Nitto Noodle vs. Dirt Drop vs. B135 Randonneur - switching to drop bars with flare

[Pancake]

I'm replacing the Bosco bars on a new-to-me Sam Hillborne 56cm. I currently ride another bike with Randonneur B135 bars in 45cm but they're too narrow. In figuring which bars to use on the Sam I needed some information that took a while to collect - I figured to include it here because it's interesting and may save someone a load of trouble and time in the future.

Comparing the wider Nitto touring drop bars:

Noodle B177 - the Riv standard for drop bars, slight rise and "the top flat portion sweeps back toward you slightly, bringing the bar closer, and the drops (lower portion) flare out four degrees" and secret sauce is the flat ramp up to the brake hoods. 

Width: 48cm center bar end to center bar end (also in 41, 44, 46)

Drop: 140mm

Reach: 95mm

Flare: ~4 degrees

Clamp: 26mm

Randonneur B135  - also has slight rise and flat section sweep back, but more flare out and not available as wide as others. The B132 has a shallower drop but a longer reach, otherwise similar but different sizes available.

Width: 45cm (also in 42) - Width at the drops is ~6cm less than the overall width

Drop: 120mm

Reach: 105mm

Flare: ~7 degrees (6cm less than the width 

Clamp: 25.4mm

Dirt Drop RM-013 - very similar to the Noodle but with significantly more flare out (~7 vs. ~4 degrees). Lack the upswept flat section though. Also the similar RM-014 which has a narrower flat section and wider flare to make up the width, different sizes (50 & 52cm), and bigger clamp at 31.8mm. Similar flare as the B135. Middle ground between traditional touring drops (noodle) and a wider mountain bike drop (like the Cowbell or Far bar)

Width: 52cm (also in 46, 48) - Width at the drops is ~6cm narrower than the overall width

Drop: 140mm

Reach: 95mm

Flare: ~7 degrees

Clamp: 25.4 or 26mm

Mark's install / setup video for drop bars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEUm3VzF_Z0

Details of my planned setup:

Bars: RM-013 52cm 

Stem: Technomic 70mm

Brakes: TRP RRL SR Retro - gum color, drilled "speed" holes (Simpson's reference)

Shifter: Microshift bar end BS-T09 (friction or index on rear, friction front ... the BS-A09 is index on rear only)

Hope this saves someone else some time!  

[Paul G]

Nice bit of information.

Regarding the Noodles though, at least on my 44cm version, instead of a slight "rise" from the stem clamp area to the ramps, there is a slight "drop" in that the tops slope downwards slightly (as well as a bit rearward as we know) before curving to the front and becoming the ramps. This is when the bars are set up with the ramps roughly horizontal to the ground.

I find that bit of slope down from the stem clamp quite natural and ergonomic when riding on the tops. That said, I switched to a Compass Maes Parallel and find it a bit more supportive than the Noodle when riding on the ramps. But the Noodle had the better tops.

[John Hawrylak]

you stated wrt to B132's  "The B132 has a shallower drop but a longer reach, otherwise similar but different sizes available."

True but the B132's have a very shallow ramp angle, about 5° vs the 12° on the B177 and more on the B135.  However the B132 ramp is flat and does not curve upward like the Compass AVA copy does.  I have B132's on my 88 Voyaguer and have measured the ramp angle on the bench.  The long ramps (due to 132mm reach C-E) allow a hand position behind the hoods.

The Nitto catalog gives a good picture/drawings of the B132 and B135 for reference.  The B132 rise is greater (12mm vs 7mm on the B135) and the flare is less.

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ 

[Pancake]

Good point John, when I bought the B135 that was part of the difference that appealed to me. However, after putting about 800 miles on the B135 bars, I can tell they’re just not wide enough for me. So my research on the distinctions between the B135 and B132 didn’t get very deep, instead I focused on wider bars like the Noodle, but I also wanted more flare out because my forearms bounce off the upper parts of the bars when getting off pavement a little and pulling on the drops. The dirt drops seem to be a perfect happy medium for geometry that I’m after and with that I want, but I’ve been very surprised to see how many similar bars Nitto makes for so many different companies.

Those Compass Maes Parallel bars are a great example, very fine differences made for a specific company in a niche market. 46cm maximum width though, so not quite as wide as I was after.

It seems a shame there’s not a resource with off of Nitto’s bar specifications in one place - it’s be great to see all that info at the same place rather than sorting through a dozen websites (which often have conflicting info or only info for one size).

Fantastically wide and could be fun on a different project - the Towel Rack from Crust in 615mm, 645mm, or 675mm! I really like their discussion of “wide” bars that just aren’t that wide:

“Flash ahead to the normalized MTB world of 50mm stems and 800mm handlebars that we live in today. Why do they get to be so verily comfortable while our slumped, pigeon chested bodies are negated to 38-46mm “wide” bars??? WHYYYY???? I don’t know, so that’s why we made these.”

Any other variations or distinctions worth mentioning please do, also if there are other 46cm or wider bars with some flare out please add to my list!

Related my RM-013 52cm bars arrive today :-)

[sameness]

The 2019 catalog seems pretty darn comprehensive at first glance, though it doesn't seem to include the proprietary designs from RBW, SimWorks, Fairweather, etc. Still and all, a good resource if only because it's straight from the horse's mouth.

Jeff Hagedorn

Los Angeles, CA USA

[Pancake]

Agreed, it's very detailed for current models (including the B177, B132, B135) but not for older or proprietary bars (like the RM-013 or Maes Parallel). It includes the angle of the drop, but not the flare out like the difference between the width of the flats and the bottom of the flats vs. the width of the flats and the width of the bar ends, I suppose with some geometry calculations we could sort it though. That was interesting to read though a bit, thanks Jeff!