Saturday, April 23, 2011

Quest for Handle Bars!

Okay, so I've ordered all the crap I think I'll need to get the Bike With The Funny Name going.
I did the stem shifter thing for they were really cheap and got me some new brake levers.
The only thing left is a seat and I'll just wait until something cheap comes up on CL.
Well, not the only thing.
Left I mean.
I still needs me a steering device.
As in a handle bar.
So I've started the Official Flat Tire Quest for Handle Bars(OFTQFHB)!
Handle bars are sort of a personal thing, I mean what works for one person may be some other persons torture device.
On my Globe, I had these pull back arc bars that I sort of liked:



The thing was, I kept wishing my hands were in a different position.
They were kinda close to MTB bars, I forget what the sweep was, well because of the sweep, you couldn't really put bar ends or anything to add an additional hand position.
Then I started thinking I'd like the grips to be parallel to the top tube.
So I started to look at other bars but I sold the Globe before I could experiment.
Now I'm taking my time with this for I don't want to collect any more handle bars, I have a decent enough inventory as it is.
The TT on the Bike With The Funny Name(BWTFN) measures out at 53cm so it's on the long side for me. Thankfully it has a really short stem on there, I measured it out at 65mm.
In order to be comfy and upright, I figured I'd need me some bars with the hand position set at or in back of the head tube.
Sort of like these:



Then I thought, okay, this ain't no beach cruiser!
I mean those bars look fine and all but they are on the wide side, about 520mm wide, about the same as the top tube!
Then I saw these:



The moustachio bars looked good except the length of the grip area looked short, too short if I wanted to mount shifters and brake levers there.
Okay, I said I was getting some stem levers, but you never know.
If you know what I mean.
Nitto also makes these:



The grip area looks good, but they are like super wide also, about 500mm.
Actually, that's not too bad.
The hand position is also way back.
The thing about them bars is that I don't know if I'm going to be able to mount my front basket:



Front basket is essential don't you know.
For cheese rolls and kim chee.
Then there are these puppies:



They measure out at 490mm so they are looking good.
Not sure about the rise, but maybe I can flip them if it's too much.
The head tube on the BWTFN is already pretty tall.
I haven't started to search yet, but I'm hoping Dimension, which makes cheaper copies of these Nitto bars, has some of these available.
Boy this has been difficult.
Like searching for the Holy Grail.
Or something.
The Quest for Handle Bars is on!

5 comments:

Steve A said...

OMG!

[akeri]

John Romeo Alpha said...

I would think that if you flipped those last bars they would end being knee bangers. I do not like knee bangers.

limom said...

I never thought about knee clearance.
Anyways I think I'm going with the third bar from the top.
It's on sale don't you know.

Anonymous said...

You are definitely the busiest person I know! I agree with you on the basket - they are a "must have" for at least one of the bikes that resides in one's stable.

limom said...

PaddyAnne, I find that quite amusing for I am like the laziest person I know.
Having only two speeds, stop and go, I find myself mostly in the stop position.