So it sounds like you're looking for a "just right for you" balance between a wider bar and it's height for your given bike and your inherent riding sensibilities. I word it that way because cookie cutter formulas and cliche's are really good for selling clicks on the web pages but they all fail to apply directly to any specific rider and their unique character.
I may be off here but I sense you're almost forcing yourself to ride "upright", though again that word is so generic as it implies a rigid, locked in and unforgiving position that completely ignores "the how" we all position and move as we ride a bike. Again it's that "how" that is unique to every-one, and it's never the same twice, as nothing is ever the same twice ! All that said, since you've tried mega wide bars, what about simply a slightly wider drop in the style you already ride ? A Salsa Cowbell Deluxe comes to mind. The flare is slight so the width in the drops is small and there's no weird brake lever angles. Having had a Nitto Dirt Drop 013 the slight wider flare of the Cowbell would be nice. https://bikepacking.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/salsa-cowbell_1-2000x1333.jpg https://bikepacking.com/index/gravel-bars/ Salsa Cowbell - Width: 380, 400, 420, 440, 460mm - Flare: 12° - Drop/Reach: 115mm / 68mm - Outsweep: 12° drop angle - Full Width: 433, 453, 473, 493, 513mm On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 3:23:49 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > Cross posting because, while the iBob is the bigger list, the RBW list > is the home of high-bar afficionados. > > This is at the moment only an inquiry, but I wonder if I can get a > better compromise bar setup on my Matthews 1:1 to maintain comfortable > pavement cruising but gain more slow-speed, narrow-trail, sandy-soil > control. > > Right now I have what for me is a wide-ish bar, a RH Maes Parallel 42 > cm at hoods and 44 cm at ends set about 5-7 mm below saddle with 10 cm > stem; this compares with 38 cm MPs 3 cm below saddle with 8 cm stems > for my road bikes. All give me me very comfortable pavement positions, > with the wider, slightly higher and wider 42/44/10 cm giving a > slightly more upright position on dirt. > > Is there any way I can maintain a comfortable pavement/hardpack > cruising position with a higher and wider bar that will give me better > slow speed control on narrow, bumpy, soft singletrack? I don't ride > technical stuff except, but I do encounter not infrequent narrow, > bumpy sections of acequia trails bordered closely by fences and trees > on one side and 4' dropoffs into ditches on the other side, often > eroded and crossed by tree roots. > > I think of wider and closer for better slow speed control on the > hoods, with a sufficiently deep hook to allow a comfortable hard > surface cruising position. I've tried many -- at least half a dozen, > from the original WTBs to more modern, wider wide flared dirt drop > bars up to about 660 mm wide, and never liked them, even when > positioned higher than road bars, but perhaps I've not tried high > enough. > > I repeat: I have repeatedly found very wide setups uncomfortable. > > I may be asking for incompatible setups, but does anyone have any ideas on > this? > > I'd like to stick to drops. > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8be1a024-04d8-402c-aa30-26228fbfd8f2n%40googlegroups.com.
