Flipped Albatross

[Surlyprof]

I have been wanting to change out the cockpit from the Albatross that came with the bike to an Albastache.  I used to have a Mustache bar and loved it.  Unfortunately, the discretionary funds are not there right now (home repairs, etc).  As a temporary measure, I thought about flipping the Albatross bar over to see if I could get in the ballpark.  Was hoping to squeeze in a summer of Albastache-ish riding before having to plunk down the money for a real setup since bars, levers and stem come to over $200.  My initial measurements indicate that the drop would be about an inch lower (similar to the old mustache bars I used to have) and the handles would come back about an extra inch (potential problem with bar ends and knees).

Has anyone ever tried this?  If so, please let me know if it is a reasonable alternative or just a big waste of time.

Thanks,

John

[alan lavine]

 I was thinking the same thing, but have not yet tried it.  You may need to raise the stem a bit and maybe cut an inch or so off the bar ends.  Also interested in the experiences of others.

Alan

John

[Deacon Patrick]

I tried it for about a second-and-a-half. For me the curves are very wrong and nowhere close to comfortable. I love my Albastaches, so the two are not anywhere close to similar.

With abandon,

Patrick

[drew beckmeyer]

yeah, also tried it for about an hour. really didnt like it. the curves and the amount/closeness/width of where it drops felt super wonky. interestingly, i have some VO upright bars that have a much more subtle rise and dont curve back as much. i like those a lot when upside down.

[Garth]

  I'll echo the sentiments , just plain odd feeling, and not in a good way ! 

[Eric Daume]

I'm going to contradict the negative posts below: I have a Soma Oxford (basically, an Alba copy) on my 650B-ized Trek, and I like it quite a bit flipped. You can see it here:

http://www.bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2014/12/trek-620-650b-conversion.html

Actually, I like it a lot better flipped than upright. I think a lot of this is due to the brakes: flipped, I used road levers (with an inner tube shim) to recreate the Albastache type feel. Upright, I used traditional mountain bike grips and levers at the end of the bars. In this mode, the grips always felt too high and too close, and I ended up riding on the front hooks anyway. Flipped, the front hooks become a comfortable, stable default position.

All that said, it is quite different from the Albastache that I have on my VO Camargue. The 'stache is wider and goes forward more, while dropping less. I prefer the Albastache in most respects, but I still enjoy the flipped Oxford as well.

Eric

Dublin, OH

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[doc]

http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2010/04/upside-down.html

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 10:22:40 AM UTC-4, Surlyprof wrote:

[john elliott]

I have 2 bikes set up this way.  I don't have an albastache to compare it to, but I do like it.  I also use road brake levers on the bars.

I've heard of it multiple times on the internet as well. though I'm not sure that's very helpful information.