On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 6:30:10 PM UTC-6, Lungimsam wrote: > > I am guessing that some grades were in excess of 9%. Could you tell us > how you used the choco moose(?) bars? How many hand positions do you use on > it, and in what circumstances? >
> I usually ride drops and wonder how it feels riding such difficult terrain > in an upright position with upright bars. I am thinking of making my Sam an > upright bike and interested to know how works out. > Grades on this route never exceeded 8% but there were plenty of 6-10 mile stretches at 6-8% without letting up. So it wasn't very steep but the climbing was long duration at my slow, loaded, sight-seeing pace. I usually ride drops too but I found last year on tour on a different bike that I really wished for a more upright position to take in the scenery. These bars were great for my purposes. I had great stability, control, views, and comfort. I also felt like the upright position was great for getting oxygen into my lungs. My chest was up and open and breathing was easy. It was also great on downhills because I felt like I had to brake less. I did have to spend a serious amount of time tweaking to find my preferred height for the bars. Too high and the bike was less steady and my hands would fall asleep. Too low caused too much pressure on my hands. After a number of micro-adjustments, I found a position that was completely comfortable. It was surprising to me what a difference a very small change could make. I mostly rode with my hands on the grips -- no gloves needed, which felt wonderful to me. I would sometimes place my hands just on the far side of the brake levers/shifters -- in the corners. That was comfortable but a bit crowded. And I would sometimes place them on the flats (by which I mean the far stretch of bar that runs perpendicular to the frame). But that mostly felt too far and more leaned forward than I wanted to be on this ride. In Boulder, where the climbs are steeper (9-13% and sometimes 15%), I would use the flats a bit more often on the steeper parts. But I never felt tipped backwards even using the grip position. I am not riding for power or speed, just comfort and pleasure. What I thought I might prefer would be to possibly ditch the grips and move the brake levers and shifters further forward towards the corner so that I had a longer section of parallel bars that I could position my hands along. I sometimes felt like I wanted my hands exactly where the brake levers and shifters were located. But I really like having the brake levers close to the bar end, so I am not sure. Also, when I found my correct bar height, I realized that I might have preferred using my Imperial Flyer saddle after all. I had a wider b67 on this for the more upright position but with the climbing, I had to sit exactly right to avoid back of thigh friction. So I am going to try switching back and see how that goes. For what it is worth, I have Albastache bars on the Sam I bought from Rich via this list. I love those too but that is a very different feeling bike. On that one, when climbing or descending, I usually have my hands out in front on the curves (which is also where the brake levers are located). The bar end position is great for everything else. I am not sure what the difference is. Maybe the long chain stay length on the Joe makes it feel more stable when climbing in an upright position because your weight is more centered? I haven't thought about it so that's just a quick guess. I had been focused on riding the Joe to make sure it was comfortable for the tour but now I plan to ride the Sam more to see what it likes. I just put some Rock ' Road tires on it and am looking forward to some mixed terrain riding. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
