Albatross Bars: Do they actually get you a second comfy position? Are they wide enough?

[brizbarn]

I'm thinking of trying some Nitto/Riv Albatross Bars.  I ride a 60 Appaloosa, and have a few stems to try out.  Currently I'm riding Sim Works Little Nick Bars, which are basically flat bars with a little back sweep, no rise, 700mm wide. I like them, but find myself wanting to be more upright a lot of the time.  I often cruise around with my finger tips on the grips, maybe just one hand.  My current bars are good for standing and cranking hard when I need to.  They are pretty comfy for just pedaling along at a chill pace, but sometimes wish I could be a bit more forward (like hoods on a drop bar).  While also being more upright a lot of the time.

So my question is, do Albatross bars have enough room in front of levers and shifter to fit a XL-sized hand in a comfortable fashion?  Or do bigger hands end up needing to be more on the curve?  And, is that in-front-of-levers position on Albatross bars wide enough for a larger rider with broad shoulders?  And can you efficiently crank hard with Albatross bars when need be? 

Attached is an overlay from whatbars.com showing Albatross vs. Little Nick.  I'm often keeping my hands on the outer part of the bar's width. I've considered Billie bars too but they seem to come back too far towards the rider.  If anyone is selling some Albatross bars, let me know.

[Spencer Robinson]

I have Albatross bars on a couple bikes, however I am 5’9 or so and I find the width to be perfect and there is definitely a 2nd (primary) position out on the curves, even with trigger shifters. I also had a bike setup with Ron’s Orthopedic bars and they are wider and would offer more room for a larger rider. You will need the longest stem you have. Even with the Albatross bars I am running a 130mm stem. 

With the Rons Orthopedic bars , I was tempted to cut the ends as they do come WAYback. Maybe try to overlay Ron’s Ortho Bars over your current bar, that should give a visual.

[Jim in Mpls]

Are you using bar end shifters or thumbshifters? That will make a difference in hand positions.  I had an albatross bar, but found I wanted more room in front of the grip using thumbshifters Riv style, so I switched to the Billie bar.

With bar end shifters the Albatross may have been adequate. I'm 6'1" with largish hands.

Jim in Mpls

[Nick A.]

Hey there OP. I ride a 59 Atlantis and decided to level-jump the Albatross to the Billie Bars, as I am running 2x shifters, ergon grips, and brake levers. I am glad I did. Plenty of room for all the riff raff, and a nice forward position. I am also, by some terms, an XL dude. Hope that helps.

Nick A, Falls Church VA

[Spencer Robinson]

Jim, I am using XT “Trigger Shifters”, there is plenty of room in the curves.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 9:58:50 PM UTC-4 Jim in Mpls wrote:

[Garth]

My experience with 56cm steel Albatross bars and 130mm stem with XL hands is there just wasn't enough room in front a traditional grip and shifter setup. I always found mtb levers to just be in the way of valuable hand space regardless of the bar type. Instead, I used Tektro RX4.1 bar end brake levers, with thumbshifters positioned just around and inside the curve, and used regular EVA drop bar tape. This gives the entire usable portion of the bar(end to around the curve) with the hands free to roam. I found myself with my hands mostly in the middle of straight section of the bars, and extending up from there to the curve. I rarely had my hands where a traditional grip would go. Even braking, all I'd generally need is a pinkie or the next finger, all while still in the middle straights of the bar. 

That said, I find bar width seems proportional to how high/low one has them placed. Now I have bars below the saddle and ride 44cm drop bars, elbows bent straight forward, very nice. 

[Josh Brown]

This is how I set up my Bike Friday. Lots of hand room this way. 

JB in NYC 

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Josh

[Johnny Alien]

The problem is that when bars come back pretty far you just counter that with a longer stem. The further they come back the longer the stem. It really just pushes the front part further away making the on the hood position from drops a harder position to replicate. The choco and losco bars are the only ones I found that I think do all those positions pretty well. 

[James McGregor]

I'm tall, 6'3" after visiting the chiropractor, so I've got decently big hands.  I ride the Chocomoose bars and I definitely get two positions before the curves.  Not an Alba, but maybe a helpful visual.  (Chocos are a great alternative though!)  

Grips I use, from closest reach to farthest:

(0) Fingertips on the ends of the grips, as pictured - not really a long-term position, but a nice change for quiet cruising

(1) Smack on the grips

(2) With the butt of my palm on the farthest forward block of the Oury grips and the brake/shifter clamps under the arch of my palm

(3) On the curves

Grips #1 and #2 share time 50/50. 

[R Olson]

I'm a big guy too and I would recommend the Crust Ron's Ortho Bars as well.  Nice and wide and a good forward position on bends.  I have them on my Sam Hillborne with thumb shifters and there's enough room for my big hands on the forward curves.  I've used Albatross bars as well, and they're fine, maybe less forward position availability than the Ortho bars, but still comfortable.  I also second the choco bars - either the normal or choco-moose.  I had some choco-moose bars on my Appa and they're a good alternative for that bike if you get into some rough stuff.  While narrower than the ortho bars, the curves on the choco bars are very comfortable and allow for a good forward position, while still being able to grab the ends and be upright.  The forward position on the chocos allowed me to rest my forarms on the straight section too, which was pretty comfortable.  Not to complicate matters either, but the albastache bars are very similar to the chocos - same width, but allow for a slightly more aggressive position, but they are made more for road brake levers.  Just depends on what you're looking for and how you want to ride.  Good luck!

Ryan

[Patrick Moore]

FWIW, I’ve often installed road brake levers, that is, drop bar levers, on the curves of non-drop bars, and they attach very firmly despite the narrower gauge. The main benefit is to free up more usable hand space on the bar itself while also giving a sort of “hoods” position — as on the original Moustache Bar.

Below from that Monocog before I switched to a drop bar. (I trimmed 4” a side off the Map/Ahearne and the M/A was the narrower of the 2 models. As good a non-drop bar as I’ve yet ridden, but not as good as a dropbar.) (Fun fact: the brake levers were Shimano AX with high ma but they worked fine with the road BB7s.)

[James McGregor]

Yeah, I moved over to the Choco-moose from the Ron's bars because I couldn't get them to not slip on trails.  The "upside down" Choco curves are really nice too.

[Herman Michaels]

I'm 6'3" and have used Albastache bars on a 64cm Clem for the past 7 months. These bars are very similar to the Albatross, with the latter being about 5cm longer. I ride mostly road and prefer a longish reach, which I get even with a short stem. If I want a more upright position in the future I plan on trying an Albatross. I use the parts of the bar that are wrapped in brown, but mostly the curves.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 7:47:13 PM UTC-4 brizbarn wrote:

[Armand Kizirian]

I personally find the Albatross/Billie to be too narrow. I'm 5'11" for reference. For extremely casual riding they would be sufficient, but I found myself desiring way more stability when climbing/light sprinting out of the saddle. I went with Ron's ortho bars and love them, a faceplater stem prevents them from ever slipping. Plenty of room for a forward position for more spirited riding and supremely comfortable cruising position on the grips. 

I personally think it complements the stability that comes from the long chainstays, wheelbase, and front center that more modern Riv's have. It just feels safer too, especially when carrying heavy loads. The wider the bar, the more leverage and control you have over the bike. 

[David P]

I prefer the Choco to the Albatross as they are flatter and give me more hand positions.  I have the Choco mounted 'upside down' as I find the slight downward slope more suited to my wrists than if mounted with a rise.

[Zachary Cannon]

I love my Soma Oxford bars that are nearly identical to Albatross bars... but I have them on an around town bike in part because I think the second position is better in theory than practice, leaving them as a classy upright option. Maybe if I wrapped them up front?

[Adam Komosinski]

I have 55 cm Albatross bars with a 110 mm 90-190 stem on my 1984 Miyata ATB. Pictured components are ESI chunky grips, original full-hand Dia-Compe levers, and Deore XT 7/8sp thumbies. Oh, and I'm 5' 10" with about 42 cm shoulder width, as a tailor would measure, and 95 mm palm width at the widest point.

With this stem length and grabbing the bar near the ends, the center of my wrists are right in line with the steering axis, which is perfect for me with this longer-than-a-road-bike 58 cm top tube. I tend to grab up against the levers (about 2 cm forward) when standing and mashing; I'll chill in the middle right on top of the levers & shifters when spinning; and grab the front bends when going fast. I marked up and attached a photo showing measurements at my usual grip spots, right about where the center of my wrists are. Overall bar width is great for me, though I could imagine going slightly wider and a teeny bit less sweep.

I like this setup and probably won't change much in the foreseeable future. I've gotten rid of so many of the original components that I feel bad getting new levers, but I may try bar-end shifters eventually. My main gripe is the thumbies taking up the space in front of the brake levers (tried mounting on the inside, still had cable in the same spot, and didn't like the feel of shifting that way). If I had levers with a narrower clamp/band and bar-end shifters I'd gain a little more room before the bends. Though, this is some very low ROI dialing in sort of minutia. It is nice shifting with my hand right on top of the thumbies, and shifting while gripping on bumpy rough stuff is great too.

I'm intrigued by other bar possibilities like the Billie or Choco, but I don't want to be any further forward on this frame. If the top tube were shorter then maybe I'd try them. If I get any other bars for this frame it'll probably be Magic Components Mothbars, but I'd have to imagine I'd need a 130 stem for those.

Geez, enough details for ya? That got out of hand 😅

Adam K

in Western MA

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 7:47:13 PM UTC-4 brizbarn wrote:

[Glen]

Here is a picture of my Billy Bars with their latest shifter and brake lever iteration. I am very happy with it. This is a 64cm Atlantis and I'm an all legs 6'er.  

Yes the hand position in front of the brakes is very usable and I find grabbing over the brake and shifter mounts to be usable also. This set up replaces Albatross with bar ends and then the Billy's with an SIS rear shifter. I had to flip the fancy DXR levers to clear the inside mounted Silver 2 shifter which now easily shifts 11 speeds. 

[Spencer Robinson]

Nice  Adam! Now I wanna put my Dia-compe break levers back on my bike :)

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[James McGregor]

Did anyone else see the MADE show coverage of the Wilde Dog Star with the customized Lekerleks Albacore bars? Wide, swoopy, moose bars?  Yes, please!

Scroll down almost to the bottom at https://theradavist.com/2025-made-bike-show-day-02

[James McGregor]

[Brian Barnhart]

Y’all are the best!  Thank you so much for all the insight and thought on this. The fine tuning never ends! Ha. Been busy getting realdy for a two nighter tour. Still have my Sim Works flat bars on, current with a 110ish mm old Bianchi ITM stem (90 degrees). This has worked well enough and will have to do for a while longer. 

One question I have not heard anything on: are the 31.8mm clamp Billie Bars wider at the bend than the 25.4 Billie? Don’t think Riv has pics of that version on the site. I’m not really a fan of 31.8mm but just curious.  

I’ve also considered the Sim Works Golden Pliers bars which are wider than Albatross (probably too wide), but similar shape and have 31.8mm clamp area. Don’t love them personally but someone reading this might like them. 

Again, thanks. And love to hear about everyone’s set ups and pics make it even better. 

On Aug 29, 2025, at 2:41 PM, James McGregor <mcgr...@gmail.com> wrote:



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<2025-Made-Bike-Show-Wilde-Dog-Star-Vintage-MTB-Homage-29.jpg>

[John Johnson]

I love albas, but I'm also not that tall/wide shouldered. They can barely manage 2 hand positions (grips and in front of the brakes).

I had a pair of Soma Portmann handlebars, which are sort of an in-between the Golden Pliers Rambler bar and the Albatross. I don't love 31.8 asthetically, but they put a huge smile on my face every time I rode them. 

However, back to your original post: If you're riding Little Nick's, the change to an Albatross/Rambler/Billie, etc will be quite drastic. I might look at something in-between (Simworks Getaround or Riv Wavie) as a slightly more swept back option. But ymmv.

cheers,

John

[Adam Komosinski]

Thanks, Spencer! I like the look of a full-hand lever. It has a nice curve to it and seems to visually complement swept upright bars.

Adam

Western MA

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[Drew Fitchette]

I’ve got Billie’s on my Clem, alba’s on my wife’s Crosscut, and Moth Bars on my Platypus. 

Definitely agree with Armand’s take on width, as a wider shouldered 6 ft tall person. But my wife loves her alba’s, and the Billies are nice for the camping/grocery getter though would prefer something a touch wider. Though the Billie’s really win for secondary hand positions over the Albatross, and for riding trails they’ve got a little more natural flex. 

Moth bars on my Platypus are heavenly in terms of width and swoop while still feeling nice and aggressive. Definitely my current favorite bars. 

[Mathias Steiner]

For upright bars with a bend, like albas or moustaches, I want brakes when I'm upright and wide, for control. 
AND I want at least a front brake when I'm crusing with my hands forward.

This can be done like so. The inverse brake levers are readily available for both bar diameters.

The interrupters work great with short-pull brakes but are OK with long-pull V brakes as well, due to their long travel arc.