Alternative to Noddle Handlebars

[Jayme Frye]

Bent my Noodle bars in a crash and must replace. Part replacement always stirs thoughts of what else is available that I might like. The things I like about the Noodle bars are the long flat ramps behind the hoods as a hand position and the flair of the drops. From the more must be better school of thought does anyone know of a bar with a bit flatter/longer ramps and more flair at the drops? 

Jayme

[Ron Mc]

Rando bar has more flare, Maes bar has more reach, the longest flattest ramps are on modern ergo bars, but they typically have zero flare.  

You might want to look over this website:  http://ruedatropical.com/2009/03/road-drop-bar-geometry/

[Tim Gavin]

If you mean flare instead of flair....

;-)

Nitto B132/135 Randonneur bars may be what you're looking for.  The B132 and B135 have curvy tops like the noodle, but more flare through the drops.  

The B132 has more reach (longer flats behind the hoods) and the B135 has shorter reach.  I prefer the B135 (long top tube frame), and I find it has plenty of space behind the hoods.  The corners, flats, and hoods are three distinct positions.

I use the B132 with the Tektro TRP RRL bars on my KOM (1, 2, 3) and my Riv.

This bikeforums post has a great depiction of the B132, B135, and B177 Noodle.

Pro: the B132/135 are usually cheaper than the Noodle bars.  Con:  they're available in fewer widths.  I'm happy with the 42 cm width B135s (42 at the hoods, wider at the ends after the flare).

Tim Gavin

Cedar Rapids, IA

[Ron Mc]

Modern bike has a good selection of Nitto with good drawings, and have both model Nitto Randos...

http://www.modernbike.com/nitto-drop-handlebars

[Montclair BobbyB]

I'm a fresh convert to the VO Randonneur bars. They're available 42cm to 50cm wide (I've got the 50s and like them even more than my 48cm Noodles)

[Scott G.]

Compass Bicycle has Nitto made copies of French handle bars.
Long ramps, more flair than a Noodle.

https://www.compasscycle.com/product-category/components/handlebars/

I ride Noodles on one bike and the Maes parallel on a couple,
easy to switch between bars.

[Avery Wilson]

Check out the Nitto RM - 013. Similar to noodles, but more flare in the drops. Just enough to keep my forearms from hitting the tops whilst in the hooks/drops.

[subf...@gmail.com]

Ron, It has been my experience that modern bars have the shortest and most steep ramps. Even in the page you referenced the author mentions that ramps shrank as a response to integrated shift/brake levers. Was there a specific bar you had in mind when you said that? I really enjoy both flat ramps and ergo drops  so I am interested in a model I may have overlooked. 

Jayme, while randonneur bars do have more flare, they also tend to have curved tops that bend on a different plane than the noodles - they bump up rather than sweep back. I find the shape rather uncomfortable. YMMV 

Jason

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[Ron Mc]

Hi Jason if you look at bars like Ritchey WCS - the reach measures the same as noodles - but they are much flatter than noodles.  Deda Newtons are equivalently long and flatter.  Modolo X-boost is longer.  

My favorite drops are compact - Cinelli 64

[subf...@gmail.com]

Ron, 

Thanks for the list. I use and like the WCS bars on one bike and noodles on another, so I must be on the right track. :) 

Jason

[Jim Bronson]

I would like to offer an alternative view to the rando bar love fest.  I tried some "48" cm VO rando bars on my tandem and I hated them.  The ramps are much narrower than the drops and that is useless for someone like me who's large and really needs to have a wide hand position at all times.

On Jun 1, 2015 9:42 AM, "Jayme Frye" <jayme...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bent my Noodle bars in a crash and must replace. Part replacement always stirs thoughts of what else is available that I might like. The things I like about the Noodle bars are the long flat ramps behind the hoods as a hand position and the flair of the drops. From the more must be better school of thought does anyone know of a bar with a bit flatter/longer ramps and more flair at the drops? 

Jayme

--

[Ron Mc]

Jason, my buddy's Dahon Tournado came with WCS (in silver - bike shops drool over them) - very nice bars.  

I don't have a place for rando bars, either.  What they're really good for is bringing hood position higher on shorter (vertical) stems. The rise on the end of the bars eliminates a cross hand position, since it twists your wrists unnaturally backwards.  

Noodles drop on the ends, giving you a natural cross position.  

  

Jim, my buddy has Salsa Woodchippers on his tandem - super wide with midge drops.  

[Steve Palincsar]

On 06/02/2015 07:37 AM, Ron Mc wrote:
> Jason, my buddy's Dahon Tournado came with WCS (in silver - bike shops
> drool over them) - very nice bars.
>
> I don't have a place for rando bars, either. What they're really good
> for is bringing hood position higher on shorter (vertical) stems. The
> rise on the end of the bars eliminates a cross hand position, since it
> twists your wrists unnaturally backwards.
> Noodles drop on the ends, giving you a natural cross position

By "cross position" are you referring to something related to
cyclocross? I've never heard the phrase before.

[Ron Mc]

it's a convenient name, since interruptor levers are also known as cross brakes - the hand position that warrants use of these brakes.  My daughter mostly rides there, sometimes on the hoods, never on the drops, but I think she likes the style of the drops.  

Her friend, my buddy's daughter, went out and bought a late 90s Gitane long-trail racing frame just to build up a similar styled bike.  

[Steve Palincsar]

On 06/02/2015 07:54 AM, Ron Mc wrote:

it's a convenient name, since interruptor levers are also known as cross brakes - the hand position that warrants use of these brakes.

Oh, "on the bar top."   Long pre-dates interrupter levers.

[ascpgh]

+2 on the Nitto RM-013, I have them on my Rambouillet and commuter Disc Trucker. 

An article comparing to Noodles including side by side pics:

http://biketouringnews.com/components-touring-bicycles/cockpit/touring-bike-handlebars/nitto-dirt-drop-handlebars/

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Ron Mc]

there's a fine line between interrogatory and taking to task, separated by whether the answer is already known. 

[Steve Palincsar]

Well, in this case clearly interrogatory, since I had no idea what the phrase meant, being profoundly ignorant of cyclocross.  When you described it, I recognized it as a position I have been using for the past 43 years and more, initially aided with these things, now commonly known as "suicide levers":

[Ron Mc]

fair enough.  First thing I did on my old Raleigh was remove those levers and add gum hoods.  

found this photo of my buddy's Dahon - it came with cross levers and the Ritchie WCS bar

On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 7:34:12 AM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote

[Steve Palincsar]

On 06/02/2015 08:44 AM, Ron Mc wrote:
> fair enough. First thing I did on my old Raleigh was remove those
> levers and add gum hoods.

I did also, eventually. In my case it took a panic stop in traffic,
going down the hill on Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown towards K St.
Bottomed out the levers and the stopped car in front just kept getting
closer and larger and of course, once you are committed there's no way
to switch from the suicide levers to the regular ones, you just have to
ride it out and hope. Fortunately, I did stop, about a foot from his
bumper. Took them off and threw them away as soon as I got home.

[Ron Mc]

cross levers, btw are serious brakes - they give you more leverage and less squirm than road levers

[Tim Gavin]

I use "cross top" / interrupter brake levers on both of my Nitto B135-equipped bikes without discomfort, and I have bad wrists.

But I just use that position--and those brakes--for upright cruising.  I'm in the drops about 90% of the time (bars at seat level).

I suppose I can say that I love the Rando bars for their flare, not for their upward sweep.  

I'd love a bar with the same flare through the drops as the B135/132, but with the rearward sweep of the Noodle B177.

[Kellie]

Alternative: dirt drops. Here's a Midge……. similar to the now very popular Soma Portola.

[Philip Kim]

The nitto randonneur bars have longer ramps and flairs, I believe. While the ramps are flat, they are also swept up a bit.

I think they are measured at the drops, and since the hoods are closer to accomdate for the flaire at the drops, I would get a bigger size than normal, but would definitely check the dimensions before you get one.

[Steve Palincsar]

On 06/02/2015 09:12 AM, Ron Mc wrote:

cross levers, btw are serious brakes - they give you more leverage and less squirm than road levers

I have mine set so they point down directly under the bar (instead of the usual horizontal location).  When I rest my hands on the bar tops, my fingers hang down and touch the brake levers.  This is good for me two ways: since not all my bikes have these levers, the fingertip contact keeps me reminded that this bike is one that has these levers; and since my fingertips are on the brakes, I can ride in stop-and-go city traffic and be in a very relaxed position totally ready to stop (and as you say, these are serious brake levers) instantly should anything untoward happen suddenly in traffic.  The only downsides are a little weight and a bit of extra money.

[Ron Mc]

gorgeous ride

On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 2:49:10 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote:

[Steve Palincsar]

On 06/02/2015 04:06 PM, Ron Mc wrote:

gorgeous ride

Thanks.  Mitch Pryor does marvelous work, and as you can tell from the tests in BQ, they perform as well as they look.

[Jayme Frye]

Gonna give the VO Rando Bars and Nitto Dirt a serious look. I'll post my thoughts back to this thread.

Jayme 

[Philip Kim]

+1 on these, let them a bit better than the noodles because of the flaire.

On Monday, June 1, 2015 at 5:01:43 PM UTC-4, Avery Wilson wrote: