Once again, thanks all for the comments and suggestions, and for indulging me in my public ruminations on what is, after all, a very personal and idiosyncratic problem. I still hope to talk to Analog about this, and about the Tanglefoot.
Riding the bike in question today on mixed pavement and sandy dirt surfaces -- Matthews 1:1, I asked C Matthews to make me a "road bike for 60 X 662 + fenders or 584 X 76 + fenders with acceptable Q; this currently has 60s + fenders and 160 mm Q -- it just feels so right for firm surfaces, light sand, and the broader dirt paths. I am currently convincing myself that what I have been asking for for is basically incompatible, and that I will be better served saving any $$ for new bars and stems for an eventual (God willing) replacement for the Monocog, designed for upright riding with a bar wide enough for careful control in slow-speed, sketchy conditions. Or/And: learn to handle the Matthews better. There is one particular stretch with narrow, canted surface between tree and fence and ditch, with erosion and roots, that segues into a very narrow -- 18-24" -- "crowned" surface that curves to the left along a leftside ditch, for which, riding the Matthews, I'll often get off and walk, while on the Monocog I'll breeze through it without qualm. I daresay that, if I were not quite so timid on narrow offroad surfaces, the Matthews would get me though just fine -- I am timid on technical stuff, tho' I used to be a buccaneer in traffic. Anyway, thanks all; will report if anything of interest results. On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 1:23 PM Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> 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 > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/CALuTfgsUEWpsA2HOzhVQ6tyz5fWC%2BhC8%2BFdQfux469ZbTMEXvg%40mail.gmail.com.
