I have most of my bikes set up with moustache bars and the reverse brake lever, but I have to agree with Peter that, judging from the mailing list chatter, these are a bar that only a mother could love. Most of my bikes are fixed gears with no shifters and no rear brakes, and a front brake attached to a reverse lever makes it look very clean, but they require a very short, very tall stem to get you at all upright, and there are only a few hand positions. It seems that most people expect to move their hands around when they become fatigued, so find the lack of positions on a moustache bar to be less than ideal.
I find the single position on the bar ends sufficient for me, and configuring the brake there helps because I don't have to remove my hand from that position to operate it. On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 10:49 AM, landotter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > If you already have mtb levers, you should really give trekking > handlebars a shot. PJW's right about moustache bars--very few people > actually get along with them. One of my bikes came with them and I put > up with 'em for a year before I switched to Nitto randonneur bars. > They're fine for short city scooty type riding for sure--as they look > great--but not much else, IMHO. > > The trekking bars I put on my touring/citi/shopping/util/distance > bike--and I like them as much or more than drops. I tape them and use > grips on the inner sections. You can get them from Wallbike, Harris, > and I use the cheap but really nice ones from Nashbar that usually are > on sale for $20. There's no reason other than fashion that these > shouldn't be more popular--it's an incredibly great handlebar. > > If you're curious on how it looks set up, check out the REI Safari > bike, it's outfitted with the same type that Nashbar sells: > > http://www.rei.com/product/775749 > > BTW, they've got the bars pretty radically tilted, IMHO--I run mine > quite a bit flatter--goes to show that there's a lot of ways to set > them up. > > At any rate--they're cheap and offer a zillion hand positions with the > curves. Mustache bars look great, but for a lot of us--they ultimately > end up causing numbness at around mile ten, no matter how we grip > them. > > On Oct 24, 2:44 pm, Kurt Nordback <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I'm thinking of switching the bar setup on my commuter/off-road tourer >> and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with something similar >> before I invest the money. >> >> Currently I'm running Nitto Dove bars (similar to the Albatross but a >> touch narrower) with regular mountain bike brake levers and bar-end >> shifters. I've taped the forward curved sections to give me an "aero" >> position, in addition to the standard position on the straights. But >> even with a 140mm stem I feel too upright for most conditions, and >> climbing out of the saddle my arms are almost vertical. >> >> I'm thinking of switching to Mustache bars since they would move me >> forward significantly. I don't like the typical placement of road >> levers on the front of the bar -- they put a funny kink in my wrists >> -- so I was thinking of time-trial-style reverse levers on the bar >> ends, and then converting my bar-end shifters to bar-top shifters >> using the Paul's Thumbies. I'd tape the whole bar so again I would >> have a position on the straights and a forward position on the curve. >> >> Has anyone tried this latter configuration? Any advice? >> >> Thanks. >> >> -- Kurt > > > -- How often I have lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
