52 years young here, and for me drops are the only comfortable long- distance option. I do have and like the Noodles, but I find that the modern 'compact' or 'short-n-shallow' shaped bars have some advantages. The short drop makes the drop position easier to reach without the raising tops so high that standing to climb feels ungainly. The short reach seems to me more appropriate when using modern brake levers. Long reach bars were designed for non-aero brake levers. Modern brake levers (be they brifters or Tektro or SRAM aero levers) allow a hand position that's a couple of cm further forward than did non-aero or even early aero levers. The shorter reach of the compact bars compensates for that extra reach.
I use a 3T Ergosum bar on my go-fast (with Campy brifters) and find its very comfortable whether on the hoods, the ramps, the hooks or the drops. Unfortunately it's only available in black and 31.8. Ritchie now makes a bar called the Classic Curve that looks similar, same drop, a bit less reach, still 31.8 but polished silver. It should look OK with a silver VO stem and a threadless adapter. I have another bike with a Salsa Woodchipper off-road drop bar. It's very short reach, very short drop, very wide and very flared in the drops. It looks a bit awkward and makes parking the bike harder, but once rolling I find it's pretty comfortable. the Noodles are on my Riv, but with a shorter stem than I used to ride. Even with the tops at saddle height the drops feel low and the hoods far away. I'm tempted to try the Classic Curve on that bike. I'm already using a threadless stem and adapter so the swap would be easy. And the threadless + adapter combo is actually lighter than the Technomic Deluxe it replaced. Bill I really recommend you try a compact or short-n-shallow bar before you write off drops. Grinding into a headwind on North Roads just isn't a lot of fun. On Jun 6, 8:55 am, canali <jwcoll...@hotmail.com> wrote: > just wondering if it's just me and i need to take my time adding the > mileage and being consistent and patient (and getting back into > shape) > > OR do alot of us as we get older no longer find being so bent down as > comfortable...thinking of swapping out drops on atlantis for jeff > jones h loop bars or the north road bars. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
