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 On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 6:28 AM Shannon Menkveld <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > On Monday, September 22, 2025 at 9:00:45 AM UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: > >> 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. >> >> On Wed, Sep 17, 2025 at 8:12 AM Isaak Oliansky <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> 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 :) >>> >>> On Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 6:39:41 AM UTC-7 Conway Bennett wrote: >>> >>> 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. >>> >>> On Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 10:09:40 PM UTC-5 [email protected] >>> wrote: >>> >>> 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 >>> On Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 8:39:09 PM UTC-6 Ryan Fleming wrote: >>> >>> 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! >>> >>> On Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 8:00:09 PM UTC-5 Ben Miller wrote: >>> >>> So a while back I wrote about how my wife wanted to get her first >>> Rivendell >>> <https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/oLMyXpVtbzo/m/UceLNbIiAwAJ>. >>> 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??? >>> >>> [image: 0093ac3f-b173-4bd3-a359-24762b86279b~1.jpg] >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/ulDYN3tLoHc/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> [email protected]. >>> >> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f2df6bbc-3264-4ae5-a143-e7d96990b3c1n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f2df6bbc-3264-4ae5-a143-e7d96990b3c1n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/4b2131f6-8427-4969-9c8c-f720af29538bn%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/4b2131f6-8427-4969-9c8c-f720af29538bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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