylor Kurosaki]

Hi all,

I wanted to share my setup discoveries/challenges with my 2024 58cm Homer Hilsen—partly because I think I learned about Riv geometry philosophy, and partly because I’d love to hear how others here figured out their setups. Maybe some of this will resonate.

⸻

Why I Bought the Homer

I’ve always wanted a Riv that leaned toward the lively, road-ish side rather than the heavy-touring side. Something comfortable, spirited, fast-enough, and “classic road bike but friendlier.” The Homer seemed like the one. I went with the Homer over a Roadini for extra tire clearance and for stack/reach numbers- a 58cm Homer looked like a better fit. I thought I was right in between a 57cm and 61cm Roadini.

⸻

How It Arrived (Used)

I bought my Homer used through the Riv Facebook Buy/Sell group. It came with:

• Albastache bars

• Silver bar-end shifters

• A short quill stem

• A setback seatpost

• A Brooks B17

Honestly, I assumed this was just a temporary setup. My plan was: enjoy it for a bit, then swap to drop bars and make it my comfortable all-day drop-bar Riv.

⸻

Surprise: The Albastache Felt… Great

To my surprise, the Albastache setup felt immediately comfortable. Multiple hand positions, easy out-of-saddle climbing, stable handling, an aero-ish on the hoods position—just a great overall feel. I didn’t expect it. I wasn’t super confident descending with the Albastache, but it was a new type of bar for me.

But I still had this idea in my head that the Homer “should” be my drop-bar bike. So I kept going.

⸻

My Proportions Complicate Things

I have long legs and a short torso, which has always made drop-bar setups tricky. I usually need:

• higher bars

• shorter reach

• more upright torso angle

But I also want the bike to look proportionally right. (I imagine many of you understand that tension.)

⸻

Attempt 1: The Nitto Noodle (Because Riv Says It’s the Comfiest Drop Bar)

My first thought was: If Riv says the Noodle is the most comfortable drop bar in the world, I should start there.

And immediately felt:

• the reach was long

• the drop was deep

• the bar put me farther and lower than I expected

• the whole bike suddenly felt stretched and aggressive

I hadn’t ridden a classic-shape long-reach bar in years, and coming from Albastache, or the compact drops of my gravel bike, it was a shock.

Even with a 50mm stem, it felt like too much bar for my body.

⸻

Attempt 2: Modern Compact Drops + 31.8 Quill

Next I figured:

Maybe a more modern compact drop bar will fix things—shorter reach, shallower drop, smaller radius.

So I bought an 80mm Vélo-Orange 31.8 quill stem and installed compact drops (Ritchey Butanos in silver, but I could have used Salsa Cowchippers, Cowbells, or Ritchey Venturemax

This helped some things. But new issues showed up. The reach still felt long even though the stack and reach numbers of the Homer are taller and shorter than my Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross Disc. I swapped to a zero-offset seatpost- still felt long. I slammed the saddle all the way forward. The bike did not feel great this way and it looked like a kludge. Even the handling felt off.

The fit was becoming a battle.

⸻

The Real Problem: I Was Fighting the Geometry

What I realized (slowly) was that I was trying to set this bike up as if it had a much steeper seat tube angle and more “modern road” geometry.

But the Homer’s seat tube angle is a shallow 71.5°. My MCD is 72.5.

• this pushes the saddle back

• effective reach gets longer

I was trying to override all of that with:

• zero-offset post

• shoving the saddle forward

• short stem

• compact drops

It seemed none of those adjustments were harmonizing with what the frame wants to be.

And the handling told me immediately every time I pushed in the wrong direction.

⸻

The Epiphany

Once I let the saddle sit where the geometry puts it,

and raised the bars enough to restore balance, over an inch higher where I had them, 

the bike started feeling like a Riv again—stable, calm, quick-but-relaxed.

Which made me realize:

Stack and reach don’t tell the whole story on Rivs.

Seat tube angle and saddle height can completely reshape the effective cockpit.

This was a big lesson for me.

⸻

Where I Am Now

After looping through Albastache → Noodles → compact drops → experiments with stems, bar heights, and saddle positions…

…I’m honestly thinking the Albastache setup might be the best fit for me and the Homer.

It works with the geometry instead of against it.

The handling feels right.

The posture feels natural.

And aesthetically it suits the frame better than raised compact drops.

I may still experiment but I can feel myself gravitating back to where the bike began.

⸻

What I’d Love to Hear From You

1. Have you ever tried to make a Riv behave like a modern drop-bar bike?

How did that go?

2. For those who run Noodles or other classic drop bars on Rivs:

where do you put your bars (height, rotation, stem length) to make it work? How can such a long and deep bar be considered the comfiest?

3. Has anyone else discovered that slack STA made drops complicated?

4. And who here rides Albastache or moustache bars as their main cockpit on a Homer or other Riv? What do you love about it?

I’d really appreciate hearing your stories, successes, failures, and the setups that ultimately worked for you.

Thanks for reading — and thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

—Taylor

[Kesler Roberts]

I don't really have anything to add, but I got a Homer this year for similar reasons.  Also 58cm and running Noodle bars.  I first set it up with the setback seatpost that came with the frame, but found that I had to slam the seat foreward.  Switched out for a 0 setback after fit has felt fine since with the bars about even with the saddle.

[Brent Eastman]

I have had 48cm noodles with a 9cm technomic stem on a sam hillborne, and then transferred the to a roadini. I'm 6'1 with long arms. 

Riv would recommend I ride the 61cm versions of both my bikes but both are 57. I ride trails and didn't want a tall top tube between my legs if I need to step off. This has proven out a few times and I am happy with my choice. My seatpost is a little taller than 'classic', but I don't think it's so high to look goofy. I have raised and lowered the stem/bars several times on both bikes from 'slammed' to comically high. Seems to always be comfortable. Saddle is almost max-forward position but both my posts have setback.

My buddy has a roaduno with albastache and LOVES them. Maybe that homer/duno geo is just most compatible with the stache? 

[Victor Meng]

Hey Taylor,

I've a 54cm Ram and a 51cm Homer.  My proportions are opposite from yours; shorter legs and longer torso (5'9" with 81.5 PBH).  My Ram came to me with narrow Noodles, and I went from those to Albatross, Choco, 52cm Noodles, and now Albastache.  I tried to get along with drops, but just prefer bars with some back sweep.  My current set up has a 6 or 7cm Power Stem.  I've also tried an 8cm Dirt Drop and 9cm Technomic, but prefer the shorter, stuffier stem.  The closer set up allows me to ride upright more on the sweptback portion, especially with the extra inch of grip I'm getting from the Silver bar end shifters.  The stuffier stem also allows me to ride in the hooks without being too forward leaning.  I've my brake levers set so that the tips are roughly flush with the sweptback portion, which allows me to grab the tips while in the wider part of the hooks.  This setup is comfortable for me, and I dig the way the Albastache looks on the Ram.  (I also tried Albastache on the Homer, but now have Wavie bars on there.)  I have the bars roughly at the same height as my saddle on both bikes.  I've tried riding with the bars higher to varying degrees, but level is most comfy for my body.  

Best, 

Victor

[Ted Durant]

On Friday, November 14, 2025 at 12:21:22 PM UTC-5 taylork...@gmail.com wrote:

Stack and reach don’t tell the whole story on Rivs.

Seat tube angle and saddle height can completely reshape the effective cockpit.

So true! 

 

What I’d Love to Hear From You

1. Have you ever tried to make a Riv behave like a modern drop-bar bike?

How did that go?

2. For those who run Noodles or other classic drop bars on Rivs:

where do you put your bars (height, rotation, stem length) to make it work? How can such a long and deep bar be considered the comfiest?

3. Has anyone else discovered that slack STA made drops complicated?

I have pretty well documented my Sam Hillborne setups in other threads. And that I have Noodle bars and all my drop bar bikes which is almost all of my bikes. I am very much a road bike rider and it’s important to note that I have good low back and forward hip flexibility. The reason Noodles work for me is that I explicitly want reach and drop so changing hand positions makes a real difference in back angle. I generally have the tops of the bars very close to level with the saddle. 

I worried a lot about the seat angle of the Sam and how short a stem it would need. I set it up with 1cm less reach than I calculated would be similar to my real road bikes. Within 5 minutes I knew I would be putting shorter stems on my road bikes and that I would be buying another Sam. You definitely have to start with the tops high and close for Noodles to work, but you also need enough flexibility for the hooks and drops to work, too. Also, brake levers matter. SRAM levers are super long and add a good 1.5cm of reach. 

I now have 3 Sam’s. I initially set up #3 with my standard road gear. But I decided that was too much overlap with another bike, so I set it up with choco bars. I’ve never been a fan of upright bars on road bikes but I was shocked at how much I liked the Sam in that configuration.  Not the bike I will pick for a long ride in the windswept corn fields, but an absolute hoot to ride. 

Ted Durant

Milwaukee, WI USA

[David]

I run bars that are basically scaled up albatross bars that give me two good full hand positions on the straight section. I don’t require drops these days but the second hand position allows me to stretch out when I need to. I note that many Riv riders ride setback posts even though seat tube angles are generally quite slack. I assume this is due to the fact that many riders are on Brooks saddles which generally put the sit bones ahead of where they would be on other saddles. I’d go with a zero setback post. As far as bars go, if you want to dial your setup, I’d go a little farther afield and look at some of the Ritchey offerings like the Beacon Bar. It’s not as old school as Nitto’s offerings, but there is a bar out there that will be perfect for your needs. 

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[K AL]

These are great bars for anyone looking for something Noodlesque but with less reach and drop

https://global.bluelug.com/fairweather-m174aa-all-road-bar-silver.html

Currently sold out but restocked at least once a year in my experience.

[Taylor Kurosaki]

Thank you all for the answers so far. I'm definitely interested how shallow seat-tube angles have impacted fitting to your drop bar Rivs. I had not thought of those Fairweather bars. Definitely more compact than the Noodles and great if you want to stick with the Rivendell-common 25.4mm clamp. My plan is to have two cockpits ready to go- drops and Albastache. I'm going to stick with the Ritchey Butano bars- they are quite shallow with short ramps, a fairly traditional-looking radius, and some nice ergo tops, and a bit of flare which I like. I have been running the Velo-Orange 31.8mm quill stem in the shortest size it comes in- 80mm, but I just bought the Crust x Nitto UI stem which is also 31.8 and 60mm long. This shorter stem should allow me to slide my saddle back where it seems Riv wants you to have it and maybe drop the bars down just a bit so they don't look so ungainly high. I've got some really sweet Campy Chorus 10-speed ergopower brifters mated to my 8-speed Shimano Acera RD and cassette. For my Albastache setup I'll run the Shimano BL400 levers and Silver bar-ends. Speaking of the Albastache, has anyone found a better brake lever to run with them than the Shimanos? I'm looking for maximum leverage and I think the longer the brake lever blades, the better for the Albastache. I've heard mixed reports about the TRP RRL levers and Albastaches, I can see why folks swap the right and left levers for better ergonomics seeing as the levers aren't straight.

When all is said and done, I'm going to have some nice, barely mounted components this group might be interested in. Let me know if any of these strike your fancy:

Nitto Mod 177 Noodle Bar: 42cm

80mm Velo-Orange Quill Stem with Removable Faceplate 31.8mm clamp

90mm Velo-Orange Quill Stem with Removable Faceplate 31.8mm clamp

Ritchey Classic Venturemax Handlebar (Silver) 42cm

Ergon SR Allroad Pro Men's Saddle S/M (has nice silver Ti rails)

Nitto FW30 Power Stem Black 25.4mm clamp 120mm

Nitto FW30 Power Stem Silver 25.4mm clamp 90mm

[Taylor Kurosaki]

Here's the bike with the 80mm VO stem and Butano bars on my shakedown ride in lovely Switzerland. Temp seatpost and saddle.

[Donzaemon]

I feel your pain--I, too, have a short torso and longish legs for my height. I would prefer to have drops on my Homer as well, but I felt stretched out on a Nitto 60mm Faceplater + Ritchey Venturemax Classic combo. Analog Cycles sells a threadless stem with tall stack and short extension called the Discord Chromo Peeper. 

https://analogcycles.com/products/discord-chromo-peeper

A threaded to threadless adapter plus some short reach bars like the Ritchey Corralitos might work better, but since the bars are black, I'll have to strip the anodizing from the exposed surface around the clamp area. Haven't tried that combo yet because that stem is pretty expensive. In the meantime, I'm using a swept-back bar setup which is ok, but I keep thinking I'd prefer to be on drops.

[Davey Two Shoes]

This thread is blowing my mind because I aim for a similar setup on my bikes (high stack with moderate reach) on my bikes but I have a long torso and short legs. Anyway, love your Homer. I'm on a Sam and often wish I had gone with a Homer.

[Taylor Kurosaki]

Sam’s are awesome. I really doubt there’s all that much difference in the liveliness of the two frames. Plus, the current Sam’s can be run with V-brakes which are basically as strong as mechanical disc brakes, sometimes even better.

[Taylor Kurosaki]

I’m lucky I don’t have to go the extreme of the peeper stem to get this bike to fit me. I’ll be swapping to a 60mm Nitto x Crust stem which should be nice and comfy for me. I’m surprised the Venturemax isn’t short and shallow enough for you with the right stem.

[Corwin Zechar]

Hi Taylor -

I'm a little late to the party, but here are my answers:

1) Yes. I have tried to make all my Rivs behave like a "modern" drop bar bike. With success. Granted, to me "modern" means an '80s steel bike.

2) My bars are always slammed. That means no stem peeking out of the steerer. Just poking forward to the bars. Mark Abele (head mechanic at Riv) has told me I am the last of my kind still buying/riding Rivs. I have multiple Rivs (Custom and Hubbuhubbuh) with threadless stems. Those bars are slammed as well. I have tried riding upright. Upright just does not work for me. I have ridden several thousand miles upright (mostly captaining the Cunningham tandem). I just cannot get maximum power out of my legs while riding upright.

3) Yes. the seat tube angle does make drops (and any other bars) more complicated for me. I have had to experiment with shorter stems. On the Custom and Hubbuhubbuh I started out with 10cm threadless stems. Eventually got down to 8cm where I have stayed. Although curiously, my Quickbeam - running my largest frame at 62cm - has an 11cm Nitto quill stem (also slammed). Go figure.

4) I also ride Albastache (on both my Custom and Hubbuhubbuh) and Moustache (currently on my Ram). Given that I have five Rivs and several other bikes, I cannot say that they are my main bikes or even main Rivs. But I do love the Albastache and Moustache. I would agree with Grant that the Noodle is their most comfy bar. Because of the position on the hoods, the long ramps and the gentle sweep-back of the straight section after the curve (between the stem and the first curve).

The reason I love the Albastache and Moustache bars is because I almost never use the hooks on drop bars. I find that if I need minimum aerodynamic drag going downhill, in the wind or in a pace line, I can get deeper into my crouch. Grabbing the hooks or the lowest part of drop bars does not necessarily get me minimum drag. I can easily do that via my abs and back. And the Albastache and Moustache offer more hand positions than the Noodle if you limit yourself to the top of the Noodle.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Corwin

[Andrew Scherer]

Like Corwin, I'm 90% drop bars, on 8 other 70s-80s racing and touring frames. Some years ago I built up a Raleigh International with Moustache bars which didn't suit me at all. Later that frame became my city commuter, with VO Tourist bars. I enjoy the neutral position my wrists and hands take on them. I still use them but on a different frame.

Fitting: I got my Homer last spring when Riv offered 64cm frames at a steep discount. It's a long, tall frame but any sense of it's size disappears once I'm rolling. Through my 60s I have found myself preferring larger frames than the 62cm I rode for decades. If I was simply choosing, and not compelled by the significant discount I might have gone down a size, but I fit (just). I'm tall, 6' 3"/190.5cm, I think my my PBH is 95 maybe a bit more. I think I'm reasonably proportioned.

Bars: I use Noodles on a Raleigh Pro Mk. I. They're fine, really but I wouldn't say they're my favorite bars. Maybe it's conditioning but I still feel most at home on Cinelli 66 or 64s. The Homer has VO Randonneurs, 46 wide I think, I'm pretty pleased with them and I've got them on 2 other bikes. The first stem I used was a 90 or 100 quill, and I could sense it was long. I switched to an 80 and it's much better, and the saddle nose-to-handlebar distance is in the middle of the range that my other drop bar bikes measure. The stem is up just enough to clamp a bell on it, and the saddle is roughly level with the bars. I use 105 10-speed brifters. Saddle is a B17, soon to be changed out to a Selle Anatomica. Zero setback post. FWIW I have a zero setback on my shortest wheelbase, steepest angled frame, it's what felt best. Go figure. 

I like my position and the road feel. It's very stable and comfortable, super confident on descents, and when I lean into a turn it digs in and carves a solid line. Because some of my bikes are racy steel, I wouldn't put my Homer in that category, but it's no slouch. I've got some gravel and trails miles too, not too many but it felt good all around.

Hope you find your sweet spot!

Andy