Please drop your non-traditional drop bar opinions here

[Ben Miller]

So a while back I wrote about how my wife wanted to get her first Rivendell. She liked the look of the Platypus but had reservations about it being a "road bike." I assured her it could be a great road bike, as it is a great platform that can take on a bunch of different functions. So she was able to snag a complete Platy during the pre-sale. We discussed the alt-bar setup and I suggested she give a fair shake, but wasn't sure how she'd like the Albatross bars and friction shifting. She has really only rode drops and indexed brifters. 

Well, she's been riding the Platy for a few weeks now, and.... It's not been going well. She hates the friction barends and feels uncomfortable on the Alba's. It got to the point where she said something like "I think I hate this bike and though it's so pretty." Well now, I knew then and there the complete as-is build experiment was over. I began scheming and research bike parts to do a Platypus drop bar conversion. Paul minimotos, Nitto UI-2 SSB stem, Sim Works Wold Honey 31.8 rando bar, and Microshift R9 levers are what I settled on.

Now, I know many will be like "Drop bar Platypus?? Sacrilege! An abomination!" But I honestly think any bike can be converted to drops. And well, I prefer drops. And if it gets Stephanie to like the Platy, I've done my job.

I finished the conversion today. I really like the way it turned out. Unfortunately, although I think I nailed the stem, I think the Wild Honey bars aren't the right choice. Stephanie doesn't like the long ramps of them. She's only done a short test ride, we will go on a longer one tomorrow, but I'm guessing she'll still not like them. All her other bars are in the modern modern style of shorter ramps. I'm think the PNW Coast Bars might be a good alternative for her, but if you've got suggestions on 31.8 drop bars in silver with ~480 mm wide and decent flare, please pipe up. Bonus points for upward flare, like the rando bar style. (That's why I wanted the Wild Honey bars to work.) 

Anways, what are y'alls craziest drop bar conversions? The ones that everyone advised against and said it couldn't be done???

[Ryan Fleming]

Not sure what to suggest....but I like the look of the drop bars...just gotta find her the right ones with shorter ramp meaning less of a reach , I guess!

Meaning it's not an abomination...just needs to be tweaked for her....assuming she likes other aspects of the ride, not just the looks IMO

Good luck!

[Zachary Cannon]

They're a bit hard to find in silver now, but the Zipp XPLR 70s come to mind. They have 70 reach and 12 degrees of flare. My son and I both have liked them a lot. 

My wife, however, didn't prefer the flare. I just put Zipp Ergo 70s (in silver) with more like 4 degrees of flare and still 7-mm of reach on her bike and it's going well.

Velo Orange Nouveau Randonneur bars report 85mm of reach, but it seems short. But again 4ish degrees of flare. When held up to the Ergo 70, the reach felt similar.

Finally, Soma just announced the Gritterium made ny Nitto with 78mm of reach and 15 degrees of flare. Currently 15% off. 

The first three have a somewhat oval/flat top that I find quite agreeable. The Nitto's have classic Nitto round tubing that I visually like, but my hands don't always prefer. 

I will say that I'm quite sensitive to bar position and reach, so I tend to prefer custom bikes with shorter top tubes in order to get that measurement right. I'm 6'1.5" and need a 50-60mm stem on most old school steel ride bikes to get my fit right otherwise. 

In order to dial her fit, I'd measure the distance from the tip of her saddle to bars and maybe the back of the hoods on her most comfortable road bike and try to duplicate that position. I'd also measure drop a weighted string from the tip of her saddle and measure where that is relative to the bottom bracket and duplicate that first as a starting point. That way you're position the saddle for the optional body position relative to the cranks and not using that to adjust reach. Once you sort that out, you can aim for that on the platypus and sort out if it's really possible. 

Good luck! Zach in ABQ

[Conway Bennett]

I love drop bars and ride a drop bar hunqapillar.  I have those wild honey bars, and the reach is too long.  I had them on a large lightning bolt and had to use a analog/discord (w)right stem.  I just dry fitted the rune hilt bars to the LB and don't see myself going back to the wild honey bars.  I have the newish blue lug all road plus noodle derivative on my Monstercross which I like, but they are the opposite of rando bars in most ways.  My favorite drop bar setup is on my hunq and is the ritchey corralitos bar with a 5mm analog/discord fingerling stem.  I think the corralitos is the Goldilocks bar for riv drop bar conversions, but it's black.

[Nick A.]

I had a heck of a time on my first (and only) century, running my 2022 atlantis with 46cm Nitto Noodles and a 50mm Technomic stem. Messed up my left hand for months.

Then I replaced the bars with 44cm Soma Hwy Ones (3cm less reach) and put down more miles the following year than i had before.

The brake levers were the Tektro RRLs, and i was running friction bar cons. But it worked for me.

Nick in Falls Church VA

[Garth]

I've been using some Zipp drop bars too. XPLR 70 and an Ergo 80. I also really like the Ritchey Skyline bar, it's black but I don't care as the shape is divine, I think I like it just a bit better than the Zipp Ergo 80. I liked the outward sweep of the XLPR initially, then I didn't. The more straight Ergo series and Ritchey Skyline are just right to keep the elbows in and able to bend properly. The angled drop portion of the Ritchey took me a while to figure how to set the angle. Unlike regular drop bars, I have the angle set for climbing out of the saddle. which puts the very ends almost level. Don't let my attached photo of my Bomba fool you about the bar, it's a130mm stem and I have 44cm bars. The smaller sized Skyline has less drop and reach. see below.

In the drops the Skyline just feels so right once you figure out the angle.

D

on't be afraid to go outside the limiting boxes of "has to be silver, 25.4 bars/stems, must be Nitto, or boutique branded bars/stems, etc.".

Looking at Ben's wifes bike, it just needs some short reach bars. I stumbled upon the Zipps looking at the large variety of bars for bikepacking. https://bikepacking.com/index/gravel-bars/

Not really a fan of any of them, but they gave me an idea of possibilities I had not been aware of. Then I realized Zipp makes some others without the sweep(Ergo and even classic), and Ritchey came out with the Skyline bar, which is sized proportionately. The 44cm has 80mm reach and 125mm drop, going down to the 40mm bar has 115mm drop and 70mm reach.

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/handlebars/comp-skyline-handlebar

[George Schick]

Those Skyline bars look a lot like the BioMax bars that they used to make. If I hadn't been told what they were I would've been tempted to think that they were BioMax.  Must be the successor product.  And I agree with you about the advantages of bars like that - they allow you set everything up to your best advantage.

[Ben Miller]

Thanks everyone, some really good stuff here! We did a 25 km city loop today, and yeah, the reach on the Wild Honey bars is a problem.

Zach, I didn't know about those Griterium bars. That's definitely an interesting option. I basically did the measurements you suggested.... but I measured from the tip of the saddle to the stem clamp. I then took into account the extra width so the stem clamp is actually a bit closer than her other bikes. What I did not do is take into account the longer reach of the Wild Honey.... Again, I prefer long reach drop bars, so that seemed right to me! Opps... I think just getting the reach in the 65-75 mm range would do the trick.

Capt. Conway, Those Ritchey Corralitos would be prefect, but she is pretty adamant about the bars being silver, and I agree with that aesthetic choice. But such an interesting bar... almost tempted to break out the lye and remove the black anodizing... almost... Would love to see pics of your drop bar Hunq!

Garth, those Skylines do look nice, but I sort of want to get her to try some wider bars. She did like the Wild Honey's 510 mm width, just felt the reach was too long. I think 440 mm width with 80 reach might not be the right move for this build. Though, now I'm thinking about trying them out for her on her Kona road bike (which currently has bars that are way too narrow for her). 

Thanks y'all again. I'm currently deciding between the Soma Griterium and the PNW Coast Gen 2. The PNW bar has 10 mm less reach and 20 mm drop. And it's also less expensive (even with the 15% off). And it's available in wide sizes... Will consult Stephanie and report back with what we decide.

[Garth]

That's part of the fitting one's bike with drop bars, finding out how various widths alter one relative experience. At first I was drawn the XPLR 46m which is 46cm center-center at the brake levers, and 52cm at the ends. The extra width comes from the sweeping bar ends, not unlike the Dirt Drop does. I found out however that this favored my elbows out and at first I thought it was okay after a while I realized I wanted them in, more inline with my body, so I could bend the elbows and in turn that added some inline stability of the bike itself I was not expecting. With the elbows out it accentuated the steering sensitivity, so every little movement made riding a straight line more difficult.  With a more narrow bar, without the sweep, with elbows inline and bent, the effect was immediate, more stable and able to adapt with bumps and road variances with greater ease. That to me, is the beauty of a drop bar sized about the width of your arms extended straight. 42-44cm is about right for me but I go with 44 for the extra room on width of the tops for XL hands. Having drop bars that sweep back 4-6 degrees on the tops and 31.8 diameter is just so natural to ride. Oval or round middles doesn't really matter. 

[Nick Payne]

My wife rode drop bars for many years, but over the past half dozen years or so I've converted all her bikes to flat bars with barends fitted to provide alternate hand positions. She says she prefers both the braking and gear shifting position with flat bar brake and shift levers compared to that with drop bars, particularly on long descents where she has difficulty with drop bar levers and braking from the hoods. The bars she prefers are the Ritchey 560mm with a five degree sweepback each side of the clamp.

Nick Payne

[Isaak Oliansky]

Conway- I think that the world deserves to see this Hunq! I have a Bombadil set up with the same 5cm discord and 52cm Ritchey Beacon XL bars. I am actually thinking of switching to the Corralitos bars for the additional rise. I will post pictures of mine in the coming month or two once it's done-done :) 

[Ben Miller]

Y'all,

We went with the PNW Coast Gen 2 bars. Super nice bars: nice shot peen finish with contrasting polished graphics. A bit wider than advertised: went with the 480 mm but they're essentially the same width as the 510 mm Wild Honey bars they are replacing. Much shorter drop and reach though, which corrected the fit!

[Chris Fly]

I think some of the Salsa bars are coming in a silver now.. something like the cowchipper maybe? I guess I'm just a little taken aback at someone still riding a 48cm bar, especially a woman (unless she plays in the WNBA).. to each their own for sure, but the wider you go with bars, the longer the effective reach is.. it also slows the steering waaaay down.. not saying everyone needs to be on 36 or 38cm bars like some of the latest cycling media would have you believe, but 48cm would just feel HUGE to me and I'm around 5'9" and not a tiny guy by any means.. 

Chris 

[Michael Baquerizo]

i ask only because its fancy and clearly 'after market', but was there something wrong with the original seatpost provided with the build? this nitto one has more setback but you still slammed the saddle forward. I imagine the stock one Riv uses has less setback and so it wouldn't look like the saddle and seatpost are at odds with each other. 

sorry for the tangent.

[Ben Miller]

1. Well, the original plan was to replace the stock Albatross bars, which are 550 mm c-c at the ends. According Riv's copy: "That's not as wide as it sounds. My daughter has been riding hers since she was 14. Try it on a good bike. It's worthy of the best bike you own." The 480 mm PNW Coast bars also measure 550 mm c-c at the ends. Of course, most of the time she will be on the hoods, which measure to the 480 mm. So, overall it's narrower than the stock configuration. Which apparently is approved by 14 year old girls.
2. Regarding that 550 cm bar-end position, I asked Stephanie about it after the ride. Her response: "I usually don't ride in the drops, but I saw you doing it and tried them out. Very comfortable in the grips!" Oury grips on drop bar ends are indeed deluxe :)
3. Stephanie is also 5'9". Prior to the Platypus her main bike, a Crust Bombora, measure 440 mm c-c at the hoods. So the Platypus is only 40 mm wider overall. Not sure which Salsa Cowchipper's you might be recommending, since they range from 520 mm to 380 mm in size. Nor am I sure how Salsa sizes/measures their bars. On Whatbars.com they have 420 mm Salsa Cowchippers which you can compare to Albatrosses. Visually it appears the 420 mm Cowchip's also are ~550 mm at ends, but they also have more flare, reach, and drop than the PNW Coast Bars, all things that she was trying to minimize.
4. I did suggest to Stephanie that she try wider bars on this experiment, just to try out and see if she liked it. But if she had thought they were too wide, we'd definitely would have sized down (maybe to the 440 mm PNW Coast?) I am 6'3" and I definitely prefer wide bars. My all time favorite drop bar is the Crust Towel Rack v1. Those are now discontinued, but they are 560 mm c-c at the hoods. I have 2 sets. I also have a set of current  production Towel racks, which are narrower at the hoods (500 mm) and have less drop and less reach, all things I do not prefer. My current favorite production drop bar is the Crust Shaka bars in the largest size (540 mm at hoods). My narrowest bars are 480 mm Rene Herse Randonneur's on my rando bike (too me the one downside to wide bars is the aerodynamic penalty, so for longer rides dialing that down a bit can really make a difference to me). My widest bars are 820 mm Oddmone Riser bars, super fun, but terrible for long rides.

[Ben Miller]

Micheal, 

Keen eye! We are also experimenting with saddles. This is her first experience on a Brooks and they've been loaners from me. I originally put a B17 Flyer that I wasn't using on there, but realized the tightening bolts had snapped off, so I couldn't remove the sag out of it. Stephanie found it extremely uncomfortable. So now she was trying a standard B17 properly tensioned :) She definitely found the experience improved, but still not for her. I think she wants to try a C17 cut-out next, but I don't have one so that'll have to be a purchase. 

Anyways, to answer your question as to why we aren't using the stock seatpost, I was lazy and just took the full saddle/seatpost off for these experiments. That Nitto 83 will be going back on my bike :) I hadn't compared the two seatposts, but the stock one does indeed appear to have a bit less set back! I think the C17's rails are exactly the same as the B17? If so, I definitely think less set-back on the post is a must.

[Chris Fly]

if it works, it works! :) I did the wide bar thing for a few years as I bought into the whole "it opens up your breathing" mantra and just found it to be more uncomfortable and make me feel like I was trying to hug a tree.. as far as the Riv ad copy.. well, Riv says a LOT of things that don't make a lot of sense to me and I've long said Riv is notorious for putting folks on frames, etc that are too large for them.. at least in my opinion/experience.. but it's fun to play around with the different bars.. happy hunting! 

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Be the Reason Others Succeed!

[Tyler Johnson]

Hi, Ben.
I like the look of the turn-of-the-last-century bikes that Major Taylor and also regular people rode. You can flip the Albatross bars and get a semi-drop bar feel without hunching over and straining your neck. My set-up on my Appaloosa is super comfy with 3 hand positions. Not drop bars, but so old-fashioned that it's now non-traditional. 
Tyler 

[Ben Miller]

Tyler! I absolutely agree. Love love love the look on flipped Albatross style bars! Looks killer on your Joe. Are you using a kerchief as a sort of hammock-sack???! Wicked. I rocked a similar style, but with Soma Oxford bars, on my Hunq for a while, until I snagged a set of bullmooses and replaced them. I think the bullmoose are the right bars for the Hunq, but damn the silhouette of the reverse North Road/Albatross/Oxford bars is so good. Lovely Bicycle! was a big fan of them and has nice blog post about the style: https://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/05/upside-down-north-road-bars.html?m=1

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[Tyler Johnson]

Yep. I've fastened simple hankies to the handlebars of several of my bikes. Compared to bespoke bags, hankies are lightweight, they don't scratch paint, and they're super cheap, which is important if you have lots of bikes. Nice Hunq, btw.

CTJ

[Brian Plaugher]

I’m gingerly trying to reactívate participation in the group after many years. This thread on nontraditional bars brought to mind Newk bars, which are technically bar ends that curl around two directions, something like deer antlers. Crazy, but they come in silver. Here’s an eBay link (not mine): https://www.ebay.com/itm/305870260021

Brian Plaugher

Beautiful Guerneville, California

Sent from my iPhone

[J Milton]

Speaking of alternative handlebars, I gave up on drop bars a couple of years ago. Unless one is actively racing, I personally question the necessity of subjecting oneself to the inherent discomfort often associated with their design. I have since transitioned to using Jones bars, and I have found that they offer a comparable multitude of hand position options to drop bars, all while maintaining the comfort of an upright riding position.

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[Shannon Menkveld]

Many people don't find drop bars to be "inherently uncomfortable," and they are not wrong. (That's even assuming that the idea of "inherent comfort" is coherent, which it isn't.)

Just like none of the17 people who love mustache bars and are not named "Grant Petersen" are wrong. Just like I, who can't ride the damned things down to the stop sign without screaming pain in the palms of both hands, am not wrong in utterly loathing them.

--Shannon

[Steven Sweedler]

Well put Shannon As someone who has had a drop bar bike for over 60 years ! and still rides a lot, all 4 of my bikes sport 48 Noodles and am very comfortable even on rather long rides. 

Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

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[Patrick Moore]

+1. In fact, I’ve not been able to get my left palm comfortable on any type of bar as much as with a drop bar, though I’ve tried umpteens.

There are reasons why drops have been around for 120 years and used by all sorts of riders and not at all only by racers and one of them is precisely their comfort.

[Garth]

The only reason more riders don't speak of the joy of drop bars here at this time is that many past group members have moved on to other groups or forums. Since the introduction of the Clem and the tangent that design has gone in affecting all subsequent models, the Rivendell "road bike" has gone ignored. What made Riv popular, those various road bikes, has gone bye bye. For clarity, I'm referring to a level TT diamond frame and normal chainstays, >47cm.

I know they've declared no interest in such past models and I get that as the current megastay model has allowed their business to go from getting by year to year, to thriving.

Since I've been here and trying out various claims made my Grant and other employees, frames, parts, position/fitting and the like, I've come full circle back to riding what and how I intuitively know best for me before I ever heard of Rivendell. When I think "bike, it's a "traditional" bike that was known to me growing up as "the ten-speed" as seen during the 70's bicycle boom. Quite simple really. Sure, I moved on 6, 7 and even 9sp FW's and cassettes, but the essence is the same. A drop bar skinny saddle road bike. I even made my Bombadil as much like one as I could, now with 38mm Marathon Racer tires, no racks or fenders. Skinny saddle and drop bars ! It weighs a svelte 23-1/4 pounds with it's relatively stout wheelset with a Rhyno Lite rear and A719 front, 36 DB spokes, Deore rear hub and Phil front hub. Regular tubes. Triple Andel crank, 24/36/50. Now with a zero setback post my weight is notably more front of center, which in turn has made it handle more to my liking. Riding in the drop is easy peasy and oh so comfortable. So is climbing in the drops.

I think drop bar bikes require a better fitting frame, more precise. A relaxed, swept back design affords much leeway, a good thing if you're trying to sell bicycles without concerning yourself as the seller to offer many sizes. You can get by with a very generalized size/fit range. Many if not most drop bar riders know what they are looking for in terms of frame dimensions. With the "expanded geometry" aka sloping TT and less size offerings approach to selling frames they often find themselves in between sizes, so neither really work well. Road bike frames used to be offered in 1 or 2cm increments for the better brands, and stems in 5mm increments. That really gives a proper fit.

It seems innovation and creativity is going backwards though, offering less proper choices and yet promoting the limitation as being "good for you,", "our tests show that less is more", or something like that. "Saves space, saves time, saves resources, and now even saves the planet" .... that's an all timer ! Ahahahahahaa !!! ......Fire up that gas light baby !